- Born
- Died
- Birth nameSherman Virginia Poole
- Nickname
- Ginny
- Virginia Gilmore's father was a British army officer who retired to California. Educated at a convent in Hollywood, she made her stage debut at 15 with a San Francisco theater company and at 20 made her first movie for Samuel Goldwyn. Although her career started out well, she was soon relegated to leading and supporting parts in B pictures, and as offers dwindled, she retired from films in 1952. She still kept her hand in show business as a stage and television actress, and eventually became a drama coach.- IMDb Mini Biography By: frankfob2@yahoo.com
- While probably better recalled as Yul Brynner's former wife, stunningly beautiful, stage-trained Virginia Gilmore made close to a dozen or so "B" level films during the early 1940s and should definitely be accorded more credit in the Hollywood annals than merely her one-time wifely status to a big star. Her better roles tended to be unsympathetic in nature, to the point of being deliciously bitchy and spiteful.
Born on July 26, 1919, to a prominent family in El Monte, California, Virginia was christened Sherman Virginia Poole. Her father, Albion Winchester Poole, who was a one-time English army officer, and mother, Lady May (Addams) Poole, divorced while Virginia was still young. Later on she dropped her first name, took on her middle name as her first name, and adopted her stepfather's last name (Gilmore). She was schooled in Hollywood at the Immaculate Heart Convent until the family moved to Burlingame (near San Francisco) in her teens. Acting sparked an early interest for Virginia and, as a teenager, she took to doing plays in the local San Francisco area. At the age of 16, she played Curley's wife in the premiere of "Of Mice and Men" at the John Steinbeck Theatre in nearby Monterey. Continuing on in local theatre, she eventually drew the interest of Samuel Goldwyn, who signed her to a seven-year contract at $50.00 a week.
Virginia made her movie debut eighth-billed as Dartmouth college student Margie in the frothy Ann Sheridan starrer Winter Carnival (1939), with a promising distaff cast that included Helen Parrish, Joan Leslie and Marsha Hunt. From there she immediately graduated to leading love interests opposite Tim Holt in Laddie (1940) and Robert Sterling in Manhattan Heartbeat (1940). A feisty title lead in Jennie (1940) led to her co-star status with Cesar Romero in Tall, Dark and Handsome (1941) and as part of a love triangle in between Robert Young and Randolph Scott in Western Union (1941), which was directed by Fritz Lang from the Zane Grey novel. During this time Virginia lost out on a couple of meaty roles that might have elevated her secondary status in Hollywood -- the Doris Davenport role in Gary Cooper's The Westerner (1940) and the ingénue role of Alexandra (played by Teresa Wright) in the classic Bette Davis film drama The Little Foxes (1941). She completed the year 1941 with Swamp Water (1941), as Mabel McKenzie -- one of her best unsympathetic roles, and Mr. District Attorney in the Carter Case (1941).
1942 was a banner year for the beautiful, leggy actress film wise. In Berlin Correspondent (1942), Virginia played a pro-Nazi sympathizer at odds with newsman Dana Andrews; the ill-fated girlfriend of the famed poet in The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe (1942); another manipulative role in the ensemble female film Orchestra Wives (1942) headed by Carole Landis; and a secondary coquettish role in the Gary Cooper film The Pride of the Yankees (1942), not to mention highly visual roles in Sundown Jim (1942), and That Other Woman (1942). Following a role in the war film The Fighting Guerrillas (1943), Virginia refocused to the stage with parts in the Broadway shows "Those Endearing Young Charms" (1943) and "The World's Full of Girls" (1943). She earned her best Broadway role with the comedy play "Dear Ruth," but lost out on the subsequent movie part when it went to Joan Caulfield.
Virginia's life and career changed forever in 1944 when she met Yul Brynner, then a TV director. They married that same year on September 6th. She continued on the stage with "Dunnigan's Daughter" (1945) and "Truckline Cafe" (1946) after her Goldwyn contract ended with the Danny Kaye vehicle Wonder Man (1945). The actress made only two more films: Close-Up (1948) and Walk East on Beacon! (1952). The stage and TV took up most of Virginia's attention in the following years until she abandoned it all to play wife and mother. Their son, Yul, Jr. (aka "Rocky"), later became the actor Rock Brynner. Following her roller coaster marriage and eventual divorce to Yul Brynner Sr. in 1960, Virginia returned only occasionally to performing, which include stage roles in "Critic's Choice" and "Sweet Bird of Youth".
In later years Virginia developed an interest in zoology and took courses at the University of California, eventually graduating from the University of Vienna as a qualified cytologist. She also later taught drama at Yale University. A recovering alcoholic, Virginia gave much of her time helping others and was a primary spokesperson for Alcoholics Anonymous. The former actress died in Santa Barbara, California, of emphysema in 1986.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net
- SpouseYul Brynner(September 6, 1944 - March 26, 1960) (divorced, 1 child)
- Suffered from alcoholism for a number of years, but recovered and later became a leader in the Alcoholics Anonymous program, where she volunteered much of her time. She went on to teach drama at Yale University for several years.
- Was a Hollywood starlet in 1942 when she met future husband Yul Brynner. He had only been in America a few months and knew very little English at the time, waiting on tables, parking cars and singing gypsy songs in clubs to make ends meet.
- Her son, Yul "Roc" Brynner, wrote the biography on his father "Yul, The Man Who Would Be King", in which he chronicles his parents' stormy marriage.
- Gave birth to her only child at age 27, son Yul Brynner, on December 23, 1946. Child's father is her now late ex-husband, Yul Brynner.
- "Gilmore" is her stepfather's name.
- [on her marriage to Yul Brynner] I don't think two actors can manage together. The separations aren't good. Two careers can make for many problems. Someone has to give. So I quit. I really quit work. I even got over the desire to.
- I was the Queen of the B's for years. But I was never a movie actress. My original training was for the stage. The movies want a personality. I just never was that. I'm not interested in being that. The screen is the director's medium. The stage belongs to the actors. Once the curtain is up, the director is non-existent.
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