![]() ![]() ![]() She also performed on stage in such shows as ‘That Certain Girl (1967)’ and ‘Barefoot in the Park (1968). In addition, she guest-starred on shows such as ‘Burke’s Law’, ‘Daktari’, and ‘The Outsider’. She and her husband made a pilot for a TV series McGarry and His Mouse (1960), but it was not picked up. Mayo starred in many of the highest-grossing films of the 1950s, including ‘Backfire’, ‘The Flame and the Arrow’, ‘The West Point Story’, ‘The Iron Mistress’, ‘Pearl of the South Pacific, and many others. Critics praised her performance, and the picture became the highest-grossing film in the United States. Mayo accepted the supporting role of unpleasant gold-digger Marie Derry in William Wyler’s drama The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) for Goldwyn, defying stereotypes. The following year, she starred in the musical ‘Wonder Man (1945),’ a smash hit. Mayo’s first lead role was in The Princess and the Pirate (1944), a Goldwyn satire of pirate flicks, opposite to comedian Bob Hope. Samuel Goldwyn, a movie magnate, noticed her skills and startling beauty and signed her to an acting contract with his business. Virginia Mayo made her Broadway debut in 1941 with Eddie Cantor in Banjo Eyes. Louis Municipal Opera after graduating from high school in 1937. Virginia began taking dancing lessons at the age of six from her aunt, who ran a dance studio. She had a fascination with show business since she was a child. ![]() Louis, Missouri, on November 30, 1920, to a newspaper reporter and his wife. As Warner Brothers’ biggest box-office money-maker in the late 1940s, she appeared in a series of comedy films with Danny Kaye. She started her film career as a chorus girl and comic foil before becoming an accomplished actress. In 1941 Jones, now known by the stage name Virginia Mayo, got another career break as she appeared on Broadway with Eddie Cantor in Banjo Eyes.Virginia Mayo was an actress and dancer. Jones toured the American vaudeville circuit for three years, serving as ringmaster and comedic foil for "Pansy the Horse", as Mayo and his partner, Nonnie Morton, performed in a horse suit. Impressed with her ability, her brother-in-law, vaudeville performer, Andy Mayo, recruited her to appear in his act "Morton and Mayo". Louis Municipal Opera Theatre (more commonly known as The Muny) and in an act with six other girls at the Hotel Jefferson. She also was tutored by a series of dancing instructors engaged by her aunt.įollowing her graduation from Soldan High School in 1937, Jones landed her first professional acting and dancing jobs at the St. Young Virginia's aunt operated an acting school in the St Louis area, which Virginia began attending at age six. Her family had roots back to the earliest days of St Louis, including great-great-great grandfather Captain James Piggott, who founded East St. Louis, Missouri, she was the daughter of newspaper reporter Luke and wife, Martha Henrietta (née Rautenstrauch) Jones. She also co-starred in the 1946 Oscar-winning movie The Best Years of Our Lives.īorn Virginia Clara Jones in St. Best known for a series of comedy films with Danny Kaye, Mayo was Warner Brothers' biggest box-office money-maker in the late 1940s. Virginia Mayo (born Virginia Clara Jones Novem– January 17, 2005) was an American actress and dancer.
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