Virginia Bruce
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- September 29, 1910
- Died
- February 24, 1982
- Birthplace
- Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Virginia Bruce (born Helen Virginia Briggs; September 29, 1910 – February 24, 1982) was an American actress and singer. Born Helen Virginia Briggs in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In 1928, she moved with her family to Los Angeles intending to enroll in the University of California, Los Angeles when a friendly wager sent her seeking film work. She got it as an extra in Why Bring That Up?. In 1930 she appeared on Broadway in the musical Smiles, followed by America's Sweetheart in 1931. She returned to Hollywood in 1932, where on August 10, 1932, she married John Gilbert, her co-star in the film Downstairs. She retired briefly after the birth of their daughter Susan Ann Gilbert. The couple divorced in 1934, and Virginia returned to a hectic schedule of film appearances. Gilbert died two years later in 1936. Bruce introduced the Cole Porter standard "I've Got You Under My Skin" in the film Born to Dance and co-starred in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical The Great Ziegfeld. One of her final film appearances was in Strangers When We Meet. In 1949, Bruce starred in a daily 30-minute radio drama. Make Believe Town was an afternoon program on CBS. Bruce married her second husband, film director J. Walter Ruben, in 1937, making the Wallace Beery western The Bad Man of Brimstone with him that year. Together they had a son named Christopher (b. 1941), before Ruben's death in 1942. In 1946, Bruce married Ali Ipar. They divorced in 1951 in order for him to receive a commission in the Turkish Military (which forbade promotions of men married to foreigners), but remarried in 1952 before divorcing again in 1964. Bruce died of cancer on February 24, 1982, at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. She was 71.
Filmography
Complicated Women 2003
as Self (archive footage)
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life 1987
as Self (archive footage)
That's Entertainment! 1974
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
Strangers When We Meet 1960
as Mrs. Wagner
The Reluctant Bride 1955
as Laura Weeks
The Plague 1954
as Nurse
State Department: File 649 1949
as Marge
Night Has a Thousand Eyes 1948
as Jenny
Love, Honor and Goodbye 1945
as Roberta Baxter
Brazil 1944
as Nicky Henderson
Action in Arabia 1944
as Yvonne
Careful, Soft Shoulders 1942
as Connie Mathers
Pardon My Sarong 1942
as Joan Marshall
Butch Minds the Baby 1942
as Susie O'Neill
Adventure in Washington 1941
as Jane Scott
The Invisible Woman 1940
as Kitty Carroll
Hired Wife 1940
as Phyllis Walden
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards 1940
as Self
The Man Who Talked Too Much 1940
as Joan Reed
Flight Angels 1940
as Mary Norvell
Stronger Than Desire 1939
as Elizabeth Flagg
Land of Liberty 1939
as (archive footage)
Hollywood Hobbies 1939
as Self (uncredited)
Society Lawyer 1939
as Pat Abbott
Let Freedom Ring 1939
as Maggie Adams
There's That Woman Again 1938
as Sally Reardon
There Goes My Heart 1938
as Joan Butterfield
Hollywood Goes to Town 1938
as Self
Woman Against Woman 1938
as Maris Kent
Yellow Jack 1938
as Frances Blake
The First Hundred Years 1938
as Lynn Conway
Arsène Lupin Returns 1938
as Lorraine de Grissac
The Bad Man of Brimstone 1937
as Loretta Douglas
Wife, Doctor and Nurse 1937
as Nurse Stephens
Between Two Women 1937
as Patricia Sloan
When Love Is Young 1937
as Wanda Werner
Women of Glamour 1937
as Gloria Hudson
Born to Dance 1936
as Lucy James
The Great Ziegfeld 1936
as Audrey Dane
The Garden Murder Case 1936
as Zalia Graem
A Dream Comes True 1935
as Herself (uncredited)
Pirate Party on Catalina Isle 1935
as Virginia Bruce (uncredited)
Metropolitan 1935
as Anne Merrill
Here Comes the Band 1935
as Margaret
The Murder Man 1935
as Mary Shannon
Escapade 1935
as Gerta
Let 'em Have It 1935
as Eleanor Spencer
Times Square Lady 1935
as Toni Bradley
Shadow of Doubt 1935
as Trenna
Society Doctor 1935
as Madge
The Mighty Barnum 1934
as Jenny Lind
Dangerous Corner 1934
as Ann Beale
Jane Eyre 1934
as Jane Eyre
Kongo 1932
as Ann
Downstairs 1932
as Anna
Winner Take All 1932
as Joan Gibson
Sky Bride 1932
as Ruth Dunning
The Miracle Man 1932
as Margaret Thornton
Whoopee! 1930
as Goldwyn Girl (uncredited)
Follow Thru 1930
as Woman in Ladies' Locker Room (uncredited)
Let's Go Native 1930
as Wendell Sr.'s Secretary (uncredited)
Raffles 1930
as Gwen's Friend (uncredited)
The Social Lion 1930
as Society Girl
Safety in Numbers 1930
as Alma McGregor
Paramount on Parade 1930
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Young Eagles 1930
as Florence Welford
Only the Brave 1930
as Elizabeth
Slightly Scarlet 1930
as Enid Corbett
Lilies of the Field 1930
as Doris
Pointed Heels 1929
as Chorus Girl (uncredited)
The Love Parade 1929
as Lady-in-Waiting
Woman Trap 1929
as Nurse
Hard to Get 1929
as Young Woman (uncredited)
The River of Romance 1929
as Southern Belle
Fugitives 1929
as Extra (uncredited)
Credits from TMDB.