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Virginia Davis

Virginia Davis

Acting

Biography

Virginia Davis (December 31, 1918 - August 15, 2009) was born in Kansas City, Missouri. Her father was a traveling furniture salesman and spent much time away from home. With her husband gone for weeks at a time, Margaret Davis, a housewife, focused all her attention on her daughter; she began taking Virginia to dancing lessons and modeling auditions when she was 2. A striking child with long curls, Virginia was soon appearing in advertisements that played between films in local theaters. She also entered Georgie Brown's Dramatic School in Kansas City, where she studied drama and dance. In the summer of 1923, 22-year-old Walt Disney, a struggling but ambitious director, saw Virginia in an advertisement in a Kansas City theater and immediately decided to hire her. He quickly contacted Margaret Davis, who was eager to advance her Virginia's career. Alice's Wonderland (1923), the first short film of the Alice series, was filmed at the Davis home in Kansas City; both Margaret Davis and Walt Disney made brief appearances (which marked Disney's first live appearance in one of his own cartoons). After filming, Disney returned to Hollywood and began to build his movie empire with only forty dollars and one short film starring little Virginia Davis. The Davis family soon followed Disney to Hollywood, although their daughter's career was not the only reason for the move; Virginia had suffered pneumonia and other health problems, and her doctor told her parents that she would be healthier in a drier, warmer climate. Virginia signed her first contract with Disney for a salary of $100 a month, and she began filming the Alice shorts in Walt Disney's first studio, his uncle's garage. His brother Roy O. Disney was the cameraman, and the Disney family dog Peggy appeared in many of the films. The Alice shorts became very popular, providing Disney with his first national success. But as the series progressed, Disney became more interested in the animation aspect, which minimized Virginia's live-action role; she only made about thirteen of the Alice shorts before her contract was severed. She later auditioned for the role of voice of Snow White in Disney's film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), but she didn't get the role because her mother refused to accept the frugal salary. Virginia had some small roles in full-length films, including The Harvey Girls (1946), before she left acting to earn a degree from the New York School of Interior Design. She later became an editor for the 1950s magazine "Living for Young Homemakers", and in the 1960s she began working for real estate agents in Connecticut and later California. In 1992, interest was renewed in the Alice series. Living in retirement in Montana, Virginia was suddenly overwhelmed by the number of fans seeking to honor her and the remarkable role she played in the birth of Walt Disney Studios. She was the guest of honor at the Pordonone Silent Film Festival in Italy in 1992, and she was inducted as a Disney Legend in 1998. Virginia also became very active in silent film festivals and events at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.

Known For

The Harvey Girls
6.6

On a train trip out west to become a mail-order bride, Susan Bradley meets a cheery crew of young women traveling out to open a "Harvey House" restaurant at a remote whistle-stop.

The Harvey Girls

1946
Vivacious Lady
7.0

College town life gets turned upside down after a button-down botany professor secretly weds a sizzling night-club singer.

Vivacious Lady

1938
Song of the Islands
7.0

With his sidekick Rusty, Jeff Harper sails to paradisiacal tropical isle Ahmi-Oni to bargain on behalf of his cattle baron father for land owned by transplanted Irishman Dennis O'Brien. But Jeff falls in love with O'Brien's daughter, Eileen, and even his father can't break them up after he arrives and himself falls under the spell of island splendor.

Song of the Islands

1942
Three on a Match
6.3

Although Vivian Revere is seemingly the most successful of a trio of reunited schoolmates, she throws it away by descending into a life of debauchery and drugs.

Three on a Match

1932
The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story
7.8

There's not a person in the world who wouldn't recognize Mickey Mouse. But until now, not many knew the man who originally gave shape, movement and personality to the world's most beloved icon. "The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story" takes you behind the scenes to meet Walt Disney's best friend and chief animator.

The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story

1999
Murder at the Vanities
5.5

Shortly before the curtain goes up the first time at the latest performance of Earl Carroll's Vanities, someone is attempting to injure the leading lady Ann Ware, who wants to marry leading man Eric Lander. Stage manager Jack Ellery calls in his friend, policeman Bill Murdock, to help him investigate. Bill thinks Jack is offering to let him see the show from an unusual viewpoint after he forgot to get him tickets for the performance, but then they find the corpse of a murdered woman and Bill immediately suspects Eric of the crime.

Murder at the Vanities

1934
Street Scene
6.8

The setting is a city block during a sweltering summer, where the residents serve as representatives of the not-very-idealized American melting pot. There is idle chitchat, gossip, jealousy, racism, adultery, and suddenly but not unexpectedly, a murder.

Street Scene

1931
Escort Girl
3.3

A pair of nightclub owners run a string of escort bureaus where men pay for the "companionship" of young women. The district attorney sends an undercover agent to infiltrate the bureaus.

Escort Girl

1941
The Greater Glory
8.0

Fanny von Berg's engagement to Count Maxim von Hurtig is suddenly broken off and she is denounced by her family for a suspected indiscretion. When they are reduced to starvation by the war, the family members accept her earnings without acknowledging the source. As the hostess of a Viennese night club, Fanny becomes the mistress of a rich war profiteer. The Count, loving her still, prevents her from making further sacrifices for her or his people, and they find ultimate happiness in the prospect of a new life together. A lost film.

The Greater Glory

1926
College Holiday
6.1

College students rally to save a struggling hotel from closing. Comedy.

College Holiday

1936
Hands Across the Rockies
7.2

Wild Bill Hickock and Cannonball help two young people in love and bring the murderer of Cannonball's father to justice.

Hands Across the Rockies

1941
A Ship Comes In
5.7

Film which tells the story of immigrants coming to the United States.

A Ship Comes In

1928
Alice's Wonderland
6.1

Instead of Wonderland, Alice visits the Walt Disney animation room.

Alice's Wonderland

1923
Alice's Day at Sea
4.9

Alice's trip to the sea inspires her to dream of a visit to an animated underwater world.

Alice's Day at Sea

1924
Alice's Fishy Story
5.0

Alice wants desperately to get out of practicing her piano so she can go have fun with her friends. She tricks her mother into thinking she's still playing by getting her dog to play for her, and then she and the gang hitch a ride to the local pond where they spend their time fishing. While there, she envisions what it would be like to go fishing at the North Pole.

Alice's Fishy Story

1924
Alice's Spooky Adventure
5.3

When a ball is accidentally knocked through the window of a neighbourhood haunted house, Alice is the only one brave enough to go inside to retrieve it. While she's in there she falls and bumps her head, sending her to a cartoon dream-world in which she rescues a cat and battles some spirits in a ghost town.

Alice's Spooky Adventure

1924
Alice Gets in Dutch
5.3

Alice misbehaves in school and is forced to sit in the corner. She falls asleep and dreams, but schoolwork intrudes even into her dreams. Alice dreams of dancing dogs and donkeys until her fun is interrupted by three walking schoolbooks.

Alice Gets in Dutch

1924
Alice in the Jungle
5.3

Alice and Julius the cat are riding an elephant through the jungle. Julius falls and is nearly eaten by crocodiles but manages to escape nevertheless. Meanwhile, two elephant children are having fun at a watering hole and a monkey barber has his barber pole eaten by a hippo, who mistakes it for a candy cane. Julius tries to remedy the latter injustice by starching up a tiger's striped tail and knocking it off, using it as a replacement pole. Alice hunts a lion who proves to be too much for her to handle, but Julius bravely comes to the rescue.

Alice in the Jungle

1925
Alice Hunting in Africa
4.9

Alice and Julius go on a safari in Africa to hunt wild game, but they get very different results.

Alice Hunting in Africa

1924
Alice the Piper
6.3

The rats are out of control in Hamlin; they've taken over the kitchen, but when they take over the King's bedroom, that's the last straw. He posts a $5 reward, which the rats change to $5,000. Alice and Julius accept the challenge; they play a tune and the rats gather around, but they won't fall for the old "follow me into the river" trick. Fortunately, a very powerful vacuum cleaner is nearby, and Alice and Julius suck all the rats into it. The king gives them their reward: $5.

Alice the Piper

1924