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Virginia Bruce
Virginia Bruce
	Publicity photo of Virginia Bruce in 1939
Born	Helen Virginia Briggs; September 29, 1910; Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	February 24, 1982 (aged 71); Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actress, singer
Years active	1929–1981
Spouses	; John Gilbert (m. 1932; div. 1934) ; J. Walter Ruben (m. 1937; died 1942) ; Ali Ipar (m. 1946; div. 1964)
Children	2
Relatives	Hutch Dano (great-grandson)

Virginia Bruce (born Helen Virginia Briggs;^[3] September 29, 1910 – February 24, 1982) was an American actress and singer.

Early life

Bruce was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As an infant she moved with her parents, Earil and Margaret Briggs, to Fargo, North Dakota. The city directory of Fargo documents that the Briggs family lived there at 421 14th Street South. After Bruce graduated from Fargo Central High School in 1928,^[4]^[5] she moved with her family to Los Angeles intending to enroll at the University of California, Los Angeles when a friendly wager sent her seeking film work.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Bruce's first screen work was in 1929 as an extra for Paramount in Why Bring That Up? In 1930, she appeared on Broadway in the musical Smiles at the Ziegfeld Theatre, followed by the Broadway production America's Sweetheart in 1931.^[6]

Bruce returned to Hollywood in 1932, where she began work in early August at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on the film Kongo starring Walter Huston. During production on that project, on August 10, she married John Gilbert (her first, his fourth) with whom she recently costarred in Downstairs.^[7]^[8] The Film Daily reported that the couple's "quick" wedding was held in Gilbert's dressing room on the studio lot. Among the people attending the small ceremony were the head of MGM production Irving Thalberg, who served as the groom's best man; screenwriter Donald Ogden Stewart, whose wife Beatrice acted as matron of honor; MGM art director and set designer Cedric Gibbons; and his wife, actress Dolores del Río.^[8]

Bruce retired briefly from acting after the birth of their daughter Susan Ann, although she returned to film appearances after her divorce from Gilbert (caused by his alcoholism) in May 1934.^[9] Gilbert died of a heart attack in 1936.

Bruce is credited with introducing the Cole Porter standard "I've Got You Under My Skin" in the 1936 film Born to Dance. The same year, she costarred in the MGM musical The Great Ziegfeld. She also performed periodically on radio. In 1949, for example, Bruce starred in Make Believe Town, a 30-minute afternoon drama broadcast daily on CBS Radio.^[10] In the early 1960s, she retired from films.

Personal life

Bruce married American film director J. Walter Ruben in 1937.^[11]

Bruce was a Democrat who supported the campaign of Adlai Stevenson during the 1952 presidential election.^[12]

Bruce died of cancer at age 71 on February 24, 1982, at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital^[3] in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1929	Fugitives	Bit Part	Uncredited
	Blue Skies	Party guest	Uncredited
	River of Romance	Southern Belle	Uncredited
	Fashions in Love		Uncredited
	Hard to Get	Young woman	Uncredited
	Illusion	Party Guest	Uncredited
	Woman Trap	Nurse
	Why Bring That Up?	Chorus Girl	Uncredited
	The Love Parade	Lady-in-Waiting	Uncredited
	Pointed Heels	Chorus Girl	Uncredited
1930	Lilies of the Field	Doris
	Slightly Scarlet	Enid Corbett
	Only the Brave	Elizabeth
	Young Eagles	Florence Welford
	Paramount on Parade	Chorus Girl	Uncredited
	Safety in Numbers	Alma McGregor
	The Social Lion	Society Girl	Uncredited
	Raffles	Gwen's Friend	Uncredited
	Let's Go Native	Wendell Sr.'s Secretary	Uncredited
	Follow Thru	Bit in Ladies Locker Room	Uncredited
	Whoopee!	Goldwyn Girl	Uncredited
1931	Hell Divers	Girl	(scenes deleted)
1932	The Miracle Man	Margaret Thornton
	Sky Bride	Ruth Dunning
	Winner Take All	Joan Gibson
	Downstairs	Anna
	Kongo	Ann Whitehall
1934	Jane Eyre	Jane Eyre
	Dangerous Corner	Ann Peel
	The Mighty Barnum	Jenny Lind
1935	Society Doctor	Madge
	Shadow of Doubt	Trenna Plaice
	Times Square Lady	Toni Bradley
	Let 'Em Have It	Eleanor Spencer
	Escapade	Gerta
	The Murder Man	Mary Shannon
	Here Comes the Band	Margaret Jones
	Metropolitan	Anne Merrill
1936	The Garden Murder Case	Zalia Graem
	The Great Ziegfeld	Audrey Dane
	Born to Dance	Lucy James
1937	Women of Glamour	Gloria Hudson
	When Love Is Young	Wanda Werner
	Between Two Women	Patricia Sloan
	Wife, Doctor and Nurse	Steve aka Miss Stephens
	The Bad Man of Brimstone	Loretta Douglas
1938	Arsène Lupin Returns	Lorraine de Grissac
	The First Hundred Years	Lynn Conway
	Yellow Jack	Frances Blake
	Woman Against Woman	Maris Kent
	There Goes My Heart	Joan Butterfield
	There's That Woman Again	Sally Reardon
1939	Let Freedom Ring	Maggie Adams
	Society Lawyer	Pat Abbott
	Stronger Than Desire	Elizabeth Flagg
1940	Flight Angels	Mary Norvell
	The Man Who Talked Too Much	Joan Reed
	Hired Wife	Phyllis Walden
	The Invisible Woman	Kitty Carroll
1941	Adventure in Washington	Jane Scott	Alternative title: Female Correspondent
1942	Butch Minds the Baby	Susie O'Neill
	Pardon My Sarong	Joan Marshall
	Careful, Soft Shoulder	Connie Mathers
1944	Action in Arabia	Yvonne Danesco
1944	Brazil	Nicky Henderson	Alternative title: Stars and Guitars
1945	Love, Honor and Goodbye	Roberta Baxter
1948	Night Has a Thousand Eyes	Jenny Courtland
1949	State Department: File 649	Margaret "Marge" Weldon	Alternative title: Assignment in China
1954	Salgin	Nurse	Alternative titles: Epidemic Istanbul
1955	Reluctant Bride	Laura Weeks	Alternative title: Two Grooms for a Bride
1960	Strangers When We Meet	Mrs. Wagner

Partial TV credits

Year	Title	Role	Episode(s)
1953	General Electric Theater	Adele	1 episode
1955	Letter to Loretta	Dee Norman	1 episode
1955	Science Fiction Theatre	Dr. Myrna Griffin Jean Gordon	2 episodes
1957	The Ford Television Theatre	Ruth Crest	1 episode

References

^ "Virgnina Bruce, 72, Actress Portrayed Ziegfeld Showgirl". The New York Times. New York, New York City. United Press International. February 26, 1982. Archived from the original on July 11, 2018. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
^ "Virginia Bruce is divorced". The New York Times. Istanbul, Turkey. January 19, 1964. Archived from the original on March 11, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
^ ^a ^b "Film Actress Virginia Bruce dies at 71 after long illness". The San Bernardino County Sun. California, San Bernardino. The San Bernardino County Sun. February 25, 1982. p. 10. Retrieved January 7, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Fargoan had long career in films".
^ "VIRGINIA BRUCE, 72, ACTRESS PORTRAYED ZIEGFELD SHOWGIRL". The New York Times. February 26, 1982.
^ Virginia Bruce at the Internet Broadway Database
^ "Here's Proof John Gilbert Is Screen's Great Lover". New York, Syracuse. Syracuse Herald. August 11, 1932. p. 12. Retrieved January 7, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ^a ^b "GILBERT'S QUICK MARRIAGE", news item, The Film Daily [New York, N.Y. (West Coast Bureau)], August 12, 1932, page 4. Internet Archive, San Francisco, California. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
^ "Fourth Divorce for John Gilbert of Films". The Southeast Missourian. May 26, 1934. p. 1. Retrieved August 19, 2018.
^ "Ethel Merman, Virginia Bruce In Radio Dramas". Freeport Journal-Standard. Freeport Journal-Standard. July 30, 1949. p. 3. Retrieved May 3, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Virginia Bruce: Biography", Turner Classic Movies (TCM), Turner Broadcasting System, a subsidiary of Time Warner, Inc., New York, N.Y. Retrieved August 18, 2018.
^ Motion Picture and Television Magazine, November 1952, p. 33, Ideal Publishers