Virginia Davis (December 31, 1918 – August 15, 2009) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
movieFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
child actorThe term child actor is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion the latter is also called a former child actor...
. She was born in
Kansas City, MissouriKansas City is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties. It is one of two county seats of Jackson County, the other being Independence, just to the city's east...
.
Davis began working for
Walt DisneyWalter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon and philanthropist. Disney is famous for his influence in the field of entertainment during the twentieth century. As the co-founder Walter Elias...
's Kansas City company,
Laugh-O-Gram StudioLaugh-O-Gram Studio was a film studio located on the second floor of the McConahay Building at 1127 East 31st in Kansas City, Missouri.The studio played a role in the early years of animation: it was home to many of the pioneers of animation, brought there by Walt Disney, and is said to be the...
, in the summer of 1924. She was hired to act in a film called
Alice's Wonderland, which combined
live actionIn film, theatre and video, live-action refers to works that are acted out by human actors, as opposed to by animation. As it is the norm, the term is usually superfluous, but it makes an important distinction in situations in which one might normally expect animation, as in a Pixar film, a video...
with
animationAnimation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. It is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in a number of ways...
. When Laugh-O-Gram failed and Disney moved to Los Angeles, on the basis of
Alice's Wonderland Winkler Pictures signed Disney for a series known as the
Alice ComediesThe "Alice Comedies" are a series of animated cartoonscreated by Walt Disney in the 1920s, in which a live action little girl named Alice, originally played by Virginia Davis and later Dawn O'Day, Margie Gay, and Lois Hardwick and an animated cat named Julius have adventures in an animated...
, or
Alice In Cartoonland. Disney convinced Davis' family to bring her from Missouri to Los Angeles to star in the series.
Virginia Davis (December 31, 1918 – August 15, 2009) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
movieFilm encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects....
child actorThe term child actor is generally applied to a child acting in motion pictures or television, but also to an adult who began his or her acting career as a child; to avoid confusion the latter is also called a former child actor...
. She was born in
Kansas City, MissouriKansas City is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties. It is one of two county seats of Jackson County, the other being Independence, just to the city's east...
.
Early career
Davis began working for
Walt DisneyWalter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon and philanthropist. Disney is famous for his influence in the field of entertainment during the twentieth century. As the co-founder Walter Elias...
's Kansas City company,
Laugh-O-Gram StudioLaugh-O-Gram Studio was a film studio located on the second floor of the McConahay Building at 1127 East 31st in Kansas City, Missouri.The studio played a role in the early years of animation: it was home to many of the pioneers of animation, brought there by Walt Disney, and is said to be the...
, in the summer of 1924. She was hired to act in a film called
Alice's Wonderland, which combined
live actionIn film, theatre and video, live-action refers to works that are acted out by human actors, as opposed to by animation. As it is the norm, the term is usually superfluous, but it makes an important distinction in situations in which one might normally expect animation, as in a Pixar film, a video...
with
animationAnimation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. It is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in a number of ways...
. When Laugh-O-Gram failed and Disney moved to Los Angeles, on the basis of
Alice's Wonderland Winkler Pictures signed Disney for a series known as the
Alice ComediesThe "Alice Comedies" are a series of animated cartoonscreated by Walt Disney in the 1920s, in which a live action little girl named Alice, originally played by Virginia Davis and later Dawn O'Day, Margie Gay, and Lois Hardwick and an animated cat named Julius have adventures in an animated...
, or
Alice In Cartoonland. Disney convinced Davis' family to bring her from Missouri to Los Angeles to star in the series. During this time, Davis resided at the
La BreaLa Brea is Spanish for "the tar" or "the tar pits") and may refer to:* The La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California* La Brea, Trinidad and Tobago, home to the famous Pitch Lake* La Brea District in Peru...
Apartments in Hollywood, California.
The Viennese Medley
In 1925, Davis played the role of Resi in
The Viennese Medley, a First National Pictures production. The film's director, Curt Rohfeld, remarked that Davis "... has the technique of a finished artist, the unusual ability to follow direction and the disposition of an angel. Not once during the picture was it necessary for me to explain any angle twice and, with all of her mature understanding, the youthful charm still remains, making a rare and appreciated combination."
While filming
The Viennese Medley, Davis signed a
contractIn law, a contract is a binding legal agreement that is enforceable in a court of law. That is to say, a contract is an exchange of promises for the breach of which the law will provide a remedy....
with
Harry CareyHarry Carey was an American actor and one of silent film's earliest superstars.-Early life and career:...
and the two actors worked together in
The Man From Red Gulch (1925).
The Blue Bird
In December 1929, Davis was in the cast of
The Blue Bird at the
Pasadena PlayhouseThe Pasadena Playhouse is a historic theatre located in Pasadena, California.-History:The Playhouse's history began in 1917 when actor/director Gilmor Brown began producing a season of plays at an old burlesque house he called the Savoy...
. The fairy play included Janet Horning, a child actress who was only two years old. The cast included 150 children.
Other Work
Davis did voice testing for a role in Disney's first feature-length animation film
Snow White and the Seven DwarfsSnow White and the Seven Dwarfs is a American animated feature based on the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Snow White. It was the first full-length cel-animated feature in motion picture history, as well as the first animated feature film produced in America, the first produced in full color, the first...
(1937) as well as some of the little boys' voices in
PinocchioPinocchio is a American animated feature produced by Walt Disney and based on the story Pinocchio: Tale of a Puppet by Carlo Collodi. The second film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics, it was made after the success of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and was released to theaters by RKO Radio...
(1940), but was not hired.
Retirement
Recalling her work on the "Alice" films, Virginia said, "It was a great time — full of fun, adventure, and 'let's pretend.' I adored and idolized Walt, as any child would. He would direct me in a large manner with great sweeping gestures. One of my favorite pictures was
Alice's Wild West Show. I was always the kid with the curls, but I was really a tomboy, and that picture allowed me to act tough. I took great joy in that."
Over the next 20 years, Virginia went on to work at other Hollywood Studios as a child actress and, later, as a supporting actress. She sang, danced, and acted in such films as
Flying Down to RioFlying Down to Rio is a musical film made by RKO and released on December 29, in 1933.The film was directed by Thornton Freeland and produced by Merian C. Cooper and Lou Brock. The screenplay was written by Erwin S. Gelsey, H.W. Hanemann and Cyril Hume, based on a story by Lou Brock and a play by...
,
Vivacious LadyVivacious Lady is a U.S. black-and-white romantic comedy film starring Ginger Rogers and James Stewart, produced and directed by George Stevens, and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The screenplay was written by P.J. Wolfson and Ernest Pagano and adapted from a short story by I. A. R. Wylie...
,
Young and Beautiful,
College Holiday,
Song of the Islands,
Three on a Match,
The Harvey GirlsThe Harvey Girls is a MGM musical film based on a 1942 novel by Samuel Hopkins Adams about Fred Harvey's famous Harvey House restaurants. Directed by George Sidney, the film stars Judy Garland, John Hodiak, Angela Lansbury, Virginia O'Brien, Ray Bolger, and Marjorie Main...
and
Weekend in Havana, among others. On several occasions, she used the screen name Mary Daily, and appeared in such films as
Hands Across the Rockies with cowboy star Bill Elliott. During her Hollywood tenure, she also occasionally worked for her old boss, Walt Disney, did a vocal test for
Snow White, voiced some supporting characters in
Pinocchio and served a short stint in the Disney Studio's Ink-and-Paint department.
In 1943, she married Navy aviator Robert McGhee, and the couple had two daughters. During their 59-year marriage, they resided in New Jersey, Connecticut, Southern California, and Idaho. Over a 25-year period, Virginia worked as a real estate agent mostly in the Irvine, California, and Boise, Idaho, areas.
During the 1990s, Virginia Davis attended a number of Disney cruises and conventions to sign autographs for fans. In September 2007, she attended the Mid Atlantic Nostalgia Convention to participate in a special salute to her screen career, including a
documentaryA documentary is a creative work of non-fiction, including:* Documentary film, including television* Radio documentary* Documentary photographyRelated terms include:...
and a question and answer session on stage. It was her final public appearance for fans of the "Alice" films.
In her final years her constant companion was a little dog she named "Buster Brown".
Death
After a year of failing health, Virginia Davis-McGhee died of natural causes in her home in
Corona, CaliforniaCorona is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 124,966. The city of Norco lies to the northeast, Chino Hills and Yorba Linda to the west, and the Cleveland National Forest to the southwest; unincorporated areas of...
on August 15, 2009, aged 90.
Sources
- Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California since 1881. It is distributed throughout the Western United States. It is the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States and the fourth-most widely distributed newspaper in the United States...
, "New Members of Players' Club", April 20, 1924, p. J3
- Los Angeles Times, "Older Sisters' Art Emulated", August 23, 1925, p. 20
- Los Angeles Times, "Tiny Actress In Blue Bird", December 29, 1929, p. 20
- Los Angeles Times, "Around And About In Hollywood", March 24, 1934, p. 7
External links