Virginia Bruce
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 | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 4.483 |
Birthday | 1910-09-29 |
Place of Birth | Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA |
Also Known As | Helen Virginia Briggs, |
1948
Night Has a Thousand Eyes
6.7/39
When heiress Jean Courtland attempts suicide, her fiancée Elliott Carson probes her relationship with John Triton. In flashback, we see how stage ment...
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Night Has a Thousand Eyes
1935
The Murder Man
7/12
Steve Grey, reporter for the Daily Star, has a habit of scooping all the other papers in town. When Henry Mander is investigated for the murder of his...
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The Murder Man
1940
The Invisible Woman
5.7/66
Kitty Carroll, an attractive store model, volunteers to become a test subject for a machine that will make her invisible so that she can use her invis...
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The Invisible Woman
1936
The Great Ziegfeld
6.2/119
Lavish biography of Flo Ziegfeld, the producer who became Broadway's biggest starmaker.
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The Great Ziegfeld
1936
Born to Dance
6/23
On leave, a sailor falls in love with a young lady aspiring to become a Broadway dancer, but their relationship is jeopardized by an established Broad...
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Born to Dance
1938
There Goes My Heart
7.2/12
An heiress takes a job as a department store clerk.
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There Goes My Heart
1932
Winner Take All
5.3/6
Overworked boxer Jim goes to a health ranch in New Mexico to recover where he falls in love with Peggy and her sickly son. Once recovered, Jim leaves...
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Winner Take All
1960
Strangers When We Meet
6.265/34
A suburban architect loves his wife but is bored with his marriage and with his work, so he takes up with the neglected, married beauty who lives down...
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Strangers When We Meet
1944
Action in Arabia
5.9/10
Reporter Michael Gordon uncovers intrigue in Damascus, where the Allies and Nazis struggle for control of Arab sympathies.
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Action in Arabia
1930
Raffles
5.8/11
A distinguished English gentleman has a secret life--he is the notorious jewel thief the press has dubbed "The Amateur Cracksman". When he meets a wom...
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Raffles
1934
The Mighty Barnum
0.5/1
20th Century Fox's highly fabricated film biography of circus showman P. T. Barnum stars Wallace Beery (as Barnum), Virginia Bruce (as Jenny Lind), Ja...
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The Mighty Barnum
1940
Flight Angels
4.3/3
Federal Airlines ace pilot Chick Faber is grounded by Flight Superintendent Bill Graves when a doctor says his eyesight is failing. Aided by Mary Norv...
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Flight Angels
1940
Hired Wife
6.8/4
Ad man Stephen Dexter asks his secretary Kendall to marry him as a loophole in order to protect his finances during an important business deal. Once t...
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Hired Wife
1949
State Department: File 649
5/5
Kenneth Seeley, member of the U. S. State Department's Foreign Service Bureau, and Marge Weldon, a morale worker with the bureau, are assigned to an a...
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State Department: File 649
1936
The Garden Murder Case
5.5/12
Detective Philo Vance is in charge of the investigation of several mysterious murders. Things take a turn when he gathers evidence against Major Fenwi...
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The Garden Murder Case
1938
Arsène Lupin Returns
5.8/7
A woman and a man vying for a woman's affection: the usual love trio? Not quite so since the belle in question is Lorraine de Grissac, a very wealthy...
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Arsène Lupin Returns
1940
The Man Who Talked Too Much
6/4
A young law graduate joins his older brother's legal practice, only to discover the firm's clients are mostly mobsters. Director Vincent Sherman's 194...
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The Man Who Talked Too Much
1932
Downstairs
6.9/15
In the Austrian manor of Baron and Baroness von Burgen, the relationship between the upstairs aristocracy and the downstairs staff is quite positive....
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Downstairs
1938
Yellow Jack
5.6/8
A fairly accurate historical account of Walter Reed's search for the cause of "Yellow Jack" or Yellow Fever and those who risked their lives in the pu...
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Yellow Jack
1935
Society Doctor
6.3/3
Two surgeons (Chester Morris, Robert Taylor) in love with a nurse (Virginia Bruce) end their rivalry in the operating room.
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Society Doctor
1934
Dangerous Corner
5.7/3
Friends uncover a dark secret when they compare notes about a theft and suicide.
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Dangerous Corner
1935
Let 'em Have It
7/4
Let 'Em Have It is a 1935 gangster film. It was also known as The Legion of Valour and False Faces. An FBI agent tracks down a gang leader.
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Let 'em Have It
1935
Escapade
0/0
A romantic comedy-drama-musical of mistaken identity, infidelity and farce, set in Vienna at the turn of the 20th century.
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Escapade
1934
Jane Eyre
4.9/10
Jane Eyre is an orphan who was raised by her aunt until she came to Thornfield Hall as governess to the young ward of Edward Rochester. But Jane is at...
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Jane Eyre
1939
Let Freedom Ring
6/3
A Harvard man fights a railroad baron with a disguise and the power of the press.
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Let Freedom Ring
1939
Stronger Than Desire
5.8/6
An attorney handling a murder case in unaware his own wife played a crucial role in the killing.
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Stronger Than Desire
1939
Society Lawyer
5.1/7
Society lawyer Christopher Durant agrees to defend his friend Phil Siddall when Siddall is arrested for the murder of an ex-girlfriend. With the help...
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Society Lawyer
1935
Shadow of Doubt
6.2/4
When a Hollywood producer is murdered, the most likely suspect is a man who is smitten with the victim's fiancee.
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Shadow of Doubt
1929
Woman Trap
5.2/4
In Woman Trap, Hal Skelly is hard-bitten police sergeant Dan Malone, whose mission in life is to rid his community of gangsters. The revelation that D...
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Woman Trap
1942
Careful, Soft Shoulders
6/1
In this espionage movie, set in Washington during WW II, the daughter of an ex-senator has become a dress model. She is approached by an American coun...
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Careful, Soft Shoulders
1937
Between Two Women
5.7/3
Allen Meighan, an intern, assures himself residency at 'General Hospital', when he saves the life of a man trapped in an explosion. Allen is in love w...
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Between Two Women
1944
Brazil
5.2/8
Brazil is perhaps the best of the handful of US films made by Brazilian singing sensation Tito Guizar. In typical screwball-comedy fashion, the plot i...
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Brazil
1935
Metropolitan
0/0
Opera prima donna leaves the Metropolitan to form her own company with Tibbett as leading man. She leaves this company too which means Tibbett and com...
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Metropolitan
1938
The First Hundred Years
6/1
David and Lynn are a happily married couple. When David gets his dream job in another state, Lynn, a high-powered executive, doesn't want to leave NYC...
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The First Hundred Years
1941
Adventure in Washington
6.5/2
A troubled youth is offered the opportunity to serve as a Senate page in Washington, DC.
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Adventure in Washington
1937
When Love Is Young
0/0
In this drama, a girl from a small town in Pennsylvania dreams of being a star while she goes to school. The trouble is, no one notices her. Later a m...
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When Love Is Young
1939
Hollywood Hobbies
5.6/5
In this short film, two starstruck movie fans hire a tour guide and see a plethora of Hollywood stars.
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Hollywood Hobbies
1954
The Plague
6/1
A nurse in the Red Crescent (the Turkish equivalent of the Red Cross) fights to save the populace during a plague.
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The Plague
1930
The Social Lion
6/1
Marco Perkins is a garage mechanic and a would-be-prizefighter who gets a place on the ritzy country club's polo team because he is the town's most pr...
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The Social Lion
1937
The Bad Man of Brimstone
6/2
A ruthless outlaw becomes very protective of a prizefighter when he learns the young man is his own son.
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The Bad Man of Brimstone
1932
The Miracle Man
5.6/5
A gang of crooks evade the police by moving their operations to a small town. There the gang's leader, John Madison, encounters a faith healer and use...
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The Miracle Man
1930
Young Eagles
0/0
Lieut. Robert Banks, an American aviator on leave in Paris, meets Mary Gordon, a young American who lives abroad, but their romance is cut short by hi...
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Young Eagles
1937
Wife, Doctor and Nurse
4/1
Social butterfly marries Park Avenue doctor and learns that his nurse is in love with him.
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Wife, Doctor and Nurse
1930
Follow Thru
7.2/4
Lora Moore, the club champion, loses a golf match to a woman from another golf club. Then Jerry Downs, a handsome golf pro, and his goofy friend, Jack...
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Follow Thru
1938
Woman Against Woman
6.5/2
A newlywed unhappily discovers that her husband's scheming ex-wife still has a controlling influence in his life and home.
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Woman Against Woman
1930
Safety in Numbers
5/2
Before handing over a large inheritance, a guardian hires three chorus girls to educate his charge about the "underside" of big-city life.
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Safety in Numbers
1929
River of Romance
0/0
Mississippi, 1830's. Tom Rumsford comes back to Magnolia Landing, his parents'estate. Having been brought up in the North by Quaker relatives, he just...
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River of Romance
1935
Times Square Lady
6/2
A young Iowa woman inherits her late estranged father's New York business, but the dead man's crooked associates think they can outwit the naive heir...
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Times Square Lady
1938
There's That Woman Again
5/1
Bill Reardon, a private detective, is working on a case involving stolen items from a local jewelry store. The case takes a different turn when Bill's...
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There's That Woman Again
1935
Here Comes the Band
5/1
In this musical, a songwriter goes to court to claim the rights to his song that was stolen by an unscrupulous music publisher. He brings his girlfrie...
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Here Comes the Band
1974
That's Entertainment!
7.246/59
Various MGM stars from yesterday present their favorite musical moments from the studio's 50 year history.
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That's Entertainment!
1945
Love, Honor and Goodbye
4.5/2
A lawyer's wife walks out on him, then poses as a French nurse to spy on him.
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Love, Honor and Goodbye
1937
Women of Glamour
5/1
A girl with a reputation falls for a wealthy playboy.
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Women of Glamour
1932
Kongo
6.3/20
The ruthless Flint, a disabled man, rules an isolated region of Kongo like an omnipotent god, through superstition and sadism, living only for the day...
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Kongo
1942
Butch Minds the Baby
0/0
Aloysius 'Butch' Grogan leads a life of criminal activities motivated to provide for a widow and her child. He's on lookout for a gang of safe cracker...
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Butch Minds the Baby
1942
Pardon My Sarong
6.5/22
A pair of bus drivers accidentally steal their own bus. With the company issuing a warrant for their arrest, they tag along with a playboy on a boat t...
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Pardon My Sarong
1930
Let's Go Native
7.5/2
The company of a musical comedy gets shipwrecked on a tropical island inhabited by a "king" from Brooklyn and his coterie of wild native girls.
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Let's Go Native
1955
The Reluctant Bride
5/2
A money-to-burn and girl-chasing Texas oilman, and a sensitive, dignified entomologist find themselves in charge of a brood of wild kids whose parent...
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The Reluctant Bride
1930
Whoopee!
6.5/11
Western sheriff Bob Wells is preparing to marry Sally Morgan; she loves part-Indian Wanenis, whose race is an obstacle. Sally flees the wedding with h...
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Whoopee!
1929
Pointed Heels
7.2/2
Fay Wray plays a beautiful showgirl who falls for a rich Park Avenue guy played by Phillips Holmes. William Powell is a producer in love with Miss Wr...
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Pointed Heels
1930
Paramount on Parade
6.4/7
This 1930 film, a collection of songs and sketches showcasing Paramount Studios' contract stars, credits 11 directors
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Paramount on Parade
1932
Sky Bride
0/0
Barnstorming pilots Speed Condon, Bill Adams, and Eddie Smith travel the country with their manager, Alec Dugan, performing at fairs and air shows and...
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Sky Bride
1930
The Love Parade
6.586/29
The queen of mythical Sylvania marries a courtier, who finds his new life unsatisfying.
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The Love Parade
1930
Slightly Scarlet
5/1
Passing herself off as a countess, glamorous Lucy Stavrin hobnobs with the rich and famous along the French Riviera. Aware that Lucy is a phony, jewel...
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Slightly Scarlet
1935
A Dream Comes True
5.5/1
A promotional short to hype the production of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935).
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A Dream Comes True
1935
Pirate Party on Catalina Isle
5.6/8
Various Hollywood performers put on a pirate-themed variety show on Catalina Island, with a number of amiable stars in the audience.
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Pirate Party on Catalina Isle
1940
Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
6.5/3
This 1940 presentation features highlights of earlier (1928 onward) Oscar ceremonies including Shirley Temple and Walt Disney, plus acceptance speeche...
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Cavalcade of the Academy Awards
2003
Complicated Women
6.7/11
Looks at the stereotype-breaking films of the period from 1929, when movies entered the sound era, until 1934 when the Hays Code virtually neutered fi...
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Complicated Women
1938
Hollywood Goes to Town
7/3
This short shows how Hollywood gets ready for the world premiere of an "important" movie. The film celebrated here is Marie Antoinette (1938), which h...
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Hollywood Goes to Town
1988
James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
6/1
Documentary about James Stewart's long career as an actor and positive personal life.
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James Stewart: A Wonderful Life
1929
Fugitives
0/0
Nightclub singer Alice Carroll is found in the office of club owner Al Barrow, who is lying dead on the floor. Alice has been overheard threatening to...
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Fugitives
1930
Lilies of the Field
3.5/2
Mildred Harker loses custody of her child in a messy divorce settlement. Leaving her hometown in disgrace, Mildred heads to New York, where after a cr...
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Lilies of the Field
1939
Land of Liberty
0/0
This film tells the history of the United States from pre-Revolution through 1939.
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Land of Liberty
1929
Hard to Get
0/0
A dress shop employee falls in love with a millionaire.
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Hard to Get
1930
Only the Brave
0/0
Cooper is a Union Army officer who after being jilted by girlfriend, Virginia Bruce, volunteers on what could be a suicide mission. He volunteers to g...
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