Virginia Bruce
Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Virginia Bruce (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.
Known For
Jenny
Night Has a Thousand Eyes
Mary Shannon
The Murder Man
Kitty Carroll
The Invisible Woman
Audrey Dane
The Great Ziegfeld
Lucy James
Born to Dance
Joan Butterfield
There Goes My Heart
Joan Gibson
Winner Take All
Ann
Kongo
Mrs. Wagner
Strangers When We Meet
Yvonne
Action in Arabia
Phyllis Walden
Hired Wife
Gwen's Friend (uncredited)
Raffles
Jenny Lind
The Mighty Barnum
Mary Norvell
Flight Angels
Marge
State Department: File 649
Zalia Graem
The Garden Murder Case
Lorraine de Grissac
Arsène Lupin Returns
Joan Reed
The Man Who Talked Too Much
Anna
Downstairs
Madge
Society Doctor
Frances Blake
Yellow Jack
Eleanor Spencer
Let 'em Have It
Ann Beale
Dangerous Corner
Gerta
Escapade
Jane Eyre
Jane Eyre
Maggie Adams
Let Freedom Ring
Elizabeth Flagg
Stronger Than Desire
Pat Abbott
Society Lawyer
Trenna
Shadow of Doubt
Nurse
Woman Trap
Connie Mathers
Careful, Soft Shoulders
Patricia Sloan
Between Two Women
Nicky Henderson
Brazil
Anne Merrill
Metropolitan
Lynn Conway
The First Hundred Years
Jane Scott
Adventure in Washington
Self (uncredited)
Hollywood Hobbies
Nurse
Salgin
Society Girl
The Social Lion
Loretta Douglas
The Bad Man of Brimstone
Margaret Thornton
The Miracle Man
Florence Welford
Young Eagles
(archive footage)
Land of Liberty
Nurse Stephens
Wife, Doctor and Nurse
Woman in Ladies' Locker Room (uncredited)
Follow Thru
Maris Kent
Woman Against Woman
Alma McGregor
Safety in Numbers
Toni Bradley
Times Square Lady
Southern Belle
The River of Romance
Sally Reardon
There's That Woman Again
Margaret
Here Comes the Band
(archive footage)
That's Entertainment!
Roberta Baxter
Love, Honor and Goodbye
Gloria Hudson
Women of Glamour
Susie O'Neill
Butch Minds the Baby
Wanda Werner
When Love Is Young
Young Woman (uncredited)
Hard to Get
Wendell Sr.'s Secretary (uncredited)
Let's Go Native
Joan Marshall
Pardon My Sarong
Laura Weeks
The Reluctant Bride
Elizabeth
Only the Brave
Goldwyn Girl (uncredited)
Whoopee!
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Pointed Heels
Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Paramount on Parade
Ruth Dunning
Sky Bride
Lady-in-Waiting
The Love Parade
Enid Corbett
Slightly Scarlet
Herself (uncredited)
A Dream Comes True
Virginia Bruce (uncredited)
Pirate Party on Catalina Isle
Self
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
Self (archive footage)
Complicated Women
Self
Hollywood Goes to Town
Self (archive footage)
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
Extra (uncredited)
Fugitives
Doris
Lilies of the Field
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
75
Gender
Female
Birthday
1910-09-29
Place of Birth
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Also Known As
Helen Virginia Briggs