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{{Short description|American actress and singer (1919–2001)}}
{{no footnotes|date=March 2013}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2022}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Virginia O'Brien
| image = Virginia o'brien = VIrginiaOBrien.jpg
| birth_nameimage_size = Virginia Lee O'Brien =
| caption = O'Brien in the 1940s
| birth_date = {{birth date|1919|04|18}}▼
| birth_name = Virginia Lee O'Brien
| birth_place = [[Los Angeles, California]], U.S.
| death_datebirth_date = {{deathbirth date and age|2001|1|16|1919|04|18}}
| death_placebirth_place = [[WoodlandLos HillsAngeles, California]], U.S.
▲| birth_datedeath_date = {{birthdeath date and age|2001|1|16|1919|04|18}}
| death_cause =
| resting_placedeath_place = [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park]],= [[GlendaleWoodland Hills, California]], U.S.
| nationalitydeath_cause = American =
She died aged 81 in [[Woodland Hills, Los Angeles|Woodland Hills,resting_place California]] from natural causes. She is buried at the= [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park]] in, [[Glendale, California]].▼
| known for = rolesRoles in [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|MGM]] musicals
| occupation = actressActress, singer
| years active = 1940–2000
| years_active = 1940–2001
| spouse = [[Kirk Alyn]] (1942–1955)<br/>Vern Evans (1958–1966)<br/>Harry B. White (1968–1996)
| childrenspouse = 4{{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Kirk Alyn]]|1942|1955|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Vern Evans|1958|1966|end=divorced}}
* {{marriage|Harry B. White|1968|1996|end=died}}
}}
| children = 4
}}
 
'''Virginia Lee O'Brien''' (April 18, 1919 – January 16, 2001) was an American actress, singer, and radio personality known for her comedic singing roles in [[Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer]] musicals of the 1940s.
 
==Life and career==
O'Brien primarily performed in comedic roles during the height of her formal film career. This was in part due to her intentionally humorous singing style, which involved her singing in a deadpan manner, with no facial expressions and very little movement– reportedly she stumbled upon this "gimmick" by accident during a stage show when she became virtually paralyzed with [[glossophobia|stage fright]] before singing a number in the Los Angeles stage production ''[[Meet the People]]''. The audience found the performance to be hilarious and she was soon hired to repeat this performance in a number of movies beginning in 1940, for which she gained the nicknames "Frozen Face" and "Miss Ice Glacier" amongst others. When she wasn'twas not singing, her acting style was just as emotive as other actresses, and she didn'tdid not always employ her gimmick when singing, as evidenced by her performance in the excerpt from ''[[Show Boat]]'' in the 1946 film ''[[Till the Clouds Roll By]]''. She made her Broadway debut in the short-lived musical ''[[Keep Off The Grass]]'' with Jimmy Durante, and recorded four of the songs for Columbia Records. She also recorded several sides for [[Decca Records]], including two of her signature songs – "[[The Wild, Wild West (song)|The Wild, Wild West]]" and "[[Say We're Sweethearts Again]]."
 
Among the films she appeared in during her time at MGM were ''[[The Big Store]]'' (1941) with the [[Marx Brothers]], ''[[Lady Be Good (1941 film)|Lady Be Good]]'' (1941) and, ''[[Ship Ahoy (film)|Ship Ahoy]]'' (1942) with [[Eleanor Powell]] and [[Red Skelton]], ''[[Thousands Cheer]]'' (in which she endured ribbing from [[Mickey Rooney]] about her singing style), ''[[DuBarry Was a Lady (film)|Du Barry Was a Lady]]'' (with Skelton and [[Lucille Ball]]), the film version of ''[[Meet the People]]'' with [[Dick Powell]], ''[[The Harvey Girls]]'' (with [[Judy Garland]]), and ''[[Ziegfeld Follies (film)|Ziegfeld Follies]].''. After appearing once again with Red Skelton in 1947's ''[[Merton of the Movies (1947 film)|Merton of the Movies]]'', and after a guest appearance the following year in the short, ''[[Musical Merry-Go-Round]],'', O'Brien was suddenly dropped from her MGM film contract, and she moved into television and back to live performances.▼
 
She made two film appearances after this: ''[[Francis in the Navy]]'' (1955) and a brief appearance in the 1976 [[List of assets owned by Disney#Studio Entertainment|Walt Disney Studios]] comedy, ''[[Gus (1976 film)|Gus]].''. She was among the stars in a 1972 nostalgia revue entitled ''[[The Big Show of 1928]]'' with [[Allan Jones (actor)|Allan Jones]], [[Cass Daley]], [[Beatrice Kay]], and [[Sally Rand]], which toured the country and played New York's [[Madison Square Garden]]. In 1984, she created a cabaret act, "Virginia O'Brien Salutes the Great MGM Musicals"," which was recorded at the Masquer's Club in Hollywood, and is currently available on CD and on [[iTunes]]. She performed several times at such clubs as Hollywood's [[Roosevelt Hotel (Hollywood)|Roosevelt Hotel]] Cinegrill, the Vine St. Bar and Grill, and the Gardenia, as well as the Plush Room in San Francisco.▼
▲Among the films she appeared in during her time at MGM were ''[[The Big Store]]'' (1941) with the [[Marx Brothers]], ''[[Lady Be Good (1941 film)|Lady Be Good]]'' (1941) and ''[[Ship Ahoy]]'' (1942) with [[Eleanor Powell]] and [[Red Skelton]], ''[[Thousands Cheer]]'' (in which she endured ribbing from [[Mickey Rooney]] about her singing style), ''[[DuBarry Was a Lady (film)|Du Barry Was a Lady]]'' (with Skelton and [[Lucille Ball]]), the film version of ''[[Meet the People]]'' with [[Dick Powell]], ''[[The Harvey Girls]]'' (with [[Judy Garland]]) and ''[[Ziegfeld Follies (film)|Ziegfeld Follies]]''. After appearing once again with Red Skelton in 1947's ''[[Merton of the Movies (1947 film)|Merton of the Movies]]'', and after a guest appearance the following year in the short ''[[Musical Merry-Go-Round]]'', O'Brien was suddenly dropped from her MGM film contract and she moved into television and back to live performances.
 
She continued to perform well into the 1990s with both her one-woman show and a production of ''[[Show Boat]],'' co-starring [[Alan Young]], and also headlined [[The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies]].▼
▲She made two film appearances after this: ''[[Francis in the Navy]]'' (1955) and a brief appearance in the 1976 [[List of assets owned by Disney#Studio Entertainment|Walt Disney Studios]] comedy, ''[[Gus (1976 film)|Gus]]''. She was among the stars in a 1972 nostalgia revue entitled [[The Big Show of 1928]] with [[Allan Jones (actor)|Allan Jones]], [[Cass Daley]], [[Beatrice Kay]] and [[Sally Rand]], which toured the country and played New York's [[Madison Square Garden]]. In 1984, she created a cabaret act, "Virginia O'Brien Salutes the Great MGM Musicals", which was recorded at the Masquer's Club in Hollywood, and is currently available on CD and on [[iTunes]]. She performed several times at such clubs as Hollywood's [[Roosevelt Hotel (Hollywood)|Roosevelt Hotel]] Cinegrill, the Vine St. Bar and Grill and the Gardenia, as well as the Plush Room in San Francisco.
 
She died aged 81 in [[Woodland Hills, Los Angeles|Woodland Hills, California]], from natural causes.<ref name="auto">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7-DgDAAAQBAJ&dq=virginia+o%27brien+burial+site+scott+wilson&pg=PA557|title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.|first=Scott|last=Wilson|date=August 17, 2016|publisher=McFarland|isbn=9780786479924|via=Google Books}}</ref> She is buried at the [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park]] in [[Glendale, California]].<ref name="auto"/>
▲She continued to perform well into the 1990s with both her one-woman show and a production of ''[[Show Boat]]'' co-starring [[Alan Young]], and also headlined [[The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies]].
 
O'Brien was a registered [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] and was supportive of [[Dwight Eisenhower]]'s campaign during the [[1952 United States presidential election|1952 presidential election]].<ref>''Motion Picture and Television Magazine'', November 1952, page 34, Ideal Publishers</ref> She also adhered to [[Catholicism]].<ref>Morning News, January 10, 1948, ''Who Was Who in America'' (Vol. 2).</ref>
▲She died aged 81 in [[Woodland Hills, Los Angeles|Woodland Hills, California]] from natural causes. She is buried at the [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Memorial Park]] in [[Glendale, California]].
 
==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;"
{| border="2" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaa solid; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 90%;"
|-style="background:#B0C4DE;"
! Year
! Film
Line 66 ⟶ 74:
|
|-
| ''[[Ship Ahoy (film)|Ship Ahoy]]''
| Fran Evans
|
Line 75 ⟶ 83:
| Specialty Singer
|-
| ''[[Du Barry Was a Lady (film)|Du Barry Was a Lady]]''
| Ginny
|
Line 127 ⟶ 135:
|}
 
==SourcesReferences==
{{Reflist}}
* {{cite news|url=http://www.classicimages.com/1999/january99/virginiaobrien.html|title=Virginia O'Brien, The Diva of Deadpan|last=Van Neste|first=Dan|date=January 1999|work=[[Classic Images]]|access-date=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040813221406/http://www.classicimages.com/1999/january99/virginiaobrien.html|archive-date=2004-08-13|dead-url=yes|df=}}▼
 
===Sources===
▲* {{cite news|url=http://www.classicimages.com/1999/january99/virginiaobrien.html|title=Virginia O'Brien, The Diva of Deadpan|last=Van Neste|first=Dan|date=January 1999|work=[[Classic Images]]|access-date=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040813221406/http://www.classicimages.com/1999/january99/virginiaobrien.html|archive-date=2004-08-13|deadurl-url=yes|dfstatus=dead}}
 
==Further reading==
* {{cite book |last= Alistair |first= Rupert |title= The Name Below the Title : 65 Classic Movie Character Actors from Hollywood's Golden Age |chapter= Virginia O'Brien |pages= 188–191 |date= 2018 |edition= First |type= softcover |publisher= Independently published |location= Great Britain |isbn = 978-1-7200-3837-5}}
 
==External links==
{{Portal|Biography}}▼
{{Commons category}}
* Virginia O'Brien at BearManor Media [http://www.bearmanormedia.com/virginia-obrien-mgms-deadpan-diva-softcover-edition-by-robert-strom VIRGINIA O'BRIEN: MGM'S DEADPAN DIVA (SOFTCOVER EDITION) by Robert Strom]
* {{IMDb name|0639877}}
* {{Tcmdb name}}
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* {{AllMovie name|53301}}
* [http://www.artistdirect.com/nad/store/artist/album/0,,3330719,00.html Virginia O'Brien – Salutes the Great MGM Musicals] at ArtistDirect.com
 
▲{{Portal bar|Biography}}
{{Authority control}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obrien, Virginia}}
[[Category:1919 births]]▼
[[Category:2001 deaths]]▼
[[Category:American film actresses]]
[[Category:American female singers]]▼
[[Category:American musical theatre actresses]]
[[Category:American people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:Actresses from Los Angeles]]
▲[[Category:1919 births]]
▲[[Category:2001 deaths]]
[[Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players]]
[[Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)]]
[[Category:20th-century American singers]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
▲[[Category:20th-century American femalewomen singers]]
[[Category:Catholics from California]]
[[Category:California Republicans]]
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