Virginia Leith

Virginia Leith
Leith in an episode of One Step Beyond (1959)
Born(1925-10-15)October 15, 1925
DiedNovember 4, 2019(2019-11-04) (aged 94)
Palm Springs, California, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1953–1962;
1977–1981
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1960; div. 1968)​

Virginia Leith (October 15, 1925 – November 4, 2019) was an American film and television actress.

Career

Leith starred in a few films, with her most productive period coming in the 1950s. Her debut was also the first film directed by Stanley Kubrick, a self-financed art house film, Fear and Desire (1953).[1] She signed a contract with 20th Century-Fox in 1954 and had leading roles in films such as Violent Saturday (1955), Toward the Unknown, On the Threshold of Space, and opposite Robert Wagner and Joanne Woodward in the crime drama A Kiss Before Dying (all 1956). Her most recognizable role may have been that of a decapitated woman whose head is kept alive in The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962, shot 1959).

She left acting after her 1960 marriage to actor Donald Harron. Following her divorce from Harron, in the 1970s Leith resumed her career and appeared mainly in television shows, including Starsky and Hutch, Barnaby Jones, The White Shadow and Baretta. She left the screen again in the early 1980s.[2]

Personal life

She was involved with actor Jeffrey Hunter during his divorce in 1955. She dated actor Marlon Brando in 1956.[3][4]

According to her husband Don Harron, she had a brief affair with model Barbara Freking prior to their marriage.[5]

Leith died on November 4, 2019, at the age of 94.[6] Upon her death, her body was donated to medical science at the UCLA Medical School.[citation needed]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1953 Fear and Desire Young Girl
Here Come the Girls Chorus Girl Uncredited
1954 Black Widow Claire Amberly
1955 White Feather Ann Magruder
Violent Saturday Linda Sherman
1956 On the Threshold of Space Pat Lange
A Kiss Before Dying Ellen Kingship
Toward the Unknown Connie Mitchell
The 20th Century-Fox Hour Irene Bennett Episode: "The Last Patriarch"
1958 Sing, Boy, Sing Stewardess Uncredited
Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre Barbara Episode: "The Bravado Touch"
The Millionaire Lil Harrigan Episode: "The Frank Harrigan Story"
1959 Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond Sally Conroy Episode: "The Bride Possessed"
1961 Great Ghost Tales Episode: "August Heat"
1962 The Brain That Wouldn't Die Jan Compton Filmed in 1959
1977 Baretta Sally Locker Episode: "Guns and Brothers"
Starsky & Hutch Margaret Blaine Episode: "Death in a Different Place"
First Love Mrs. March Uncredited
1978 The White Shadow Episode: "Mainstream" Art teacher

References

  1. ^ "A Silent Virginia is Discovered". Life. May 11, 1953. p. 122. ISSN 0024-3019.
  2. ^ "Virginia Leith Biography". Brian's Drive-In Theater. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  3. ^ "Virginia Leith Profile". Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen. Retrieved March 27, 2018.
  4. ^ Nyren, Erin (November 13, 2019). "Virginia Leith, Female Lead in Stanley Kubrick's First Film, Dies at 94".
  5. ^ Samuel Claesson (January 31, 2025). Glamour: Models, Mannequins, and Pinups of the 1950s. Sequoia Press. p. 142. ISBN 9798350736847.
  6. ^ "Virginia Leith, Star of 'The Brain That Wouldn't Die,' Dies at 94". The Hollywood Reporter. November 12, 2019.
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