Viola Cady (1970 - 2004)

Athlete. Born Viola Hartman in Arizona, she began swimming and diving in 1919 when her family moved to California. She became one of the first women to swim the Catalina Channel. She won junior national diving championships in 1922, 1923, and 1924. In 1922 she also set the women’s record for the 220 meters. Known […]

Viola Fortesque (1970 - 1953)

Actress, she appeared as Mrs. Smithson in the silent film “The White Raven” (1917). (bio by: Ginny M)  Family links:  Parents:  Viola P.G. Fortesque (1848 – 1925)

Viola Richard (1904 - 1973)

Actress. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada,  she was a vivacious leading lady in several Laurel and Hardy and Charley Chase comedies of the 1920s. They include “Why Girls Love Sailors”, “Sailors Beware”,  “Do Detectives Think?”,  “Flying Elephants”,  “Leave ‘Em Laughing”,  “Should Married Men Go Home?”,  “Dumb Daddies”,  and “Limousine Love”.  Richard left films when talkies […]

Viola Savoy (1899 - 1987)

Actress of stage and silent film.  Viola Savoy spent most of her childhood as a stage actress, reports of the time indicating that she was involved in around one hundred and twenty five stage productions, from Broadway to touring stock companies, and acted alongside some of the finest acting talents of the day. She claimed […]

Violet Carson (1898 - 1983)

Actress. At the age of three, she began taking piano lessons, which would be handy in her later years, as she appeared on Songs of Praise,  playing the piano and sang in a beautiful soprano voice, which very few could believe came from her mouth. The reason being, on “Coronation Street,” she played battle axe […]

Violet Carson (1898 - 1983)

Actress. At the age of three, she began taking piano lessons, which would be handy in her later years, as she appeared on Songs of Praise,  playing the piano and sang in a beautiful soprano voice, which very few could believe came from her mouth. The reason being, on “Coronation Street,” she played battle axe […]

Violet La Plante (1908 - 1984)

Actress. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she was the sister of actress Laura La Plante and was known as Violet Avon during Hollywood’s silent film era. In 1923, she became a starlet member of the “WAMPAS Baby Star” troupe, making her screen debut in “Battling Buddy” (1924). For the next four years she appeared in […]

Violet Schram (1898 - 1987)

Motion picture actress of the 1910s through the 1930s. (bio by: A.J. Marik)

Violetta Farjeon (1923 - 2015)

Singer, Actress. A pretty brunette, she is remembered as Hortense, the ditzy maid of Sandy Wilson’s 1954 smash hit “The Boy Friend”. Born Violetta Beckett-Williams to a well-off family, she was raised in a small village in the Pyrenees, studied at the Paris Conservatory, at 16 came back to London just in time for the […]

Violette Wilson (1896 - 1964)

Actress. Married to Actor/Film Director Irving Pichel, she has played roles in a number of B-movies. Some of her notable appearances include “Guy de Maupassant’s Mademoiselle Fifi,” “The Moon Is Down” and “Woman Against the World.”  (bio by: MC)  Family links:  Spouse:  Irving Pichel (1891 – 1954)*  Children:  Pichel Wilson Pichel (1920 – 2005)* *Calculated […]

Viredo Espinosa (1928 - 2012)

Exiled cuban painter born in Regla, and member of the “Group of Eleven”, which marked the emergence of abstract expressionism in Cuba. He was marginalized by the revolutionary government after refusing to sign the necessary political form to join the National Association of Painters, Sculptors and Recorders established in 1959, so that he was denied […]

Virgil “Honey Bear” Akins (1928 - 2011)

Professional Boxer. He was the former World Welterweight Champion (1958). The St. Louis native began his professional career in 1948 initially as a lightweight, and earned his first title fight (a bout for the Massachusetts version of the World Welterweight Title) in 1957 against Tony DeMarco. Akins would defeat DeMarco with a 14th-round knockout and […]

Virgil Akins (1928 - 2011)

Virgil Akins Was an American boxer who won the undisputed Welterweight Championship of the World in 1958. Nicknamed ‘Honeybear’, Akins was the first World Champion boxer from St. Louis. Akins was born and died in St. Louis, Missouri. Akins was considered lanky, but proved nevertheless to be a powerful hitter with either hand. He began […]

Virgil Exner (1909 - 1973)

Born in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Virgil Exner was adopted by George W. and Iva Exner as a baby. Virgil showed a strong interest in art and automobiles. He went to Buchanan High School in Buchanan, Michigan then studied art at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana but, in 1928, dropped out after two years […]

Virgil Walter Earp (1843 - 1905)

Western Lawman. Born in Hartford Kentucky, he was brother to James, Morgan and Wyatt Earp. After serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, he was a freighter-teamster in Prescott, Arizona and was Deputy Marshal at Tucson, 1870 to 1879. In 1880, he was elected City Marshal of Tombstone and recruited brothers Wyatt and […]

Virginia B. Bronson Leiber (1885 - 1970)

American stage actress. She is buried next to her husband, actor Fritz Leiber. (bio by: A.J. Marik)  Family links:  Spouse:  Fritz Leiber (1882 – 1949)  Children:  Fritz Reuter Leiber (1910 – 1992)* *Calculated relationship

Virginia Baker Palance (1922 - 2003)

Actress, Producer. She was married to actor Jack Palance from 1949 to 1966. She and Jack had 3 children together before divorcing. She was struck and killed by a car while crossing the street. (bio by: Chuck Kearns)  Family links:  Parents:  Ione N. Baker (1898 – 1994)  Spouse:  Jack Palance (1919 – 2006)  Children:  Cody […]

Virginia Brissac (1883 - 1979)

Virginia Brissac was born in San Jose, California and later raised in San Francisco. She was the daughter of B. F. Brissac, a well-to-do Bay Area insurance executive, and was said to be a niece of the actress Mary Shaw. As a young girl she began a collection of autographs that would grow to include […]

Virginia Bruce (1910 - 1982)

Born Helen Virginia Briggs in Minneapolis, Minnesota. When she was one month old, she moved to Fargo, North Dakota, with her parents, Earil and Margaret Briggs. According to the Fargo City Directory, the Briggs family lived at 421 14th Street South, Fargo. After she graduated from Fargo Central High School in 1928, she moved with […]

Virginia Capers (1925 - 2004)

Born in Sumter, South Carolina, Capers attended Howard University and studied voice at the Juilliard School in New York City. She made her Broadway debut in the musical Jamaica in 1957 as the understudy for Adelaide Hall in the role of Grandma Obeah, taking over the role when Hall left the show. Capers went on to […]

Virginia Carol Arndt (1919 - 1980)

Journalist. Served as Women’s editor for the “Army Times.”

Virginia Carroll (1913 - 2009)

Actress. She appeared in scores of motion pictures and television shows from the mid-1930’s to the mid-1960’s. She was a department store model before making her big screen debut with a minor role in the 1935 picture “Roberta”. She would have further credits with “A Tenderfoot Goes West” (1936), “Silent Witness” (1943), “G.I. Brides” (1946) […]

Virginia Cherrill (1908 - 1996)

Virginia Cherrill was born on a farm in rural Carthage, Illinois, to James E. and Blanche (née Wilcox) Cherrill. She initially did not plan on a film career, but her friendship with Sue Carol (who would later marry Alan Ladd) eventually drew her to Hollywood. She had been voted “Queen of the Artists Ball” in […]

Virginia Christine (1920 - 1996)

Actress. She is best remembered as “Mrs Olson,” of the Folger’s Coffee television commercials of the 1960s and 1970s, who dispensed sage advise to next door neighbor young couples while serving them Folger’s Coffee. Born Virginia Christine Kraft in Stanton, Iowa, to the family of Rudolf Kraft, a first generation German farm laborer, she began […]

Virginia Christine (1920 - 1996)

Actress. She is best remembered as “Mrs Olson,” of the Folger’s Coffee television commercials of the 1960s and 1970s, who dispensed sage advise to next door neighbor young couples while serving them Folger’s Coffee. Born Virginia Christine Kraft in Stanton, Iowa, to the family of Rudolf Kraft, a first generation German farm laborer, she began […]

Virginia Clay-Clopton (1825 - 1915)

Author. She wrote “A Belle of the Fifties,” an account of her life in Washington, DC as the wife of a United States Senator.  Family links:  Children:  Ella Clay (____ – 1952)* *Calculated relationship

Virginia Dale (1917 - 1994)

Actress. Popular motion picture figure whose career spanned from the 1930s to the 1980s. Appeared in the 1942 film classic “Holiday Inn” with Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire, playing the prominent role of ‘Lila Dixon.’ (bio by: A.J. Marik) Cause of death: Emphysema

Virginia Dare (1882 - 1962)

American actress of the early silent era. Appeared with Norma Talmadge and Adolphe Menjou in the 1917 drama “The Moth.” (bio by: A.J. Marik)

Virginia Davis (1918 - 2009)

Virginia Davis began working for Walt Disney’s Kansas City company, Laugh-O-Gram Studio, in the summer of 1924. She was hired to act in a film called Alice’s Wonderland, which combined live action with animation. When Laugh-O-Gram failed and Disney moved to Los Angeles, on the basis of Alice’s Wonderland Winkler Pictures signed Disney for a […]

Virginia Dwyer (1919 - 2012)

Actress. For over two decades, she was known as the queen of television’s daytime soap operas. From 1954 to 1962, she had lead roles on daytime programs to include “The Road of Life”, “The Secret Storm”, “Young Dr. Malone”, “Guiding Light” and “As the World Turns”. She was best remembered for her role as matriarch […]