After accidentally erasing this entry earlier, I’m starting all over again.
Actor Sam Ash (1884) had a full career in Broadway musicals before coming to Hollywood with the advent of the talkie. He played mostly uncredited roles as waiters and singers and was a headwaiter in LOVE IS A HEADACHE (1938) Ginny’s first film for MGM after leaving Paramount and the one that won her a long term deal from Leo. Ginny and her partner in crime, Mr. Rooney, fill in.
Australian born John T. Murray (1886) appeared in almost 100 roles before his career ended in the same year as Ginny’s. He was in three Hardy family films, including two as Don Davis, Druggist. His biggest part was probably as Talleyrand in ALEXANDER HAMILTON. He played Jones in MEN WITH WINGS (1938). The photo is a screen cap from LAST DAYS OF POMPEII.
Stanley Andrews (1894) is best remembered for a role that came almost two decades after his Ginnypearances, that of The Old Ranger on DEATH VALLEY DAYS. He kept that role as host for ten years until Borax wanted a younger man, Ronald Reagan. He was in three of Virginia’s films, playing a servant with a dog in THE BIG BROADCAST OF 1936, a judge in PETER IBBETSON (1935), and the first mate in SOULS AT SEA (1937).
Morris Ankrum (1897) came to film from a career in law and economics, but he just looks better with ribbons on his chest. He played lots of military officers, especially in the science fiction films of the 1950s. BEST FOOT FORWARD (1943) was exactly Sci-fi, but Ankrum was there in uniform as Col. Harkrider. I see him almost daily as a judge on PERRY MASON, a great place to find classic actors, and he was often a guest on my favorite WB westerns. Here he is in one of his sci-fi roles.
James Wong Howe (1899) is one of the most remembered cinematographers. His career behind the camera spanned more than 50 years and ended with FUNNY LADY in 1975. He won two Oscars (HUD and THE ROSE TATTOO) and was nominated eight other times. He was on the film SURRENDER (1931), a film the four year old Virginia had a brief part in.
H.N. Swanson (1899) had a brief career as a film executive before he moved on to the career he’s known for, representing writers in their selling of literary rights for motion pictures. He represented F. Scott Fitzgerald, Frank Buck, James M. Cain, Pearl Buck, and William Faulkner among many others. Before this he was Associate Producer of AFTER TONIGHT (1933).
Charles Boyer (1899) was a star. You know him best from the legendary GASLIGHT, I really liked CONFIDENTIAL AGENT (even if a Spaniard had a French accent). He was Duc de Praslin in ALL THIS AND HEAVEN TOO (1940) and is seen here dancing with his lovely daughter, Louise (Virginia Weidler).
Babe London (1901) played fat ladies. Born Jean Glover, she was quite in demand during the 1920s, working with Stan Laurel, Harry Langdon, and Lloyd Hamilton among others. By the 1940s, she was in small roles and was the fat lady in the balcony in THIS TIME FOR KEEPS (1941). After she retired from films, she painted portraits of the silent legends and those painting are housed at the University of Wyoming. She’s the frightened lady to Virginia’s right as the tantrum builds.
Donald O'Connor (1925) played ten year old Pat, the object of eight year old Peggy’s (Virginia) undying love in MEN WITH WINGS. They’d grow up to be Louise Campbell and Fred McMurray before anything would be done about it. O'Connor finally settled at Universal and made a lot of great 1940s musicals that studio refuses to make available to us. Today we see him in later works like SINGING IN THE RAIN and the FRANCIS pictures, but I want to see those O'Connor-Ryan and O'Connor-Gloria Jean musicals. In an odd coincidence, his frequent dance partner shared the same birthday so I’ve chosen a photo of Donald with Peggy Ryan. Peggy never appeared with Virginia in a film, but she holds a soft spot in my heart because she once said in an interview that she had to land at Universal because MGM already had Virginia Weidler, who she thought of as her “type” (perky and funny).
