Virginia Mayo

Virginia Mayo (born Virginia Clara Jones; November 30, 1920 – January 17, 2005) was an American actress. She was in a series of popular comedy films with Danny Kaye and was Warner Bros.' biggest box-office draw in the late 1940s. Virginia's aunt operated an acting school in the St. Louis area, which Virginia began attending at age six.

She toured the American vaudeville circuit for three years, serving as ringmaster and comedic foil for "Pansy the Horse," performed by Andy Mayo and his partner, Nonnie Morton, in a horse suit.

Sam Goldwyn

In the early 1940s, Virginia Mayo's talent and striking beauty came to the attention of movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn, who signed her to an acting contract with his company.

Goldwyn only made a few films a year and usually lent out the actors he had under contract to other producers. Her first notable role was in Jack London (1943), which starred her future husband Michael O'Shea for producer Samuel Bronston.

Mayo was placed in the chorus of the film Up in Arms just so she could learn, but she was never officially a member of the Goldwyn Girls. Then, RKO borrowed her for a support role in a musical, Seven Days Ashore (1944).

Stardom

Mayo's first starring role came in 1944 opposite comedian Bob Hope in The Princess and the Pirate (1944), a spoof of pirate movies made by Goldwyn. Goldwyn then made her Danny Kaye's leading lady for the musicals Wonder Man (1945) and The Kid from Brooklyn (1946), both very popular. According to widely published reports from the late 1940s, the Sultan of Morocco declared her beauty to be "tangible proof of the existence of God."

Later career Mayo acted on stage for the rest of her career, mostly in dinner theatre and touring shows. Productions included No, No Nanette (1972), 40 Carats (1975), Good News (1977), Move Over Mrs Markham (1980) and Butterflies Are Free (1981).

Mayo continued to occasionally appear on television in shows such as Police Story, Night Gallery, The Love Boat, Remington Steele, and Murder, She Wrote, and a dozen episodes of the soap opera Santa Barbara. In 1993, Mayo published a Christmas themed children's book entitled, Don't Forget Me, Santa Claus through Barrons Juveniles Publishers.

Personal life

Mayo wed actor Michael O'Shea in 1947, and they remained married until he died in 1973. The couple had one child, Mary Catherine O'Shea (born in 1953). For several decades, the family lived in Thousand Oaks, California.

In later years, she developed a passion for painting and also occupied her time doting on her three grandsons. A lifelong Republican, she endorsed Richard Nixon in 1968 and 1972, and longtime friend Ronald Reagan in 1980.

Death Mayo died of pneumonia and complications of congestive heart failure in the Los Angeles area on January 17, 2005, aged 84, at a nursing home in Thousand Oaks. She is buried next to O'Shea in Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Park in Westlake Village, California.

Filmography Film roles

Short subjects

Television credits

Year Title Role Notes1957 Conflict Episode: "Execution Night"1958 Wagon Train Beauty Jamison Episode: "The Beauty Jamison Story" The Loretta Young Show Myrna Nelson Episode: "Operation Snowball"1959 Schlitz Playhouse of Stars Gloria Crawford Episode: "Deathtrap"1960 McGarry and His MouseKitty McGarry TV Movie 1965 Burke's Law Dr. Terry Foster Episode: "Who Killed the Man on the White Horse?"1967 Daktari Vera Potter Episode: "Judy and the Gorilla"1969 The Outsider Jean Daniels Episode: "Behind God's Back"1971 Night Gallery Carrie Crane Segment: "The Diary"1975 Police Story Angie Episode: "Face for a Shadow"1977 Lanigan's Rabbi Margaret Alton Episode: "The Cadaver in the Clutter"1984 Santa Barbara Peaches DeLight 12 episodesRemington Steele Herself Episode: "Cast in Steele" Murder, She Wrote Elinor Episode: "Hooray for Homicide" 1986 The Love Boat Virginia Wilcox Episode: "Hello, Emily/The Tour Guide/The Winning Number"1997 The Naked Truth Herself Episode: "Bridesface Revisited"

Live theater That Certain Girl (1967, Thunderbird Hotel, Las Vegas) Barefoot in the Park (1968 National Company) No, No Nanette (1972 National Company) 40 Carats (1975/May–June, Hayloft Dinner Theatre, Lubbock, Texas) Good News (1977, Paper Mill Playhouse) Mover Over Mrs. Markham (1980 National Tour) Butterflies Are Free (1981 Tour) Follies (1995, Houston and Seattle)

Radio appearances Year Program Episode/source 1946 Lux Radio Theatre Wonder Man 1951 Lux Radio Theatre Bright Leaf 1952 Lux Radio Theatre Captain Horatio Hornblower 1953 Lux Radio Theatre This Woman Is Dangerous 1953 Lux Summer Theatre China Run 1954 Lux Radio Theatre The Iron Mistress