Virginia Grey American actress Date of Birth: 22.03.1917 Country: USA

Biography of Virginia Grey

Virginia Grey was an American actress born on March 22, 1917, in Los Angeles, California. She came from a family with a strong connection to show business, as her father, Ray Grey, was a director and her mother worked as a film editor. One of her first nannies was Gloria Swanson.

Grey made her film debut at the age of 10, playing the role of Eva in the historical drama "Uncle Tom's Cabin" directed by Harry A. Pollard in 1927, depicting the horrors of slavery in America. After appearing in a few more films, she temporarily left the movie industry to complete her education.

In the 1930s, Grey easily returned to the film set, initially taking on small roles. She soon signed a contract with MGM, which cast her in leading roles in low-budget films and supporting roles in high-budget productions. In 1942, she left MGM and went on to work for almost every major Hollywood studio.

Grey had a successful career in both films and television and retired from the business in the 1970s. Throughout her life, she maintained a close friendship with producer Ross Hunter and appeared in almost all of the major films he worked on. Notably, she once said, "Notice that I didn't appear in 'Lost Horizon.'" She was referring to the infamous fantasy remake based on James Hilton's story, which was critically panned and marked the end of Hunter's Hollywood career.

In the 1940s, Grey had an on-again, off-again relationship with Clark Gable. After the death of his wife, Carole Lombard, Gable and Grey were often seen together in restaurants and nightclubs. Many, including Grey herself, expected that Gable would propose to her. However, it came as a shock when Gable hastily married Sylvia Ashley in 1949. Despite the heartbreak, Grey never married, hoping and believing that Gable would return to her. She learned about his divorce in 1952, but their romance never rekindled.

Grey's final role was in the television drama "The Lives of Jenny Dolan" in 1975. She passed away on July 31, 2004, in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California. In her own words, she considered herself a professional entertainer who provided amusement and was paid for it, rather than someone who expressed her soul or sought to perfect the art of cinema.