Evil Spirits (1990) .... Janet Wilson
The Haunted (1979) Michelle
French Quarter (1977) .... Countess Piazza/Ida
Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976) Miss Batley
Fugitive Lovers (1975)
Fort Utah (1967) Linda Lee
Castle of Evil (1966) Mary Theresa 'Sable' Pulaski
Young Fury (1965)
Sarah McCoy
Rivolta dei mercenari, La (1960) Duchess de Revalte
Jet Over the Atlantic (1959) Jean Gurney
Westbound (1958) Norma Putnam
Fort Dobbs (1958) Celia Gray
The Story of Mankind (1957) Cleopatra
Tall Stranger, The (1957) Ellen
The Big Land (1957)
Helen Jagger
Congo Crossing (1956) Louise Whitman
Proud Ones, The (1956) Sally Great Day in the Morning (1956) Ann Alaine
Pearl of the South Pacific (1955) Rita Delaine
Silver Chalice, The (1954) Helena
King Richard and the Crusaders (1954) Lady Edith
Devil's Canyon (1953)
Abby Nixon
She's Back on Broadway (1953) Catherine Terris
South Sea Woman (1953) Ginger Martin
The Iron Mistress (1952) Judalon de Bornay
She's Working Her Way Through College (1952) Angela Gardner/"Hot Garters Gertie"
Painting the Clouds with Sunshine (1951) Carol
Starlift (1951) Cameo appearance
Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951)
Lady Barbara Wellesley
Along the Great Divide (1951) Ann Keith
The West Point Story (1950) Eve Dillon
The Flame and the Arrow (1950) Anne
Backfire (1950) Julie Benson
Always Leave Them Laughing (1949) Nancy Eagan
Flaxy Martin (1949) Flaxy Martin
Red Light (1949)
Carla North
White Heat (1949) Verna Jarrett
The Girl from Jones Beach (1949) Ruth Wilson
Colorado Territory (1949) Colorado Carson
Smart Girls Don't Talk (1948) Linda Vickers
A Song Is Born (1948) .... Honey Swanson
Out of the Blue (1947) Deborah Tyler
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (1947)
Rosalind van Hoorn
The Best Years of Our Lives(1946) Marie Derry
The Kid from Brooklyn (1946) Polly Pringle
Wonder Man (1945) Ellen Shavley
Seven Days Ashore (1944) Carol Dean
The Princess and the Pirate (1944) Princess Margaret
Up in Arms (1944) (as The Goldwyn Girls) Goldwyn Girl
Follies Girl (1943)
Jack London (1943) Mamie
... aka The Adventures of Jack London
... aka The Life of Jack London
... aka The Story of Jack London (USA)
Follies Girl (1943) (uncredited) .... Extra
Gals and Gallons (1939)
White Heat: Top of the World (2005) (V) .... Herself
Norwegian Actresses in Hollywood (2003) (TV) .... Herself
The Best of Hollywood (1998) (TV) .... Interview
... aka 50 Years: The Best of Hollywood (USA: DVD title)
"The Naked Truth"
... aka Wilde Again
- Bridesface Revisited (1997) TV Episode .... Herself
The Bible According to Hollywood (1994) (V) .... Herself
James Cagney: Top of the World (1992) (TV) .... Herself
"Remington Steele"
- Cast in Steele (1984) TV Episode .... Herself
Do It Debbie's Way (1983) (V)
"Toast of the Town"
... aka The Ed Sullivan Show (new title)
- Episode #8.14 (1954) TV Episode .... Herself
A Star Is Born World Premiere (1954) (TV) .... Herself
Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Night Life (1952) .... Herself
....LOS ANGELES (AP) - Virginia Mayo, the stunning blond actress who brought beauty and romance to films of the 1940s and 1950s with such co-stars as James Cagney, Bob Hope, Gregory Peck, Danny Kaye and Ronald Reagan, died Monday at a nursing home in suburban Thousand Oaks. She was 84.
Mayo, who had been in failing health, died of pneumonia and heart failure, according to the Los Angeles Times, which first reported her death on its Web site.
"She passed away this afternoon," longtime friend Mary Walsh told The Associated Press.
Her honey blond hair and creamy, flawless face made Mayo ideal for the Technicolor musicals, westerns and adventures that were the rage in Hollywood in the 1940s and '50s.
Starting as a chorus girl, she quickly advanced to co-star status, appearing opposite Hope in "The Princess and the Pirate" in 1944. She went on to make five films with Kaye before signing a contract with Warner Bros., where she became one of the studio's biggest stars.
When she signed the contract, Warner Bros. issued an effusive press release that concluded: "At 115 pounds she is potentially as valuable as an acre of land in downtown Los Angeles- and at least several times more desirable."
Mayo did indeed become a valuable property for Warner Bros., appearing in five movies in 1949 alone. She also starred opposite Reagan in the romantic comedy "The Girl from Jones Beach" that year and again in the 1952 musical "She's Working Her Way Through College."
She made three films with Walsh's late husband, the legendary director Raoul Walsh. They were "Captain Horatio Hornblower," "Colorado Territory" and "White Heat."
"She was an awfully nice lady," Walsh recalled. "She was very kind and very thoughtful. She was always on the set on time. She never held up production. She always knew her lines.
"She was beautiful in pictures, but she was even more beautiful in person," Walsh continued. "I guess maybe it was because she was so good inside."
Warner Bros wooed Mayo away from Goldwyn in 1948 and, beginning with that year's Smart Girls Don't Talk starred her in a wider variety of vehicles, including Westerns, swashbucklers, and crime dramas in addition to comedies and musicals. Her films for the studio include Flaxy Martin, Colorado Territory, The Girl From Jones Beach, Always Leave Them Laughing (all 1949), The Flame and the Arrow, West Point Story (both 1950), Painting the Clouds With Sunshine, Captain Horatio Hornblower (both 1951), She's Working Her Way Through College, The Iron Mistress (both 1952), She's Back on Broadway, South Sea Woman (both 1953), the very silly King Richard and the Crusaders (1954), The Silver Chalice (also 1954, opposite a debuting Paul Newman), The Big Land, The Story of Mankind (both 1957), and Fort Dobbs (1958). Although she retained her looks as she approached middle age, Mayo worked less frequently as the studio system, of which she was a creation, gradually dissolved. Unlike many of her contemporaries, Mayo eschewed television work. She was married to actor Michael O'Shea from 1947 to 1973, when he passed away.
OTHER FILMS INCLUDE: 1953: Devil's Canyon 1955: Pearl of the South Pacific 1956: The Proud Ones 1957: The Tall Stran- ger 1966: Castle of Evil 1967: Fort Utah 1969: The Haunted 1976: Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood, The Glass Cage 1977: French Quarter 1990: Evil Spirits.
Virginia May in No, No, Nanette - 1977
(Stage Play)
....She was famous for her role in "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and also appeared along-side Bob Hope in "The Princess and the Pirate." Her film roles were very diverse, from musicals to westerns....
By JOHN ROGERS
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - She was one of the most beautiful women of her time, yet it was perhaps Virginia Mayo's beauty that kept her talents from being fully appreciated by film critics and audiences, say some who knew the actress well.
Mayo died Monday at a nursing home in suburban Thousand Oaks following a year of declining health. She was 84.
Rising from chorus girl to feature film star almost overnight, Mayo went on to appear opposite many of the most popular actors of her time, including James Cagney, Bob Hope, Gregory Peck, George Raft, Danny Kaye, Ronald Reagan, Rex Harrison, Burt Lancaster and Kirk Douglas.
Although many of her films were light escapist fare, she landed two solid dramatic roles - in 1946's "The Best Years of Our Lives" and 1949's "White Heat" - and made the most of both of them.
"I still think she should have won an Academy Award, or at least a nomination, for 'The Best Years of Our Lives,'" casting director and longtime family friend Marvin Paige said of the film that cast Mayo as the two-timing wife of Dana Andrews' returning World War II soldier.
"She was a wonderful musical and comedy performer and also a wonderful dramatic actress," Paige said Monday, adding not as many people knew of her latter talents.
Her honey blonde hair and creamy, flawless face had made her ideal for the Technicolor musicals, westerns and adventures so popular in the 1940s and '50s.
She appeared in five movies in 1949 alone: "The Girl From Jones Beach" with Reagan, "Colorado Territory" with Peck, "Always Leave Them Laughing" with Milton Berle, "Red Light" with Raft and "White Heat" with Cagney.
The latter, in which she played the neglected wife of Cagney's psychopathic killer, was one of her favorites, said her daughter, Mary Johnston. Another was the lighthearted 1952 musical "She's Working Her Way Through College" with Reagan.
"People always want to hear who was her favorite kisser and stories like that, but those aren't the most important memories to me," said her daughter. "The memories that mean the most to me are that it seems like wherever you were, whoever you were, she always made everything fun for you."
Her mother would acknowledge, however, that it was Peck who delivered the best screen kiss, Johnston added with a chuckle.
Raoul Walsh directed three of Mayo's best films, "White Heat," "Colorado Territory" and "Captain Horatio Hornblower," and the legendary director's widow, Mary Walsh, remembered the actress warmly.
"She was beautiful in pictures, but she was even more beautiful in person," Walsh said Monday. "I guess maybe it was because she was so good inside."
Born Virginia Clara Jones in St. Louis on Nov. 30, 1920, Mayo had gotten her start as a child when she was booked to appear in local plays and other events by an aunt who ran a talent studio.
"I really wanted to be a dancer, but I ended up as an actress, and I got to perform next to some of the greatest actors of our time," she recalled in 2001.
After appearing at schools, churches, benefits and with her hometown's Municipal Opera Company, Mayo eventually linked up with vaudeville's "Pansy the Horse."
The equine was actually two guys in a horse suit led through comical gyrations by a pretty girl. When the previous ring mistress quit, the act's boss, Andy Mayo, hired young Virginia as a substitute and she took his last name as her own.
She broke through to movies in the early 1940s, and after a few small roles she appeared opposite Hope in 1944's "The Princess and the Pirate." That same year she made the first of five films with Kaye: "Up in Arms," "Wonder Man," "The Kid from Brooklyn," "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and "A Song Is Born."
Other notable films included "Back Fire" with Gordon MacRae, "The Flame and the Arrow" with Lancaster, "Along the Great Divide" with Douglas, "South Sea Woman" with Lancaster and Paul Newman's first film, "The Silver Chalice."
As her roles began to diminish in the late 1950s, Mayo began to work less and less frequently. Her last film was 1997's "The Man Next Door."
Her first credited role in Hollywood had been a small part in 1943's "Jack London," a biography of the author starring Michael O'Shea, a former vaudevillian and stage actor who appeared in mostly B films. In 1956 she recalled how they met on the movie set: "He just sat there watching me, and then he walked right up and kissed me." They married in 1947.
Mayo, who never remarried after O'Shea died of a heart attack in 1973, is survived by her daughter and three grandchildren."
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