For TIG Saturday, we have a “dad”, a “mom”, and several others…
First up, Henry O'Neill (1891) one of several men who, while younger than Virginia’s real dad, looked more like her grandfather. O'Neill actually appeared with Virginia three times, but only played her dad once. His first appearance was as Frank Eastman, dad to Patsy, the girl who was BORN TO SING (1942). He then appeared as businessman Arthur Freeman in THIS TIME FOR KEEPS (1942), and as Major Reeber in BEST FOOT FORWARD (1943). O'Neill was at Warner Brothers throughout most of Virginia’s career, so appearing in three films with her in the short time they were at the same studio is quite a feat. Looking at his career, O'Neill really played a good number of military officers. I chose the softer photo of “dad” O'Neill with “daughter” Virginia.
The legendary Norma Shearer (1902) was nearing the end of her time at MGM when she got the lead as Mary Haines in THE WOMEN (1939). Through the 1930s, she had been the big star in high budget films at Metro such as Marie Antoinette and Romeo and Juliet but that was coming to an end. She would do three more films in the next three years before calling it a career. Virginia’s role in THE WOMEN as Little Mary, daughter of Mary, was one of the toughest for her to pull off as Ginny didn’t really DO wimpy. She did pull it off, for the most part, as the bathroom scene with Joan Crawford more than makes up for her out of character whininess earlier in the picture. Mom and daughter share the photo.
Ray Walker (1904) played Wally the sound mixer in TOO HOT TO HANDLE (1938), a film where Virginia is billed higher than her role should place her. I’m guessing she lost some scenes to cuts in this one. Walker had a long run as a character player, working in over 260 roles during his career. He worked in the programmers and, if I had to type him, I think reporter was his most common role. A small piece of trivia, IMDb lists him as appearing in the pilot for MISTER ED. He’s seen here with the also uncredited Frank Faylen in THTH.
Claude Thornhill (1909) was a member of the Ray Noble Orchestra when they appeared in THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1936. He would go on to form his own orchestra in 1940 after being urged to do so by Glenn Miller.
Mimi Doyle (1938) is listed as being a “sob sister” in THTH, but I just can’t find her when I scan the film. Since she was a fairly busy actress, working quite a bit for John Ford later on, I should be able to find photos of her on the internet. I didn’t. According to IMDb, both she and her sister Patricia worked as stand ins for Katharine Hepburn. Mimi played a lot of nurses and was always uncredited.
Gail Goodson (1916) appeared in no films with Virginia, but did appear with all three Weidler Brothers in THE PINCH SINGER (1936), the only Weidler Brother film that qualifies one for TIG since it’s the only title of a Weidler Brothers film I ever remember when I’m looking for birthdays. She played an information girl. In her limited career she played chorus girls, made several appearances as a Goldwyn Girl and was the armor double for Ingrid Bergman in JOAN OF ARC. The armor stands in.
