Matinee Classics - Virginia Bruce Biography & Filmography

Virginia Bruce ACTOR

PHOTOS

VIRGINIA BRUCE BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Virginia Bruce was born on September 29th, 1910 in Minneapolis, Minnesota with the birth name Helen Virginia Briggs. She was raised in North Dakota and after high school, she relocated to California to attend college.

While living in California she developed an interest in acting and began finding work as an extra in a number of films. Soon she was beginning to really get noticed in Hollywood and more prominent film roles began to come her direction such as, "Fugitives" (1929), "The Mighty Barnum" (1934), "Here Comes the Band" (1935), "Born to Dance" (1936), "The Bad Man of Brimstone" (1937) starring with Wallace Beery, Lewis Stone, Dennis O'Keefe, Noah Beery Sr., Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams, Guy Kibbee, Bruce Cabot, and John Qualen, "Yellow Jack" (1938) starring Robert Montgomery, Lewis Stone, Andy Devine, Henry Hull, Buddy Ebsen and Charles Coburn, "Flight Angels" (1940), "Hired Wife" (1940), "Pardon My Sarong" (1942) starring Abbott and Costello, "Love, Honor and Goodbye" (1945) and "Strangers When We Met" (1960).

Along with mostly film work she did add a couple television appearances to her resume such as, "Studio 57", "Lux Video Theatre", "The Ford Television Theatre" and "Science Fiction Theatre".

She married four times throughout her lifetime, first to actor John Gilbert in 1932 and they had one child before the marriage came to an end in 1934. She then married J. Walter Ruben in 1937 and they also had one child together and remained married until he passed away in 1942. Her third time to marry was to Ali Ipar in 1946 and after divorcing in 1951 the couple wed again in 1952 but ended their marriage for good in 1964.

Virginia Bruce did not re-marry again and after completing her final film role in 1982 on, "Madame Wang's", she passed away on February 24th, 1982 in Woodland Hills, California from cancer.