Virginia Pearson

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Virginia Pearson (1886-1958) was a stage actress and silent film star who was born in Anchorage, Kentucky, USA. After completing school Virginia worked for a brief time as an assistant in the public library in Louisville, Kentucky.

She made fifty-one films in a career which extended from 1910 until 1932. Among her movies is Blazing Love (1916), Wildness of Youth (1922), The Vital Question (1916), Sister Against Sister (1917), and The Phantom of the Opera (1925). Virginia once played the role of Mary Magdalene in a Pilgrimage Play in Los Angeles, California.

The actress was promoted by William Fox of Fox Film Corporation for the same kind of strong vampire parts as those played by Theda Bara. Some considered her a better schooled actress than Bara. Virginia had been trained in the tradition of the great stars of the American stage. She played in stock in Washington, DC and New York City, New York. In New York she played the heroine in Hypocrisy, a story which laid bare the shame of society.

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 1928 Miss 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. Virginia and Sheldon resided for many years at the old Hollywood Hotel. Later they lived at the Motion Picture Country Home.

Virginia Pearson died of uremic poisoning in Hollywood, California on June 6, 1958. She was 72. The actress became ill just two weeks before her death. She refused to allow friends to summon a doctor. Funeral services were held at the Pierce Brothers Hollywood Chapel. She was buried in Valhalla Memorial Park. Pearson's death occurred exactly one month to the day after that of Sheldon Lewis, 89.

[edit] References

• Los Angeles Times, Silent Screen's Star Virginia Pearson Dies, June 10, 1958, Page B1.
• Mansfield, Ohio News, Virginia Quits Her Firm, August 19, 1916, Page 15.
• New York Times, Virginia Pearson Dies, June 10, 1958, Page 33.
• Reno, Nevada Evening Gazette, Stage People On Reno Screen, Saturday, August 5, 1916, Supplement Pages 7 and 10.