Virginia Sale

Virginia Sale

Birth : 1899-05-20, Urbana, Illinois, USA

Death : 1992-08-23

History

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Virginia Sale (May 20, 1899 – August 23, 1992) was an American character actress whose career spanned six decades, during most of which she played older women, even when she was in her twenties. Over the 46 years she was active as an actress, she worked in films, stage, radio and television. She was famous for her one-woman stage show, Americana Sketches, which she did for more than 1,000 performances during a 15-year span. Married to actor and studio executive Sam Wren, she co-starred with him in one of the first television family comedies, Wren's Nest, in the late 1940s and early 1950s. She gave birth to fraternal twins, Virginia and Christopher, in 1936. Later in her career she worked on television, and in commercials. She died from heart failure at the age of 93 at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in 1992.

Profile

Virginia Sale

Movies

Slither
Bingo Caller
While searching for a small fortune of embezzled money, an ex-con, a small-time bandleader, his doting wife and a kooky drifter find themselves being followed. Their chase takes them to trailer camps, bingo halls, laundromats and ultimately, a showdown with a group of unconventional bad guys.
Big Daddy
A visitor to the Everglades swamps in Florida encounters and falls in love with an uneducated girl. But he finds competition for her affections from the unlikely and mysterious A. Beauregard Lincoln. He also discovers danger from nature in the form of vicious alligators and from the mystical in the form of a voodoo witch doctor.
One Man's Way
Miss S. E. Collingswood
Reverend Norman Vincent Peale fights to bring his message to the nation.
The Case Of The Baby-Sitter
Veronica Hoopler
The baby sitter is none other than veteran Hollywood tough guy Tom Neal. A private detective, Neal is hired to keep an eye on the child of married couple George Meeker and Rebel Randall. Actually, Meeker and Randall are jewel thieves, and their "baby" is their stolen loot. Neal eventually catches on when he realizes that this is the quietest child on earth. Running a scant 41 minutes, Case of the Baby Sitter was designed to be shown in tandem with another Screen Guild Productions "briefie," The Hat Box Mystery: the films were shot back to back, with Tom Neal and Pamela Blake starring in both.
The Hat Box Mystery
Veronica Hoopler
Susan Hart, assistant to private detective Russ Ashton, is given a camera concealed in a hat box and assigned to take a picture of a woman. A gun is accidentally hidden in the box and the woman is killed. Susan is charged with murder, but Russ and his less-than-useful associate, Harvard, get on the case and prove that the fatal shot was fired by the killer from across the street.
Trail Street
Hannah
Bat Masterson cleans up Liberal, Kansas.
Badman's Territory
Meg
After some gun play with a posse, the James Gang head for Quinto in a section of land which is not a part of America. Anyone there is beyond the law so the town is populated with outlaws. Next to arrive is Sheriff Rowley, following his brother whom the Gang have brought in injured. Rowley has no authority and gets on well enough with the James boys but is soon involved in other local goings-on, including a move to vote for annexation with Oklahoma which would allow the law well and truly in.
Danger Signal
Mrs. Crockett
After robbing and murdering his married lover and then making her death look like suicide, conniving philanderer Ronnie Mason relocates to Los Angeles. Under a new identity and claiming to be a writer, Ronnie finds lodging at the home of Hilda Fenchurch and her mother. He woos Hilda, knowing she has money, but when he discovers that Hilda's sister, Anne, has just inherited $25,000, he switches his attentions to her.
Star in the Night
Miss Roberts (uncredited)
Nick, a motel owner who has lost faith in more than just the humanity of mankind, is visited by a kindly stranger on Christmas Eve. The motel's guests are only concerned for themselves until a poor man and his wife drive up to the motel, unable to go any further. Out of rooms, Nick's wife prepares a place for them in a shed under a neon star Nick had just finished hanging. Their plight brings out the generosity in everyone, including Nick, who remembers another family almost two thousand years earlier that also found a makeshift room at an inn under another kind of star.
Blazing the Western Trail
Nellie
Stage line owner Brent has his men robbing Halliday stages and when his manager Waring learns of it, Brent has him killed. Jeff Waring arrives and takes his uncle's job. He soon learns what's happening and the Durango Kid goes into action. This keeps Halliday going and gives them a chance to get the mail contract by winning the stagecoach race.
She Gets Her Man
Phoebe
The corny daughter of a famed policewoman tries to catch a blowgun killer.
The Thin Man Goes Home
Tom's Wife
On a trip to visit his parents, detective Nick Charles gets mixed up in a murder investigation.
Together Again
Secretary (uncredited)
Anne Crandall is the mayor of a small town in Vermont. Her deceased husband had been the mayor for years and when he died, she was left to carry on and to raise his daughter from his first marriage. She lives with the daughter, her father-in-law and a housekeeper. In the town square, there was a statue of her late husband and every year since his death, they have an anniversary celebration there. This year during a thunderstorm, the statue is hit by lightning and the head falls off. The daughter insists that a new statue be erected instead of patching the old one. Mayor Crandall is sent to New York to interview the prospective sculptor, George Corday.
Dark Mountain
Aletha Bates
A woman doesn't realize that the man she has just married is a gangster. When she is implicated in a murder he committed, she turns to an ex-boyfriend, who is now a park ranger, for help. He hides her out in a cabin up in the mountains, and her husband goes on the hunt for both of them.
When Strangers Marry
Chambermaid
A naive small-town girl comes to New York City to meet her husband, and discovers that he may be a murderer.
The Gang's All Here
Miss Custer, Secretary (uncredited)
A soldier falls for a chorus girl and then experiences trouble when he is posted to the Pacific.
Destroyer
Kansas' Dance Partner
Flagwaving story of a new American destroyer, the JOHN PAUL JONES, from the day her keel is laid, to what was very nearly her last voyage. Among the crew, is Steve Boleslavski, a shipyard welder that helped build her, who reenlists, with his old rank of Chief bosuns mate. After failing her sea trials, she is assigned to the mail run, until caught up in a disparate battle with a Japanese sub. After getting torpedoed, and on the verge of sinking, the Captain, and crew hatch a plan to try and save the ship, and destroy the sub.
Hit the Ice
Nurse who Faints (uncredited)
Flash Fulton (Bud Abbott) and Weejie McCoy (Lou Costello) take pictures of a bank robbery. Lured to the mountain resort hideout of the robbers and accompanied by Dr. Bill Elliott (Patric Knowles) and Peggy Osborn (Elyse Knox), they also meet old friend Johnny Long (Johnny Long) and his band and singer Marcia Manning (Ginny Simms). Dr. Elliott and Peggy are being held in a remote cabin by the robbers, but Weejie rescues them by turning himself into a human snowball that becomes an avalanche that engulfs the crooks.
Reveille with Beverly
Mrs. Browning (uncredited)
Beverly Ross, the switchboard operator at a local radio station, jumps at the chance to be the DJ for an early morning show before the soldiers at a nearby army camp assemble for reveille. Beverly, with her modern music, camp bulletins and chatter, is a hit with the soldiers. Beverly's younger brother and his two buddies are soldiers at the camp. The buddies vie for Beverly's attentions.
Torpedo Boat
Mrs. Sweeney
Richard Arlen and Phil Terry star as Skimmer and Tommy, two lifelong buddies who've invented a lightweight, high-speed torpedo boat (hence the title). Their copacetic business relationship is strained when nightclub singer Grace Holman (Jean Parker), having been jilted by Skimmer, marries Tommy on the rebound.
Harvard Here I Come
Miss Frisbie
Slapsie Rosenbloom receives an award from the satirical Harvard Lampoon for his well-known stupidity. Instead of being enraged, Slapsie Maxie is delighted by the "honor", and promptly tries to enroll at the ivy-league university. Upon arriving on campus, he is pounced upon by a group of eccentric scientists led by Professor Alvin, who is convinced that Rosenbloom is the "missing link" that science has long been searching for.
They Died with Their Boots On
Nurse (uncredited)
The story follows General George Armstrong Custer's adventures from his West Point days to his death. He defies orders during the Civil War, trains the 7th Cavalry, appeases Chief Crazy Horse and later engages in bloody battle with the Sioux nation.
Miss Polly
Orsina Wiggins
A small-town spinster, who's a born romantic, takes on the strict members of the local "Purity League" by spilling a few of their well-kept secrets. Comedy.
One Foot in Heaven
Sister Sale at the Movie Theatre (uncredited)
Episodic look at the life of a minister and his family as they move from one parish to another.
The Flame of New Orleans
Giraud's Cousin Clarissa
In old New Orleans, a beautiful adventuress juggles the attentions of a rich banker and a dashing sea captain.
Her First Beau
Miss Blackmere
15-year-old Penelope (Penny) Wood has two great interests - Chuck Harris and the hope that some day she might become a famous,great writer. Chuck also has two interests - his home-made glider and the hope that some day he will go to Tech college. His indifference to Penny is her chief source of annoyance. Mervyn Roberts, Penny's uncle who is only five years older than she is, arrives home with a guest, Roger Van Vleck, and Penny falls for Roger's sophistication. Chuck, resentful, continues to work on his glider over his father's objections. His father wants it destroyed but Elmer Tuttle, their hired man, hides it.
Strike Up the Band
Music Teacher
Jimmy and Mary get a group of kids together to play in a school orchestra. A huge contest between schools is coming up and they have a hard time raising money to go to Chicago for the contest.
The Howards of Virginia
Neighbor Girl
Beautiful young Virginian Jane steps down from her proper aristocratic upbringing when she marries down-to-earth surveyor Matt Howard. Matt joins the Colonial forces in their fight for freedom against England. Matt will meet Jane's father in the battlefield.
Calling All Husbands
Aunt Mabel Parker
A henpecked husband and his bossy wife are due for a surprise when the wife's former boyfriend unexpectedly turns up. Comedy.
Flowing Gold
Nurse
In the American oilfields, a fugitive from justice's destiny is intertwined with the fortunes and the misfortunes of a small oil company that hires him as a roughneck.
Gold Rush Maisie
Mrs. Harry Gilpin
Maisie becomes attached to a dirt-poor farmer and his family as they try to make ends meet joining hundreds of others digging for gold in a previously panned-out ghost town.
I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby
Landlady (uncredited)
In I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby, Broderick Crawford plays a sentimental gangster who abducts songwriter Johnny Downs and forces him to write a love ballad. It is Crawford's hope that the song will reach out and touch his long-lost childhood sweetheart. I Can't Give You Anything But Love, Baby was based on James Edward Grant's short story Trouble in B Flat; echoes of the basic premise later resurfaced in the 1957 "A" picture The Girl Can't Help It.
Forty Little Mothers
Miss Fairwell
An out-of-work professor gets a break from an old college buddy to teach at an exclusive girl's school. But events conspire against him: he finds an abandoned child which he takes under his wing, despite the school's rules against teachers having a family; and the girls in the school resent his replacing a handsome and popular teacher, and do everything in their power to get him fired.
The Doctor Takes a Wife
School Teacher
A best-selling author of women's issues and a medical academic find it is to their mutual advantage to falsely claim that they are married.
The Amazing Mr. Williams
Miss Mason - Schoolteacher (uncredited)
Kenny Williams, a lieutenant on the homicide squad, is engaged to Maxine Carroll, the Mayor's secretary. Or isn't he rather married with his job? For each time he has a date with his longtime fiancée, he is prevented from keeping it by his devotion to duty. Maxine, in desperation, decides to take action and bring Kenny to the altar. Who will win, Maxine's curves or the glorious fight against crime?
Charlie Chan in Reno
Maid Reporting Missing Passkey
Mary Whitman has gone to Reno to obtain a divorce. While there she is arrested on suspicion of murdering a fellow guest at her hotel (which specializes in divorcers). There are many others at the hotel who wanted the victim out of the way. Charlie comes from his home in Honolulu to solve the murder.
The Jury's Secret
Miss Montague
A reporter covering a murder trial guesses that the murderer of a ruthless businessman is her ex-fiancé and persuades him to confess and clear the innocent man on trial.
You're a Sweetheart
Gawking Wife (uncredited)
A Broadway producer is in a quandary when he discovers that the opening of his newest big production coincides with that of a major charity event. He despairs that the show will close after opening night until an ingenious writer suggests that he simply give the production snob-appeal by making the tickets nearly impossible to get by fabricating a story that they were all purchased by a flamboyant Texas oil baron who is totally besotted by the show's star.
Topper
Miss Johnson
Madcap couple George and Marion Kerby are killed in an automobile accident. They return as ghosts to try and liven up the regimented lifestyle of their friend and bank president, Cosmo Topper. When Topper starts to live it up, it strains relations with his stuffy wife.
Angel's Holiday
Hatchet-Faced Woman
Lively June, teen-aged daughter of mystery writer Waldo Everett, who calls her "Angel," becomes involved in intrigue centering on movie star Pauline Kaye and her companion Stivers. Reporter Nick Moore, once sweet on Pauline, is convinced that her sudden disappearance is a publicity stunt, which is true -- until gangster Bat Regan decides to get involved.
Dangerous Holiday
Aunt Augusta
A young violin prodigy is assumed kidnapped after he runs away from home.
Meet the Missus
Mrs. Moseby
A small town Ohio barber accompanies his ditzy wife to Atlantic City, where she competes in the Happy Noodle Company's Mrs. America Contest.
The Go-Getter
Servant of J. Browne #2 (uncredited)
A Navy veteran with one leg fights to make himself a success.
We Have Our Moments
Miss Koltz
A trio of American crooks board a ship bound for Europe, intending to get rid of $100,000 in stolen dough. With detective John Wade breathing down their necks, the crooks stash the loot in the trunk belonging to vacationing schoolmarm Mary Smith.
Three Men on a Horse
Chambermaid
A meek salesman with an uncanny ability to pick horses is virtually kidnapped by a trio of gamblers.
We're in the Money
Nanny (uncredited)
Ginger and Dixie are process servers for goofy lawyer Homer Bronson. The two friends want to quit, but they're offered a thousand dollars to serve four subpoenas in a breach of promise suit against rich C. Richard Courtney. Little does Ginger realize, C. Richard Courtney and her mysterious park bench boyfriend 'Carter' are one and the same.
After the Dance
Edna
Though he was protecting her when he accidentally killed a man, Mabel Kane (Thelma Todd) refuses to testify on behalf of her dance partner Jerry Davis (George Murphy), and he's sent to jail. In a riot, a hostile convict (Jack La Rue) forces Jerry to help him escape, so Jerry takes to the streets himself. Nightclub entertainer Anne Taylor (Nancy Carroll) meets him, and convinces her boss Louis (Arthur Hohl) to hire him as her partner.
It's A Small World
Lizzie
Socialite, privileged, Jane Dale and lawyer Bill Shevlin meet in an automobile accident at night, on a dirt road, in a storm, near a hick town which fleeces travelers through corrupt law enforcement.
Madame Du Barry
Sophie, the King's Daughter
Dolores Del Rio plays 18th-century French courtesan DuBarry like a 20th-century golddigger on the make. Brought to Versailles as the companion of courtier D'Aigullon (Victor Jory), former street waif DuBarry charms her way into the heart -- and boudoir -- of gouty King Louis XV (Reginald Owen).
Embarrassing Moments
Mother
Jerry Randolph is an inveterate and obnoxious practical joker. Things take a serious turn when it looks as though Jerry's latest prank has resulted in the death of his best friend.
The Man with Two Faces
Peabody
Actress Jessica Wells, sister of actor Damon Wells, is on top of her form except when her husband Vance is around. When Vance takes her to the apartment of a theatrical producer she comes home incoherent and Vance is found dead in the vanished producer's hotel suite
Smarty
Edna - Vicki's Maid
Vicki Wallace takes great pleasure in teasing her husband Tony who takes no pleasure at all in being teased and it isn't long before he ups and clips her on the chin. Vicki's friend and attorney Vernon Thorpe secures a divorce for her, and Vicki and Vernon are soon married. Vicki's yen for wearing revealing clothes and a penchant for inviting ex-husband to dinner soon provokes the easily-provoked Vernon into belting one on her himself. She goes to Tony's apartment, where Tony is entertaining Bonnie, who is not all that entertained by the presence of Vicki, especially after Vicki shows every intent of moving in and staying.
Registered Nurse
Miss Dixon
In this sudsy hospital melodrama, a married nurse finds herself falling in love with one of two surgeons when her husband goes mad and needs an operation. One of the surgeon's regards his pursuit a lark, while the other harbors genuine affections for the nurse.
I Like it That Way
Old Maid
A telephone operator gives up her job to try to be a nightclub singer.
The Iron Master
Miss Smith
The wealthy owner of an iron foundry dies, and his greedy heirs are outraged when they find out that he left his entire estate not to them but to the foreman of his foundry.
Those We Love
Bertha
Director Robert Florey's 1932 melodrama about a woman who suspects her husband of infidelity stars Mary Astor, Kenneth MacKenna, Tommy Conlon, Lilyan Tashman, Hale Hamilton, Cecil Cunningham and Virginia Sale.
Fireman, Save My Child
Miss Gallop
Joe Grant is an inventor, fireman and baseball player in his small hometown. He gets an offer to play in a big team and hopes to get more money for his inventions. But Joe's invited to present his invention to a fire extinguisher company at the same time when he is supposed to play. Will he be able to show the effectiveness of his invention and win the game?
Running Hollywood
Virginia Sale
Running Hollywood is a comedy short.
Union Depot
Woman on Platform Watching Actress (uncredited)
Among the travelers of varied backgrounds that meet and interact on one night at Union Depot, a metropolitan train station, are Chick and his friend Scrap Iron, both newly released from prison after serving time for vagrancy. Hungry and desperate for a break, Chick fortuitously comes across across a valise abandoned by a drunken traveler. In it he finds a shaving kit and a suit of clothes with a bankroll, which help transform the affable tramp into a dashing gent. After buying himself a meal, Chick seeks some female companionship among the many hustlers who walk the station. He propositions Ruth Collins, a stranded, out-of-work showgirl and takes her to the station's hotel.
Selling Shorts
Dot
Third in the series of six Traveling Man two-reel comedy shorts. While traveling they are in need of some moonshine....
The Sin of Madelon Claudet
Charity Ward Nun (uncredited)
Out of jail for a crime she did not commit, Madelon turns to prostitution and thievery to send her illegitimate son to medical school.
Gold Dust Gertie
Secretary Who Models Bathing Suit
Early 30s pre-code comedy about a woman attempting to get her two ex-husbands to pay back alimony.
Big Business Girl
Sally Curtin (uncredited)
A young woman goes to New York and finds success in advertising thanks to her legs while her boyfriend spends the summer in Europe with his band.
Too Young to Marry
Myra
In this comedy drama set in a small town, a milque-toast gets a backbone and stands up to his overbearing wife. Only one of his daughters is on his side. The family is amazed and shocked by his sudden change. At first they rebel, but when he defies his wife and allows his good daughter to marry the grocery boy she loves, they finally come to respect him.
My Past
Miss Taft, Thornley's Secretary
A stage star finds herself torn between a wealthy older man and a handsome younger one.
Many a Slip
Smitty
Comedy centering on the question of whether a man's wife is or isn't pregnant.
New Moon
Madame Romanski
New Moon is the name of the ship crossing the Caspian Sea. A young Lt. Petroff meets the Princess Tanya and they have a ship board romance. Upon arriving at the port of Krasnov, Petroff learns that Tanya is engaged to the old Governor Brusiloff. Petroff, disillusioned, crashes the ball to talk with Tanya. Found by Brusiloff, they invent a story about her lost bracelet. To reward him, and remove him, Brusiloff sends Petroff to the remote, and deadly, Fort Darvaz. Soon, the big battle against overwhelming odds will begin.
Bright Lights
Newspaper reporter
In this light-hearted musical, an early color film, a successful actress tires of the bustle and hustle of her tawdry life and settles down to what she thinks is the blissful mundaneness of married life. Unfortunately, the actual drudgery of wifedom takes her by surprise and domestic turmoil ensues.
Moby Dick
Old Maid
Herman Melville's mad Capt. Ahab (John Barrymore) spends years hunting the white whale that got his leg.
The Dude Wrangler
Dude Guest
In order to prove his manliness to the girl he loves, a young urban dandy takes a job at a dude ranch. Predictable misadventure ensues in this poorly-made early talkie.
Back Pay
Miss Flanagan - Wheeler's Secretary
Bored with small town life, a woman leaves for the big city and winds up becoming the mistress of a ruthless businessman.
Show Girl in Hollywood
Miss J. Rule
Broadway actress leaves New York to become a star in Hollywood, and succeeds despite sleazy directors and her own ego.
Lovin' the Ladies
Marie - Joan's Maid
A man who believes that love is more animal and chemical than spiritual, bets that by controlling the circumstances, he can get any man and woman to fall for with each other and get engaged within a month.
What a Life
Head Prison Reformer
A musical parody on prison reform in which a prison warden gives his cellblocks the look of a summer resort in order to stave off reformers.
Lord Byron of Broadway
Flirty Dowager
A talented songwriter gets his inspiration for songs from others and not from within himself. He is oblivious that he may harm other people when he uses their stories or their love for himself.
Loose Ankles
Mrs. Berry from Walla Walla
A grandmother's will leaves her fortune to a few, mostly to her great-niece Ann. Ann will only receive her inheritance once she marries, with the approval of three of her stuffed-shirt relatives and without scandal. Otherwise the estate goes to the cat and dog hospital. Ann, not needing the money, rebels by seeking scandal with a gigolo.
Embarrassing Moments
Aunt Prudence
A couple meet, fall in love and get married in a 24-hour period.
Why Be Good?
Junior's Secretary (uncredited)
A flapper unwittingly falls for the boss' son.
Weary River
Noisy Lady in Audience (uncredited)
A gangster is put in prison, but finds salvation through music while serving his time. Again on the outside, he finds success elusive and temptations abound.
Fancy Baggage
Miss Hickey
In order to get back some very important papers from her father's business rival, a young woman pretends to be the rival's new secretary. Complications ensue.
Below the Deadline
Mother Biblow
Beau Nash is a "gentleman crook" who headquarters his gang of jewel thieves in a run-down boardinghouse. When one of his gang, Mike, gets arrested, his sister Claire--aka "Lady Byron"--swears to get revenge. The gang frames Donald, the best friend of the detective who arrested Mike, for a jewelry store robbery. The detective gives Donald--and his new love, Claire--a short time to find the thieves and clear his name before he takes him in.
The Floating College
Miss Cobbs
College Life - Love - and the big things of life under the light-heartedness of youth.
Harold Teen
Mrs. Schmittenberger
Farmboy Harold moves to the city and there attends high school. Soon he is very popular, his spirited nature causing much excitement on the campus. He joins a fraternity, goes out for football, and directs his class theatrical effort. Instead of a school play, Harold suggests doing a western motion picture. Part of the plot requires them to blow up the dam that has cut off the water supply to Harold's homestead in the country. After the explosion Harold runs away because he is afraid of being arrested, but he returns just in time to win a football game for his team.
Midnight Madness
The Gargoyle - Childers' Secretary
In Midnight Madness millionaire diamond miner Michael Bream (Clive Brook) discovers that the woman he’s marrying — funfair shooting-gallery hostess Norma Forbes — is a gold digger. So Bream decides to teach her a lesson, and forces her to live with him in the remote African outback where, eventually, she realizes her true affections.
The Crowd
Mary's Sister-in-Law (uncredited)
John, an ambitious but undisciplined New York City office worker, meets and marries Mary. They start a family, struggle to cope with marital stress, financial setbacks, and tragedy, all while lost amid the anonymous, pitiless throngs of the big city.
Legionnaires in Paris
Fifi
Two American soldiers are on leave in Paris on Armistice Day and, due to a misunderstanding, believe that they've killed a man, although accidentally. When they discover that the police are looking for them, they're convinced that they're in big trouble and take off. Complications ensue.