Virginia Mayo
Virginia Mayo (
November 30 1920 â€"
January 17 2005) was an
American film
actress.
Born in
St. Louis, Missouri, as
Virginia Clara Jones, and tutored by a series of dancing instructors engaged by her aunt, she appeared in the St. Louis Municipal Opera chorus, then appeared with six other girls at an act at the Jefferson Hotel, where she was recruited by Andy Mayo to appear in his popular vaudeville act, as a ringmaster for two men in a horse suit. Virginia assumed the stage name of "Mayo" in the process. She appeared in
Vaudeville for three years in the act, appearing with
Eddie Cantor on
Broadway in 1941's
Banjo Eyes.
She continued her career as a dancer, then signed a contract with
Samuel Goldwyn and appeared in several of Goldwyn's movies. With
Danny Kaye she made some successful comedies, including:
Wonder Man (1945),
The Kid from Brooklyn (1946) and
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947).
In 1949's
White Heat she gave one of her greatest performances as 'Verna Jarrett', the wife of gangster 'Cody Jarrett' (acted by
James Cagney). Mayo later claimed in interviews that she was occasionally genuinely frightened by Cagney during the filming of the picture, because Cagney's acting was so realistic and natural.
Also of interest is her role in
The Best Years of Our Lives, where she was cast against type and gave a performance that garnered much acclaim.
In 1947, she married actor
Michael O'Shea, who died in 1973. They had one child, Mary Catherine O'Shea (born in 1953). The O'Shea family lived for several decades in
Thousand Oaks, California.
Through the 1950s and 1960s she ended up getting roles in
B-movies, often westerns and adventure films, but also some musicals. Her singing voice was always
dubbed.
Mayo got a star on the
Walk of Fame for her work in television. It can be found at 1751 Vine Street.
In
1996 she received a star on the
St. Louis Walk of Fame.
In the 1990s, Mayo gifted her extensive collection of Hollywood memorabilia to the Thousand Oaks Library. Mayo died in Los Angeles in 2005 from natural causes at the age of 84.
Follies Girl (
1943)
Jack London (
1943)
Up in Arms (
1944)
Seven Days Ashore (
1944)
The Princess and the Pirate (
1944)
Wonder Man (
1945)
The Kid from Brooklyn (
1946)
The Best Years of Our Lives (
1946)
Out of the Blue (
1947)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (
1947)
Smart Girls Don't Talk (
1948)
A Song Is Born (
1948)
Flaxy Martin (
1949)
Colorado Territory (
1949)
The Girl from Jones Beach (
1949)
White Heat (
1949)
Red Light (
1949)
Always Leave Them Laughing (
1949)
Backfire (
1950)
The Flame and the Arrow (
1950)
The West Point Story (
1950)
Captain Horatio Hornblower (
1951)
Along the Great Divide (
1951)
Painting the Clouds with Sunshine (
1951)
Starlift (
1951) (Cameo)
Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Night Life (
1952) (short subject)
She's Working Her Way Through College (
1952)
The Iron Mistress (
1952)
She's Back on Broadway (
1953)
South Sea Woman (
1953)
Devil's Canyon (
1953)
King Richard and the Crusaders (
1954)
The Silver Chalice (
1954)
Pearl of the South Pacific (
1955)
Great Day in the Morning (
1956)
The Proud Ones (
1956)
Congo Crossing (
1956)
The Big Land (
1957)
The Story of Mankind (
1957)
The Tall Stranger (
1957)
Fort Dobbs (
1958)
Westbound (
1959)
Revolt of the Mercenaries (
1960)
Jet Over the Atlantic (
1960)
Young Fury (
1965)
Castle of Evil (
1966)
Fort Utah (
1967)
Fugitive Lovers (
1975)
Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (
1976)
French Quarter (
1977)
The Haunted (
1979)
Evil Spirits (
1990)
Midnight Witness (
1993)
The Man Next Door (
1997)
*
Classic Movies (1939 - 1969): Virginia Mayo*
Official website*
Denny Jackson's Virginia Mayo page*
Brian's Drive-In Theater*
St. Louis Walk of Fame
