Virginia Gilmore (July 26, 1919 – March 28, 1986), née Sherman Virginia Poole, was an American film, stage, and television actress.

Biography

Virginia Gilmore was born Sherman Virginia Poole in El Monte, California. Her father was a retired officer of the British Army. Gilmore began her stage career in San Francisco at the age of 15, but moved to Los Angeles in 1939 to pursue work in films.

When her movie career was not progressing, Gilmore mustered the nerve to approach Samuel Goldwyn at his home. As a result of their meeting, he promised her a screen test. She did soon land some small movie roles. Her better known film appearances both occurred in 1941: Western Union, directed by Fritz Lang, and Swamp Water directed by Jean Renoir.

When her movie role options began to dwindle, Gilmore left Los Angeles for New York City and started working on Broadway. In 1943, Gilmore played in "Those Endearing Young Charms" and “The World’s Full of Girls”. In 1944, she played the title role in “Dear Ruth”, which was directed by Moss Hart. Also in that year Gilmore married Yul Brynner. The couple had one son, Yul Brynner II (born December 23, 1946), nicknamed "Rock" when he was six by his father in honor of boxer Rocky Graziano, who won the middleweight title in 1947. They divorced in 1960.

Starting in the late 1940s, Gilmore had many television roles. In 1949, she and Brynner were featured on “We’re On”, a tv series on NBC. Between 1966 and 1968, Gilmore taught drama at Yale University. In her later years, Gilmore was a leader in Alcoholics Anonymous. She died of emphysema at her home in Santa Barbara, California in 1986. She was 66 years old.

Selected films

• Winter Carnival (1939)
• Laddie (1940)
• Manhattan Heartbeat (1940)
• Jennie (1940)
• Tall, Dark and Handsome (1941)
• Western Union (1941)
• Swamp Water (1941)

• That Other Woman (1942)
• The Pride of the Yankees (1942)
• Berlin Correspondent (1942)
• The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe (1942)
• Orchestra Wives (1942)
• Wonder Man (1945)
• Close-Up (1948)

Stage performances

• Those Endearing Young Charms (1943)
• The World's Full of Girls (1943)
• Dear Ruth (1944)
• Truckline Cafe (with Marlon Brando) (1946)
• The Grey-Eyed People (1952)
• Critic's Choice (with Henry Fonda) (1960)

External links

• The New York Times - Virginia Gilmore

References

• The New York Times, March 29, 1986
• Los Angeles Times, April 1, 1986
• Almanac of Famous People, 8th Edition, Gale Group 2003.