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Virginia O'Brien

Virginia O'Brien

​ Known to classic film fans by various nicknames--including Miss Deadpan, Frozen Face, and Miss Ice Glacier--this statuesque, dark-haired singer/actress carved a unique niche for herself on stage and screen by the hilarious Sphinx-like way she delivered a song. The daughter of the captain of detectives of the Los Angeles Police Department, Virginia Lee O'Brien became interested in music and dance at an early age (it didn't hurt her career chances that her uncle was noted film director Lloyd Bacon). Her big show-business break came in 1939 after she secured a singing role in the L.A. production of the musical/comedy "Meet the People". On opening night, when time came for her solo number, Virginia became so paralyzed with fright that she sang her song with a wide-eyed motionless stare that sent the audience (which thought her performance a gag) into convulsions. Demoralized, Virginia left the stage only to soon find out that she was a sensation.

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Movies Starring Virginia O'Brien (21)

Gus (1976)

The California Atoms are in last place with no hope of moving up. But by switching the mule from team mascot to team member, (He can kick 100 yard field goals!) they start winning, and move up in the rankings, Hurrah! The competition isn't so happy. ...

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Francis in the Navy (1955)

In the U. S. Army intelligence office, bumbling lieutenant Peter Stirling receives a coded message from his friend, Francis, a talking mule. The note urges Pete to hurry to the Coronado, California naval base, where Francis is about to be sold as surplus. ...

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Martin Block's Musical Merry-Go-Round No. 4 (1948)

Virginia O'Brien visits Martin Block as he hosts a radio show devoted to Les Brown and His Band of Renown. A few numbers are heard from the band as Block gives a brief history of how they started. O'Brien also recalls her first movie song. ...

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Merton of the Movies (1947)

In 1915, Kansas theatre usher Merton Gill is a rabid silent-movie fan. When he brings Mammoth Studios free publicity by imitating star Lawrence Rupert's heroics, they bring him to Hollywood to generate another headline; he thinks he'll get a movie contract ...

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Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)

Light bio-pic of American Broadway pioneer Jerome Kern, featuring renditions of the famous songs from his musical plays by contemporary stage artists, including a condensed production of his most famous: 'Showboat'. ...

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The Show-Off (1946)

Chaos is brought to a family when daughter marries a brash young man met on a blind date. ...

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The Harvey Girls (1946)

On a train trip out west to become a mail-order bride, Susan Bradley meets a cheery crew of young women traveling out to open a "Harvey House" restaurant at a remote whistle-stop. ...

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Ziegfeld Follies (1945)

The late, great impresario Florenz Ziegfeld looks down from heaven and ordains a new revue in his grand old style. ...

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The Great Morgan (1945)

Frank Morgan is hired to put together a movie using odds and ends from the MGM vaults. He does so by splicing together a string of completely unrelated short subjects and musical numbers, interspersed with a repeated loop of a scene from some melodrama. ...

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Two Girls and a Sailor (1944)

A sailor helps two sisters start up a service canteen. The sailor soon becomes taken with gorgeous sister Jean, unaware that her sibling Patsy is also in love with him. ...

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Meet the People (1944)

A idealistic shipyard worker interests a beautiful Hollywood star in staging a musical tribute to the war industry, but they disagree on some important issues. ...

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Thousands Cheer (1943)

Acrobat Eddie Marsh is in the army now. His first act is to become friendly with Kathryn Jones, the colonel's pretty daughter. Their romance hits a few snags, including disapproval from her father. Eddie's also plagued by fear of having an accident during ...

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Du Barry Was a Lady (1943)

Hat check man Louis Blore is in love with nightclub star May Daly. May, however, is in love with a poor dancer but wants to marry for money. When Louis wins the Irish Sweepstakes, he asks May to marry him and she accepts even though she doesn't love him. S ...

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Panama Hattie (1942)

Sailors and spies mingle in between the acts at Hattie's nightclub in the Canal Zone. ...

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Ship Ahoy (1942)

Miss Winters is a dancer with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra and is asked to secretly transport a prototype magnetic mine to Puerto Rico. She thinks that she is working for the US Government, but fails to see why she would be involved. ...

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Lady Be Good (1941)

Married songwriters almost split up while putting on a big show. ...

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Screen Snapshots Series 21 No. 1 (1941)

This edition of Screen Snapshots has more of a vaudeville flavor as opposed to Ralph Staub's usual candid-camera at home with the stars offerings. Ken Murray, assisted by the Brewer Twins, is the MC, while the Andrews Sisters sing "In Apple Blossom Time" a ...

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Ringside Maisie (1941)

Young undefeated boxer Terry Dolan, who's been lying to his invalid mother about his career, confides to Maisie that he hates and is terrified by boxing and wants out. Not wanting to let down his best friend and manager Skeets Maguire, who has hopes of him ...

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The Big Store (1941)

A detective is hired to protect the life of a singer, who has recently inherited a department store, from the store's crooked manager. ...

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Hullabaloo (1940)

A radio actor faces trouble when a science-fiction story causes the audience to panic. ...

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Sky Murder (1940)

This final Carter film is a lot of fun, with Nick (unwillingly, at first) taking on a ring of Fifth Columnists (since this was filmed before the US entered the war, we're not told the villains are Nazis, but it's pretty clear anyway). Of course, the helpfu ...

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