Virginia Anna Adeleid Weidler

 Virginia Anna Adeleid Weidler (March 21, 1927– July 1, 1968)

Weidler was an American child actress, popular in Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s. She made her first film appearance in 1931. Her first credited role was as Europena in Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch (1934) a role she won at age seven after having been seen in the play Autumn Crocus. For the next several years, she would appear in many memorable films from George Stevens' Laddie (1935) to a pivotal supporting role in Souls at Sea (1938) starring Gary Cooper and George Raft. Despite being under contract to Paramount, just as many of her roles of the period took place while on loan to RKO-Radio Pictures. When Paramount did not extend her contract, she was signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1938. Her first film for MGM was with their leading male star Mickey Rooney in Love Is a Headache (1938). The film was a success and Weidler was later cast in larger roles.

She was one of the all-female cast of the 1939 film The Women, as the daughter of Norma Shearer's character. Her next major success was The Philadelphia Story (1940) in which she played Dinah Lord, the witty younger sister of Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn). Her film career ended with the 1943 film Best Foot Forward. After her retirement, Weidler gave no interviews for the remainder of her life. She died at age 41 in Los Angeles on July 1, 1968. Weidler suffered from a heart ailment for many years and suffered a fatal heart attack. She was married from 1947 until her death, and had two sons.