Virginia Clara Jones, born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1920, never wanted to play the usual childhood games with her chums; she only wanted to "play show." And indeed as a child, she did appear in many shows in and around St. Louis.
As Virginia grew into her teen years, she began to dream of dancing and singing at the "Muny Opera" in St. Louis, and eventually she achieved that. From there, the beautiful teenager joined a Vaudeville troupe in a very successful act called "Pansy the Horse," and it was then that Virginia Jones became Virginia Mayo.
Virginia went from the Muny, to Vaudeville, to films and the stage, but it was in films where the world saw and learned to love her the most. Equally talented in all acting genres, Virginia's musicals are her most memorable and were the ones she loved, and loved to perform in, above all others.
Her talent and beauty were so dazzling, the Sultan of Morocco was prompted to send a letter to the studio heads of Warner Brothers saying "Virginia Mayo is tangible proof of the existence of God."
"I just put my head down and did the work. All I ever wanted in my life was to do the work." This became her show business credo. Virginia Mayo "played show," did the work and did it well.
Filled with enlightening personal recollections,
The inexpensive Kindle version has fewer photos than the paperback, but is still an unexpurgated text of Virginia's experiences with the exciting world of Hollywood and it's greatest stars, with a number of personal pictures of her life story. The Paper version adds a number of film stills and photos with big stars of her day--during "the best years of her life."
As Virginia grew into her teen years, she began to dream of dancing and singing at the "Muny Opera" in St. Louis, and eventually she achieved that. From there, the beautiful teenager joined a Vaudeville troupe in a very successful act called "Pansy the Horse," and it was then that Virginia Jones became Virginia Mayo.
Virginia went from the Muny, to Vaudeville, to films and the stage, but it was in films where the world saw and learned to love her the most. Equally talented in all acting genres, Virginia's musicals are her most memorable and were the ones she loved, and loved to perform in, above all others.
Her talent and beauty were so dazzling, the Sultan of Morocco was prompted to send a letter to the studio heads of Warner Brothers saying "Virginia Mayo is tangible proof of the existence of God."
"I just put my head down and did the work. All I ever wanted in my life was to do the work." This became her show business credo. Virginia Mayo "played show," did the work and did it well.
Filled with enlightening personal recollections,
The inexpensive Kindle version has fewer photos than the paperback, but is still an unexpurgated text of Virginia's experiences with the exciting world of Hollywood and it's greatest stars, with a number of personal pictures of her life story. The Paper version adds a number of film stills and photos with big stars of her day--during "the best years of her life."
