Virginia Pearson

Virginia Pearson

1886-03-07 – 1958-06-06 (age 72) Anchorage, Kentucky, USA
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Biography

From Wikipedia

Virginia Belle Pearson (March 7, 1886 - June 6, 1958) was an American stage and film actress. She made fifty-one films in a career which extended from 1910 until 1932.

Born in Anchorage, Kentucky, Pearson worked for a brief time as an assistant in the public library in Louisville, Kentucky after completing school. Pearson trained in the tradition of the stars of the American stage, and played in stock productions in Washington, D.C. and New York City. In New York she played the heroine in Hypocrisy, a story which laid bare "the shame of society." She was promoted by William Fox of Fox Film Corporation for the same kind of strong vamp parts as those played by Theda Bara. Among her movies is Blazing Love (1916), Wildness of Youth (1922), The Vital Question (1916), Sister Against Sister (1917), The Red Kimona (1925), Wizard of Oz (1925), and The Phantom of the Opera (1925).

In 1916 Pearson and her husband, movie actor Sheldon Lewis, severed their ties with the Virginia Pearson Producing Company. The couple affiliated themselves with the Independent Productions Company, capitalized at $1,000,000. In 1924 the couple were forced to declare bankruptcy. In 1928, Pearson was legally divorced from Lewis. At the time, it was considered bad box office for screen actresses to be married. However the two remained constant companions., and resided for many years at the old Hollywood Hotel. Later they lived at the Motion Picture Country Hom.

Virginia Pearson died of uremic poisoning in Hollywood on June 6, 1958 nearly a month to the day after Sheldon Lewis. She was 72. Funeral services were held at the Pierce Brothers Hollywood Chapel. She was buried with an unmarked grave in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery.

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Known For

The Phantom of the Opera
The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz

1925

as Lady Vishuss

Stolen Honor
Stolen Honor

1918

as Virginia Lake

Back Street
Back Street

1932

as Minor Role (uncredited)

A Daughter of France
A Daughter of France

1918

as Louise de Ciron

Writing on the Wall
Writing on the Wall

1916

as Barbara Lawrence

The Red Kimona
The Red Kimona

1925

as Mrs. Beverly Fontaine

🎦
The Actress
The Actress

1928

as Mrs. Telfer

Sister Against Sister
Sister Against Sister

1917

as Anne / Katherine

Thou Shalt Not Steal
Thou Shalt Not Steal

1917

as Mary Bruce

The Queen of Hearts
The Queen of Hearts

1918

as Pauline Cheraud

Driven from Home
Impossible Catherine
Impossible Catherine

1919

as Catherine Kimberly

Wildness of Youth
Wildness of Youth

1922

as Louise Wesley

Mum's the Word
Mum's the Word

1926

as The Wife

The Primrose Path
The Primrose Path

1931

as Marie Randeau

Wrath of Love
Wrath of Love

1917

as Roma Winnet

When False Tongues Speak
When False Tongues Speak

1917

as Mary Page Walton

The Power of Silence
The Power of Silence

1928

as Mrs. Wright