Virginia Pearson

From Wikipedia Virginia Belle Pearson March 7 1886 June 6 1958 was an American stage and film actress She made fiftyone 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 DC 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 1000000 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