Virginia Leith
Virginia Leith | |
|---|---|
 Leith in The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962) | |
| Born | October 15, 1925 Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | November 4, 2019 (aged 94) Palm Springs, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1953–1962, 1977–1981 |
| Spouse(s) | |
Virginia Leith (October 15, 1925 – November 4, 2019) was an American film and television actress.
Career[]
Leith starred in a few films, with her most productive period coming in the 1950s. Her debut was also the first film directed by Stanley Kubrick, a self-financed art house film, Fear and Desire (1953).[1] She signed a contract with 20th Century-Fox in 1954 and had leading roles in films such as Violent Saturday (1955), Toward the Unknown, On the Threshold of Space, and opposite Robert Wagner and Joanne Woodward in the crime drama A Kiss Before Dying (all 1956). Her most recognizable role may have been that of a decapitated woman whose head is kept alive in The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962, shot 1959).
She left acting after her 1960 marriage to actor Donald Harron. Following her divorce from Harron, in the 1970s Leith resumed her career and appeared mainly in television shows, including Starsky and Hutch, Barnaby Jones, and Baretta. She left the screen again in the early 1980s.[2]
Personal life[]
She was involved with actor Jeffrey Hunter during his divorce in 1955. She dated actor Marlon Brando in 1956.[3][4] Leith died on November 4, 2019 at the age of 94.[5] Upon her death, her body was donated to medical science at the UCLA Medical School.
Filmography[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1953 | Fear and Desire | Young Girl | |
| Here Come the Girls | Chorus Girl | Uncredited | |
| 1954 | Black Widow | Claire Amberly | |
| 1955 | White Feather | Ann Magruder | |
| Violent Saturday | Linda Sherman | ||
| 1956 | On the Threshold of Space | Pat Lange | |
| A Kiss Before Dying | Ellen Kingship | ||
| Toward the Unknown | Connie Mitchell | ||
| The 20th Century-Fox Hour | Irene Bennett | Episode: "The Last Patriarch" | |
| 1958 | Sing, Boy, Sing | Stewardess | Uncredited |
| Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre | Barbara | Episode: "The Bravado Touch" | |
| The Millionaire | Lil Harrigan | Episode: "The Frank Harrigan Story" | |
| 1959 | Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond | Sally Conroy | Episode: "The Bride Possessed" |
| 1961 | Great Ghost Tales | Episode: "August Heat" | |
| 1962 | The Brain That Wouldn't Die | Jan Compton | |
| 1977 | Baretta | Sally Locker | Episode: "Guns and Brothers" |
| Starsky & Hutch | Margaret Blaine | Episode: "Death in a Different Place" | |
| First Love | Mrs. March | Uncredited |
References[]
- ^ "A Silent Virginia is Discovered". Life. May 11, 1953. p. 122. ISSN 0024-3019.
- ^ "Virginia Leith Biography". Brian's Drive-In Theater. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
- ^ "Virginia Leith Profile". Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
- ^ Nyren, Erin (November 13, 2019). "Virginia Leith, Female Lead in Stanley Kubrick's First Film, Dies at 94".
- ^ "Virginia Leith, Star of 'The Brain That Wouldn't Die,' Dies at 94". The Hollywood Reporter.
External links[]
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Virginia Leith. |
- 1925 births
- 2019 deaths
- 20th-century American actresses
- Actresses from Cleveland
- American film actresses
- American television actresses
- 20th Century Fox contract players