Virginia Pearson

Acting

Virginia Pearson

Born 1886-03-07 · Anchorage, Kentucky, USA

From Wikipedia Virginia Belle Pearson (March 7, 1886 - June 6, 1958) was an American stage and film actress. She made fifty-one films in a career which extended from 1910 until 1932. Born in Anchorage, Kentucky, Pearson worked for a brief time as an assistant in the public library in Louisville, Kentucky after completing school. Pearson trained in the tradition of the stars of the American stage, and played in stock productions in Washington, D.C. and New York City. In New York she played the heroine in Hypocrisy, a story which laid bare "the shame of society." She was promoted by William Fox of Fox Film Corporation for the same kind of strong vamp parts as those played by Theda Bara. Among her movies is Blazing Love (1916), Wildness of Youth (1922), The Vital Question (1916), Sister Against Sister (1917), The Red Kimona (1925), Wizard of Oz (1925), and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). In 1916 Pearson and her husband, movie actor Sheldon Lewis, severed their ties with the Virginia Pearson Producing Company. The couple affiliated themselves with the Independent Productions Company, capitalized at $1,000,000. In 1924 the couple were forced to declare bankruptcy. In 1928, Pearson was legally divorced from Lewis. At the time, it was considered bad box office for screen actresses to be married. However the two remained constant companions., and resided for many years at the old Hollywood Hotel. Later they lived at the Motion Picture Country Hom. Virginia Pearson died of uremic poisoning in Hollywood on June 6, 1958 nearly a month to the day after Sheldon Lewis. She was 72. Funeral services were held at the Pierce Brothers Hollywood Chapel. She was buried with an unmarked grave in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery.

Acting credits

The Phantom of the Opera poster
7.1

The deformed Phantom who haunts the Paris Opera House causes murder and mayhem in an attempt to make the woman he loves a star.

The Phantom of the Opera

1925

The Wizard of Oz poster
5.5

A farm girl learns she is a princess and is swept away by a tornado to the land of Oz.

The Wizard of Oz

1925

Stolen Honor poster
NR

A famous picture, stolen from an Italian gallery, finds its way to the Corcoran gallery in Washington. When its identity with the stolen painting is discovered, plans are made to restore the canvas to the rightful owners, but in pursuance of a plot of jealousy, it is made to appear that Virginia Lake has copied the painting and has substituted the copy for the original; retaining the latter. The plot is helped by Virginia's absence on an errand of mercy, but in the end her innocence is established and justice is done.

Stolen Honor

1918

Back Street poster
6.4

A woman's love for and devotion to a married man results in her being relegated to the "back streets" of his life.

Back Street

1932

Thou Shalt Not Steal poster
NR

Mary Bruce is wooed by Lord Haverford but loves Roger Benton, her father's secretary. To finalize his marriage proposal, Lord Haverford offers her father a large sum of money and, being low on funds, Mr. Bruce accepts it, then places it in a safe. Horrified by her father's actions, Mary steals the cash from the safe that night, but on her way out is overcome by another thief whose wrist she bites in the ensuing tussle.

Thou Shalt Not Steal

1917

The Firebrand poster
NR

At the time of the Russian Revolution, Princess Natalya falls in love with Julian Ross, an American of Russian descent who has been imprisoned for writing revolutionary tracts. She arranges his release, telling him that she is a governess in the home of Prince Andrei Rostoff, who is actually her uncle.

The Firebrand

1918

The War Bride's Secret poster
NR

The War Bride's Secret is a 1916 American silent drama film.

The War Bride's Secret

1916

Atta Boy poster
9.0

Monty Milde, would-be newspaper reporter, stumbles into a high-profile kidnapping mystery.

Atta Boy

1926

A Prince of a King poster
7.0

In a kingdom in fifteenth century Italy, Duke Roberto overthrows the king and abandons his heir Gigi in the wilderness to die. However, he is discovered by a troupe of Gypsy acrobats and emerges as their star performer.

A Prince of a King

1923

The Love Auction poster
7.0

Lea Montrose marries Dorian Vandeveer, but soon finds that he is a drunk. Dorian tries without success to reform and Lea abandons any hopes for her marriage. Instead she joins a cult headed by Dr. Studholm Charters. One of Lea's former boyfriends, Jack Harley, returns to town, having become wealthy, and he and Lea rekindle their relationship.

The Love Auction

1919

Lightning Hutch poster
8.0

A scientist invents a poison gas; the villain and his gang will do anything to get the formula; our hero, "Lightning Hutch", is sent to save the scientist, the scientist's beautiful daughter, and the formula.

Lightning Hutch

1926

Wildness of Youth poster
10.0

Andrew Kane, the spoiled and wayward son of once wealthy parents, vies with stockbroker James Surbrun for the hand of Jule Grayton, the wild and willful daughter of a philanthropist. Accused of murdering his rival, Kane is convicted but later cleared of the charge. The "wild" couple settle down and find happiness in reconciliation.

Wildness of Youth

1922

All for a Husband poster
NR

Celeste Hardin wants to set up her brother Henry, a confirmed bachelor, with her college friend Henrietta Downs, believing that she wold be a good wife for him. Henry and Henrietta discover Celeste's scheme and decide to play a trick on her--Henrietta will pose as Myra Haynes, an escaped lunatic and pretend to be in love with Henry. However, the real Myra Haynes attends a political rally, at which Henry declares his intention to run for mayor, and she becomes convinced that he is her long-lost lover, also named Henry. Complications ensue.

All for a Husband

1917

Smilin' Guns poster
8.0

After "Dirty Neck" Jack Purvin sees a newspaper photograph of Eastern socialite Helen Van Smythe, soon to arrive at the nearby dude ranch, he hightails it to San Francisco in order to learn how to become a gentleman. Returning to the ranch, the new but not necessarily improved Jack shreds his dandified image in order to save Helen from a lecherous but decidedly fake count and her mother from a jewel thief.

Smilin' Guns

1929

Wrath of Love poster
NR

Roma Winnet, the author of Jealousy, loves and marries Bob Lawson, but worries that her own difficulties with that emotion will destroy their relationship. When Dave Blake enlists in the secret service, he entrusts Ethel Clarke, his girlfriend and Roma's best friend, to Bob's care, an arrangement that immediately causes Roma to fret.

Wrath of Love

1917

Silence poster
8.0

Jim Warren, a crook, is married to Norma, but there was a flaw in their marriage papers and he must marry her again to protect their unborn child. He returns home and gives her some money but it has been stolen and she is sent to jail as an accomplice. To get her out, he is forced to marry another woman and Norma, thinking Jim has deserted her marries Phil Powers, and gives birth to Jim's daughter. Years later, Jim meets his daughter in the midst of a blackmail scheme against Norma over her earlier imprisonment. The daughter shoots the blackmailer, and Jim takes the blame.

Silence

1926

The Red Kimona poster
5.8

A woman is abandoned by her lover and prostitution is the only way she has to survive.

The Red Kimona

1925

The Bishop's Emeralds poster
7.0

Mabel Bannister, the daughter of Richard Bannister, visits the wealthy Cardews at Ripley Manor and falls in love with young Jack Cardew, the son of the Bishop of Ripley, Lord John Cardew. Jack asks Mabel to marry him and Jack's stepmother Lady Hester approves, but the bishop doesn't because he knows nothing about Mabel's family. The family invites Mabel and her parents to dinner at the manor to get acquainted--but it turns out that few people in both families are quite what they appear to be, and each side has secrets that they don't want the other to find out.

The Bishop's Emeralds

1919

The Taxi Mystery poster
8.0

Young millionaire Harry Canby, returning from a cruise, finds a taxi without a driver on the docks and helps a young girl escape some ruffians who are pursuing her. She disappears, but Harry identifies her as Nancy Cornell from an inscribed cigarette case and finds the driver, who is then killed before he can reveal her whereabouts. Harry is suspected of the crime, but his guardian, Willoughby Thomson, vouches for him. At a society party given by Mrs. Jameson, Harry learns that the girl is a musical comedy star, but when he confronts her she denies knowledge of the taxi incident.

The Taxi Mystery

1926

Impossible Catherine poster
7.0

The head of the Kimberly household rules it with an iron fist. Unfortunately the head of the Kimberly household isn't Grant (J.H. Gilmore), the father and wealthy Wall Street magnate -- it's his spoiled, headstrong daughter Catherine (Virginia Pearson). She is so willful that she has earned the name "Impossible Catherine," and her whole focus in life is to prove women's superiority over the masculine gender.

Impossible Catherine

1919

When False Tongues Speak poster
NR

After Mary Page marries Fred Walton, she soon discovers that he is a womanizer. She tries to ignore Fred's affairs but, refuses to file for divorce even when Platt Sinclair, her husband's lawyer, urges her to do so. Mary does not realize that Sinclair is actually helping Fred, who is in love with his current mistress, Helen Lee, and wants to marry her. To escape her misery, Mary organizes a settlement house in the slums and there meets reporter Eric Mann, with whom she becomes very close.

When False Tongues Speak

1917

The Actress poster
10.0

A theatrical troupe from the west end of London loses its leading lady when she goes off to marry a rich young man from the other side of town. The rest of the play deals with the budding romance and trials and tribulations of their love, as well as the changing face of late-19th-century theatre.

The Actress

1928

Mum's the Word poster
6.1

A widow has married rich, but didn't tell her husband about her son. And he's coming for a surprise visit. To hide his identity he is introduced as the husband's new valet, but still the husband has some doubts about a few strange scenes. And during the night, when the son tries to visit his mother, the husband always starts interfering, but the new maid also behaves strangely, trying to sneak into the husband's room...

Mum's the Word

1926

The Primrose Path poster
9.0

A naive high school girl falls for the school's star football player. Her ignorance in the matters of sex leads to pregnancy and heartbreak.

The Primrose Path

1931

Behind the camera