Virginia Leith
Virginia Leith (born October 15, 1925 in Cleveland , Ohio - † November 4, 2019 in Palm Springs , California ) was an American actress . She gained fame through her lead role in the horror film The Head That Was Not Allowed to Die .
Life
Virginia Leith was born in Cleveland in 1925 and graduated from Cleveland Heights High School there. She first worked as a cloakroom and waitress in a drive-in restaurant before she was discovered by Stanley Kubrick at a casting in Los Angeles in 1953 and was given a supporting role as a young girl in the anti-war film Fear and Desire . In 1954 Leith signed a contract with 20th Century Fox and received major film appearances from then on, including 1955 in the western The White Feather or 1956 in the thriller A Kiss Before Death , in which she played the leading female role alongside Robert Wagner and Jeffrey Hunter .
Her best-known role was the 1959 horror film The Head Who Was Not Allowed to Die , in which she played the main character that gave the title. The film wasn't released until three years later.
After her marriage to comedian and actor Don Harron in 1960, Leith retired from the film business. The marriage ended in divorce in 1968. After that, Leith starred as a guest star in several television programs such as Baretta or Starsky & Hutch and in two other films. She took on her last small role in 1983 in Curtains - Wahn ohne Ende . Then she ended her acting career.
Leith died in Palm Springs on November 4, 2019 at the age of 94.
Filmography (selection)
- 1953: Fear and Desire
- 1953: Here Come the Girls
- 1954: The Spider (Black Widow)
- 1955: The White Feather
- 1955: Sensation on Saturday (Violent Saturday)
- 1956: On the Threshold of Space
- 1956 A kiss before death (A Kiss Before Dying)
- 1956: Once upon a time the hour comes (Toward the Unknown)
- 1958: Sing Boy Sing
- 1962: The head, which was not allowed to die (The Brain That Would not Die)
- 1977: Baretta (TV series, an episode)
- 1977: Starsky & Hutch (TV series, an episode)
- 1977: First Love
- 1978: Battered (TV movie)
- 1983: Curtains - madness without end (Curtains)
Web links
- Virginia Leith in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Virginia Leith on briansdriveintheater.com (English)
- Virginia Leith on glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com (English)
- Virginia Leith in the German dubbing file
Individual evidence
- ↑ Erin Nyren: Virginia Leith, Female Lead in Stanley Kubrick's First Film, Dies at 94. In: Variety . November 13, 2019, accessed November 13, 2019 .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Leith, Virginia |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | US-american actress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 15, 1925 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Cleveland , Ohio , United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | 4th November 2019 |
| Place of death | Palm Springs , California |