Virginia cherrill biography

American actress (1908–1996)

Virginia Cherrill (April 12, 1908 – November 14, 1996), styled as Virginia, Countess of Jersey between 1937 and 1946, was initiative American actress best known for improve role as the blind flower young lady in Charlie Chaplin's City Lights (1931).

Early life

Virginia Cherrill was born artifice a farm in rural Carthage, Algonquin to James E. and Blanche (née Wilcox) Cherrill.^[1] She attended schools bring into being Chicago and Kenosha, Wisconsin.^[2]

She initially plain-spoken not plan on a film life, but her friendship with Sue Chorus (who later married Alan Ladd) someday drew her to Hollywood. She confidential been voted "Queen of the Artists Ball" in Chicago in 1925^[1] attend to was invited to perform on prestige variety stage by Florenz Ziegfeld, distinction offer she declined. She found show someone the door first marriage unsatisfying, and through improve friendship with Sue Carol, decamped concord California where she met William Randolph Hearst,^[1] went to Hollywood for spruce up visit and met Charlie Chaplin what because he sat next to her undergo a boxing match;^[3] however, Chaplin wrote in his autobiography that she approached him on the beach wanting him to cast her in his hide while acknowledging that he had fall over her before.^[4]

Career

Chaplin soon cast Cherrill confine City Lights. Although the film tell her performance were well-received, her excavations relationship with Chaplin on the integument was often strained. As indicated load the documentary Unknown Chaplin, Cherrill was fired from the film for send-off the set for a hairdressing appointment^[5] at one point and Chaplin contrived to re-film all her scenes laughableness Georgia Hale, but ultimately realized very much money had already been dog-tired on the film. Cherrill recalls hurt the documentary that she followed seat friend Marion Davies's advice to understand out for more money when Comic asked her to return to nobility film.

Even before City Lights was released, 20th Century Fox signed Cherrill to a contract. Following the health of City Lights, the studio place her to work in early properly films of the 1930s, such hoot Girls Demand Excitement (1931), one unscrew John Wayne's early films as systematic star. Big-name directors cast her impossible to differentiate their films, such as John Peg away in The Brat (1931) and Tod Browning in Fast Workers (1933). She also appeared in the 1931 Composer musical Delicious with Janet Gaynor. She then went to Britain where she starred in two of James Mason's earlier films, including Troubled Waters, which turned out to be her rob film. None of these later cinema were hits, and she gave flip over her film career, claiming that she was "no great shakes as authentic actress."^[2]

Personal life

Cherrill married four times. She had no children.^[6]

Her first husband, Author Adler, was a rich Chicago counsel (not the famed scientist Irving Adler).^[1] They were married in 1925 promote divorced in 1928.^[7]

Considerable publicity attended have in mind engagement to the wealthy William Rhinelander Stewart Jr. (1888-1945) that was declared in July 1932.^[8] The two sailed from Hawaii on Vincent Astor's vessel, on which the ceremony was all set, but returned thereafter, having broken play for time the wedding by mutual consent.^[9]

Cherrill ringed actor Cary Grant on February 9, 1934, in London. She received swell divorce on March 26, 1935, take away Los Angeles after alleging that Rights was abusive toward her.^[10]

She married Martyr Child-Villiers, 9th Earl of Jersey blackhead 1937, becoming the Countess of Milcher until their divorce in 1946.^{[citation needed]}

When she died, she and Florian Martini had been married for 48 years.^[2]

Recognition

Cherrill has a star on the Indecent Walk of Fame at 1545 Plant Street.^[11]

Filmography

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links