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. Signed by MGM in 1940, she deadpanned her way to acclaim and immense popularity with appearances in some of the studio's most memorable musicals including Thousands Cheer (1943), The Harvey Girls (1946), Till the Clouds Roll By (1946), Ziegfeld Follies (1945), Panama Hattie (1942), Ship Ahoy (1942), Meet the People (1944) and Du Barry Was a Lady (1943), performing inimitable renditions of such classic songs as "The Wild Wild West" (from The Harvey Girls), "A Fine Romance" (from Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)), "It's a Great Big World" (from The Harvey Girls (1946)), "Poor You" (from Ship Ahoy (1942)), and "Say We're Sweethearts Again" (from Meet the People (1944)). Although too often relegated to featured songs and small supporting roles, she still managed to become an audience favorite by the sheer force of her personality, polished vocals and way with a comic quip. The latter ability is especially apparent in one of her last MGM films, Merton of the Movies (1947), in which she co-starred with Red Skelton. In 1948, after 17 memorable screen appearances for MGM, the studio unceremoniously dropped her from its roster. She returned to films only twice more after her termination from MGM, in Universal's Francis in the Navy (1955) and Disney's Gus (1976), preferring to focus her energies on television and the stage, where she delighted audiences for three more decades. In the 1980s the still youthful beauty toured the country in a one-woman show and recorded a live album at the famed Masquers Club entitled, "A Salute to the Great MGM Musicals". One of her last significant stage appearances came in 1984 as Parthy Ann in the Long Beach Civic Light Opera's production of "Showboat", with Alan Young. She remained in semi-retirement in a large home in Wrightwood, California, for most of her later years until her death at the Motion Picture Country Hospital in Woodland Hills, 16 January, 2001, from a heart attack.

  • Title: Virginia O'Brien
  • Popularity: 0.62
  • Known For: Acting
  • Birthday: 1919-04-18
  • Place of Birth: Los Angeles, California, USA
  • Homepage:
  • Also Known As: Virginia Lee O'Brien, Miss Red Hot Frozen Face, Вирджиния О'Брайен
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Virginia O'Brien Movies

  • 1943
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    Du Barry was a Lady

    Du Barry was a Lady

    6.1 1943 HD

    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...

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  • 1943
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    Thousands Cheer

    Thousands Cheer

    6.4 1943 HD

    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...

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  • 1942
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    Ship Ahoy

    Ship Ahoy

    5.9 1942 HD

    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...

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  • 1955
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    Francis in the Navy

    Francis in the Navy

    5.5 1955 HD

    In the U. S. Army intelligence office, bumbling lieutenant Peter Stirling receives a coded message from his friend, Francis, a talking mule. The note...

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  • 1946
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    Till the Clouds Roll By

    Till the Clouds Roll By

    5.6 1946 HD

    Light bio-pic of American Broadway pioneer Jerome Kern, featuring renditions of the famous songs from his musical plays by contemporary stage...

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  • 1944
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    Meet the People

    Meet the People

    5 1944 HD

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

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  • 1942
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    Panama Hattie

    Panama Hattie

    4 1942 HD

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

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  • 1947
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    Merton of the Movies

    Merton of the Movies

    6.8 1947 HD

    In 1915, Kansas theatre usher Merton Gill is a rabid silent-movie fan. When he brings Mammoth Studios free publicity by imitating star Lawrence...

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  • 1941
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    Ringside Maisie

    Ringside Maisie

    7 1941 HD

    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...

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  • 1941
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    Screen Snapshots Series 21 No. 1

    Screen Snapshots Series 21 No. 1

    1 1941 HD

    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....

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  • 1944
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    Two Girls and a Sailor

    Two Girls and a Sailor

    5.7 1944 HD

    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...

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  • 1946
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    The Harvey Girls

    The Harvey Girls

    6.4 1946 HD

    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"...

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  • 1941
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    The Big Store

    The Big Store

    6.25 1941 HD

    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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  • 1976
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    Gus

    Gus

    6 1976 HD

    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...

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  • 1941
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    Lady Be Good

    Lady Be Good

    5.4 1941 HD

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

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  • 1946
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    The Show-Off

    The Show-Off

    7 1946 HD

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

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  • 1940
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    Hullabaloo

    Hullabaloo

    4 1940 HD

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

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  • 1940
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    Sky Murder

    Sky Murder

    6.3 1940 HD

    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...

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  • 1945
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    The Great Morgan

    The Great Morgan

    5.5 1945 HD

    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...

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  • 1945
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    Ziegfeld Follies

    Ziegfeld Follies

    6.1 1945 HD

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

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  • 1948
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    Musical Merry-Go-Round #4

    Musical Merry-Go-Round #4

    1 1948 HD

    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...

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