Virginia Pearson

Birthday: 1886-03-07
Deathday: 1958-06-06
Birthplace: Anchorage, Kentucky, USA
Gender: Female
Owned By: Unowned

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.

Credits

Year Title Character
1932-08-04 Back Street Minor Role (uncredited)
1931-01-25 The Primrose Path Marie Randeau
1929-03-31 Smilin' Guns Mrs. van Smythe
1928-10-20 The Power of Silence Mrs. Wright
1928-04-27 The Actress Mrs. Telfer
1928-01-22 What Price Beauty? Mary
1927-01-15 Driven from Home
1927-01-01 Lucky Fool
1926-10-10 Atta Boy Madame Carlton
1926-05-09 Mum's the Word The Wife
1926-04-25 Silence Millie Burke
1926-04-18 Lightning Hutch Janet Thornwall
1925-11-16 The Red Kimona Mrs. Beverly Fontaine
1925-09-22 The Phantom of the Opera Carlotta
1925-02-12 The Wizard of Oz Lady Vishuss
1919-10-05 Impossible Catherine Catherine Kimberly
1918-12-01 Buchanan's Wife Beatrix Buchanan
1918-07-14 Her Price Marcia Calhoun
1918-03-24 A Daughter of France Louise de Ciron
1917-04-30 A Royal Romance The Princess Sylvia
1917-03-04 Sister Against Sister Anne / Katherine
1916-08-21 Daredevil Kate Kate
1916-02-14 Writing on the Wall Barbara Lawrence
1916-01-01 The Kiss of a Vampire
1914-07-17 The Stain Stevens' Daughter