Virginia Clara Jones was born on November 30, 1920, in St. Louis, Missouri, to a family with a rich heritage in the area, tracing back to her great-great-great-grandfather who served in the American Revolution and later founded the city of East Saint Louis, Illinois.
From an early age, Virginia was interested in show business, with her aunt operating a dance studio where she began taking lessons at the age of six. After graduating from high school in 1937, she joined the St. Louis Municipal Opera before being signed to a contract by Samuel Goldwyn after being spotted by an MGM talent scout during a Broadway revue.
David O. Selznick initially rejected her for film roles, but Goldwyn saw potential and cast her in a small role in the 1943 film "Jack London." She later had a walk-on part in "Follies Girl" that same year. As her talent became apparent, producers began to offer her bigger and better roles.
In 1944, she was cast as Princess Margaret in "The Princess and the Pirate" alongside Bob Hope, and a year later appeared as Ellen Shavley in "Wonder Man." Her popularity continued to grow, and she was cast in two more films in 1946, "The Kid from Brooklyn" with Danny Kaye and "The Best Years of Our Lives" with Dana Andrews, receiving good notices as Andrews' avaricious and unfaithful wife.
Virginia's roles continued to gain recognition, and she struck paydirt in 1947 with a plum assignment in the well-received "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" as Rosalind van Hoorn. That same year, she married Michael O'Shea, with whom she would remain until his death in 1973, producing a daughter, Mary Catherine, in 1953.
She received some of the best reviews of her career in James Cagney's return to the gangster genre, "White Heat" (1949),as Verna, the scheming and cheating wife of homicidal killer Cody Jarrett. The striking beauty continued to have plum roles in the 1950s, including "Backfire," "She's Working Her Way Through College," and "South Sea Woman," showcasing her continued presence as a force to be reckoned with.
As the decade ended, Virginia's career began to slow down, with four roles in the 1960s and four more in the following decade. Her last role was as Lucia in the 1997 film "The Man Next Door." She passed away on January 17, 2005.
