Virginia Weidler

Virginia Weidler

with Toto in a studio promotional photograph to celebrate Christmas 1939
Born Virginia Anna Adeleide Weidler
(1927-03-21)March 21, 1927
Eagle Rock, Los Angeles County, California, U.S.
Died July 1, 1968(1968-07-01) (aged 41)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death Heart attack
Occupation Actress
Years active 1931–1943
Spouse(s) Lionel Krisel (m. 1947–68) (her death); 2 children
Children Ronnie Krisel
Gary Krisel

Virginia Anna Adeleide Weidler (March 21, 1927[1][2] – July 1, 1968) was an American child actress, popular in Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s.[3]

Early life and career

Weidler's father was Al Weidler.[4] She had two sisters: Waldtraud (later known as Sylvia) and Verena, and three brothers: George, Werther (later known as Warner), and Wolfgang (later known as Walter),[5][6]

She made her first film appearance in 1933. Over the next few years, she was cast in minor roles for RKO and Paramount Pictures. Neither studio made more extensive use of her, and when Paramount did not extend her contract, she was signed by MGM in 1938. Her first film for MGM was with their leading male star Mickey Rooney in Love Is a Headache (1938). The film was a success and Weidler was later cast in larger roles. She was one of the all-female cast of the 1939 film The Women, as Norma Shearer's character's daughter.[7]

In The Philadelphia Story (1940) at the left, with Mary Nash, Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn

Her next major success was The Philadelphia Story (1940) in which she played Dinah Lord, the witty younger sister of Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn). As a teenager she was less popular with audiences, and after a string of box-office disappointments, her film career ended with the 1943 film Best Foot Forward. At her retirement from the screen at age 16, she had appeared in more than forty films, and had acted with some of the biggest stars of the day, including Clark Gable and Myrna Loy in Too Hot to Handle, Bette Davis in All This and Heaven Too, and Judy Garland in Babes on Broadway.[7]

Family

Virginia's older brother, saxophonist George Weidler (1926–1989), was married to Doris Day[8] from March 1946 to May 1949. Prior to her birth, Weidler's German-born father, Alfred Weidler, (1886–1966) had been an architect in Hamburg, Germany, but moved the family to Los Angeles in 1923 and went on to become a model builder with 20th Century Fox. Her mother, Margaret (née Meyer), had been an opera singer in Germany.

Marriage

On March 27, 1947, aged 20, Weidler married Lionel Krisel. They had two sons, Ron and Gary.[9]

Death

Weidler refused to be interviewed for the remainder of her life, living in private. She remained married to Krisel until her death at age 41 in Los Angeles from a heart attack on July 1, 1968.[10]

Filmography

Radio appearances

Year Program Episode/source
1939 The Gulf Screen Guild Theater Never In This World with Leslie Howard and Kay Francis, Episode 012
1946 Reader's Digest-Radio Edition Do You Remember?[11]

References

  1. ↑ Profile, geni.com; accessed August 3, 2015.
  2. ↑ Profile, familysearch.org; accessed August 3, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Class Act Featured Actress: Virginia Weidler". www.classicmoviemusicals.com. Retrieved April 30, 2016.
  4. ↑ "(photo caption)". Life. August 12, 1946. p. 78. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  5. ↑ "Coinmen You Know". Billboard. August 27, 1949. p. 103. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  6. ↑ "Biltmore Bowl". Billboard. April 12, 1952. p. 14. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
  7. 1 2 Virginia Weidler at the Internet Movie Database
  8. ↑ "Music----As Written". Billboard. May 18, 1946. p. 26. Retrieved September 13, 2015.
  9. ↑ Who's Who in Advertising, First edition, 1990–1991, Wilmette, Illinois: Marquis Who's Who, 1989 OCLC 21990384
  10. ↑ Find a Grave profile; accessed August 3, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Virginia Weidler Stars In "Radio Digest" Play Thurs. 10 P.M., WHP". Harrisburg Telegraph. December 7, 1946. p. 19. Retrieved September 12, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.

Bibliography

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