Virginia Evangeline Carroll (December 2, 1913 – July 23, 2009) was an American actress. She was best known for her appearance in a number of

western films Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

Biography

Carroll was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on December 2, 1913. Her brother, Frank Carroll, became a Los Angeles newscaster. She worked as a model at a department store in Los Angeles until she began her film career in 1935. Carroll was initially cast in a small part as a fashion model in the 1935 film, ''

Roberta ''Roberta'' is a musical from 1933 with music by Jerome Kern, and lyrics and book by Otto Harbach. The musical is based on the novel ''Gowns by Roberta'' by Alice Duer Miller. It features the songs " Yesterdays", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "Let ...

''. She appeared in her first western film less than a year later in 1936's ''A Tenderfoot Goes West'', co-starring

Jack La Rue Jack La Rue (born Gaspare Biondolillo; May 3, 1902 – January 11, 1984) was an American film and stage actor. Early years The son of Sicilian immigrants Pasquale and Concetta Biondolillo, La Rue was born in New York City. His father sailed to ...

. Carroll became a staple in B-listed western

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

s. She appeared on screen in these westerns opposite

Tex Ritter Woodward Maurice Ritter (January 12, 1905 – January 2, 1974) was a pioneer of American country music, a popular singer and actor from the mid-1930s into the 1960s, and the patriarch of the Ritter acting family (son John, grandsons Jason and ...

Don "Red" Barry Donald Barry de Acosta (January 11, 1912 – July 17, 1980), also known as Red Barry and Milton Poimboeuf, was an American film and television actor. He was nicknamed "Red" after appearing as the first Red Ryder in the highly successful 19 ...

Roy Rogers Roy Rogers (born Leonard Franklin Slye; November 5, 1911 – July 6, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then acting, the rebra ...

Johnny Mack Brown John Brown (September 1, 1904 – November 14, 1974) was an American college football player and film actor billed as John Mack Brown at the height of his screen career. He acted and starred mainly in Western (genre), Western films. Early lif ...

Bill Elliott William Clyde Elliott (born October 8, 1955), also known as Awesome Bill from Dawsonville, Million Dollar Bill, or Wild Bill is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He competes full time in the Camping World Superstar Racing ...

Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...

and

Whip Wilson Whip Wilson (born Roland Charles Meyers, June 16, 1911 – October 22, 1964) was an American cowboy film actor, film star of the late 1940s and into the 1950s, known for his roles in B movies (Hollywood Golden Age)#Cowboys and dogs, B-westerns. ...

. Her roles included ''

Oklahoma Terror ''Oklahoma Terror'' is a 1939 American Western film directed by Spencer Gordon Bennet. Cast *Addison Randall as Jack Ridgely *Al St. John as "Fuzzy" Glass *Virginia Carroll as Helen Martin * Don Rowan as Slade *Davison Clark as Cartwright *Gl ...

'' (1939), the 1942 film ''

Prairie Gunsmoke ''Prairie Gunsmoke'' is a 1942 American Western film directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by Fred Myton. The film stars Wild Bill Elliott, Tex Ritter, Frank Mitchell, Virginia Carroll, Hal Price and Tris Coffin. The film was released on Jul ...

'' and ''

Bad Men of Tombstone ''Bad Men of Tombstone'' is a 1949 American Western film from King Brothers Productions. It was co-written by Philip Yordan and stars Barry Sullivan and Broderick Crawford. King Brothers announced plans for a sequel, ''The Marshall of Tombsto ...

'' (1949). Carroll was also cast in television roles later in her acting career, including roles on ''

The Roy Rogers Show ''The Roy Rogers Show'' is an American western television series starring Roy Rogers. 100 episodes were broadcast on NBC for six seasons between December 30, 1951 and June 9, 1957. The episodes were set in the prevailing times (1950s) in the st ...

'', '' Dragnet'', ''

The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok ''The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok'' is an American Western television series that ran for eight seasons from April 15, 1951, through September 24, 1958. The Screen Gems series began in syndication, but ran on CBS from June 5, 1955, through 195 ...

'' and ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a cli ...

''.

Private life

Carroll married her first husband, actor

Ralph Byrd Ralph Byrd (April 22, 1909 – August 18, 1952) was an American actor. He was most famous for playing the comic strip character Dick Tracy on screen, in serials, films and television. Early life and career The son of George and Edna May ...

, in 1936. Byrd would become best known for his role as

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

hero,

Dick Tracy ''Dick Tracy'' is an American comic strip featuring Dick Tracy (originally Plainclothes Tracy), a tough and intelligent police detective created by Chester Gould. It made its debut on Sunday, October 4, 1931, in the ''Detroit Mirror'', and it ...

. Carroll and Byrd remained married until his death in 1952. She married her second husband, Lloyd McLean, a

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

film

projectionist A projectionist is a person who operates a movie projector, particularly as an employee of a movie theater. Projectionists are also known as "operators". Historical background N.B. The dates given in the subject headings are approximate. Early ...

, in 1957. The couple remained married until McLean's death in 1969, leaving Carroll a widow for the second time.

Death

Virginia Carroll died at a

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

retirement community A retirement community is a residential community or housing complex designed for older adults who are generally able to care for themselves; however, assistance from home care agencies is allowed in some communities, and activities and socializ ...

on July 23, 2009, of natural causes at the age of 95. She is survived by one daughter from her marriage to Ralph Byrd, Carroll Byrd Evangeline.

Selected filmography

* '' Raiders of the West'' (1942) * ''

Lake Placid Serenade ''Lake Placid Serenade'' is a 1944 American musical romance film directed by Steve Sekely and starring Vera Ralston, Eugene Pallette and Barbara Jo Allen.Martin p.103 Following the German invasion of Czechoslovakia a Czech ice-skating champion goe ...

'' (1944) * '' The Last Round-up'' (1947) * ''

Frontier Agent ''Frontier Agent'' is a 1948 American Western film directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by J. Benton Cheney. The film stars Johnny Mack Brown, Raymond Hatton, Reno Browne, Kenneth MacDonald, Dennis Moore and Riley Hill. The film was relea ...

'' (1948) * '' Triggerman'' (1948) * ''

'' (1949) * '' Headline Hunters'' (1955)

References

External links

* * *
Virginia Carroll
– Daily Telegraph obituary {{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, Virginia 20th-century American actresses American film actresses American television actresses Actresses from Los Angeles Actresses from Santa Barbara, California Western (genre) film actresses 1913 births 2009 deaths Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) 21st-century American women