Virginia Grey

Virginia Grey in a publicity sitting for the 1946 film SMOOTH AS SILK. Born in Edendale, California, on March 22, 1917, Grey was the youngest of three daughters of director Ray Grey. She debuted at the age of 10 in the silent film "Uncle Tom's Cabin" (1927) as Little Eva. After a few more films as a child actress, Grey left the business to finish her schooling and then returned again to films as an adult in the 1930s. She started out getting extra work and bit parts and eventually signed a contract with MGM, appearing in several films, including "The Hardys Ride High" (1939), "Another Thin Man" (1939), "The Women" (1939), "Hullabaloo" (1940), and "The Big Store" (1941). She left MGM in 1942, and signed with several different studios over the years, working steadily. Grey was also a regular on television in the 1950s and 1960s, appearing on Playhouse 90, General Electric Theater, Wagon Train, Bonanza, Burke's Law, The Virginian, Ironside and many others. Grey had an on again / off again relationship with Clark Gable in the 1940s. After Gable's wife Carole Lombard died and he returned from military service, Gable and Grey were often seen at restaurants and nightclubs. Many, including Virginia herself, expected Gable to marry her, and tabloids often speculated on a wedding announcement. It was a great surprise when Gable hastily married Lady Sylvia Ashley in 1949, leaving Grey heartbroken. Gable divorced Ashley in 1952; however, he never rekindled his romance with Grey, and Grey's friends say that her hoping and waiting for Gable was the reason she never married. Grey died on July 31, 2004, age 87, in Woodland Hills, California, at The Motion Picture Home where she was a resident.

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