{{short description|American actress (1908-1946)}}
{{use mdy dates|date=February 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Virginia Walker | image = Virginia Walker (actress).png | alt = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software --> | caption = Walker in a 1945 publicity photo for<br>''A Royal Scandal'' | birth_name = Virginia May Walker | birth_date = {{Birth date|1908|07|31}} | birth_place = Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1946|12|23|1908|07|31}} | death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | other_names = Virginia Walker Hawks | occupation = Film actress | years_active = 1938–1945 | known_for = Alice Swallow in ''Bringing Up Baby'' | spouse = William Hawks (1938-1942) }} '''Virginia May Walker Hawks''' (July 31, 1908 – December 23, 1946) was an American model and film actress. Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, she studied Japanese art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts and pursued a modeling career in national magazine advertisements, through which she was spotted by a Universal Pictures scout and signed to a film contract. Upon arriving in Hollywood, she met filmmaker Howard Hawks, who negotiated her release from Universal and signed her to a personal contract. She made her film debut in Hawks's ''Bringing Up Baby'' (1938), and the following year married Hawks's brother William. After their 1942 divorce, she appeared in four more feature film roles, three of them uncredited, for 20th Century Fox.
==Early life and education== Virginia May Walker<ref name=may>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44305313/william_h_walker_dead_30_july_1912/|title=William H. Walker Dead|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=July 30, 1912|page=14|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}</ref> was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on July 31, 1908.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-XXDJ-KT?i=34&cc=1536925&personaUrl=%2Fark%3A%2F61903%2F1%3A1%3AFXHQ-KNR|title=Births Registered in the City of Cambridge for the Year Nineteen Hundred and Eight|publisher=FamilySearch Indexing|access-date=February 16, 2020}}</ref> She was the only daughter of William Homer Walker (1869–1912), a local attorney, and Eva M. Walker (née Perry), originally from Paris.<ref name=may/><ref name=face2/> She had two older brothers.<ref name=may/>
Walker grew up in Boston and Cambridge; the family vacationed in Miami, Florida, during the winters.<ref name=face2>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44066447/miss_walker_pt_2_20_november/|title=Face May Prove Fortune (pt. 2)|newspaper=The Boston Globe|page=4|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}</ref><ref name=face>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44066352/face_may_prove_fortune_pt_1_20/|title=Face May Prove Fortune (pt. 1)|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=November 20, 1935|page=1|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}</ref><ref name=reel/> At age 10, Walker moved to Miami and eventually graduated from Miami High School.<ref name=face2/><ref name=face/> She returned to Boston to study Japanese art at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, with a specialty in Japanese prints.<ref name=face2/><ref name=face/><ref name=reel>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44065734/the_boston_globe/|title=Boston Miss in Screen Debut|first=Mayme Ober|last=Peak|date=December 4, 1937|newspaper=The Boston Globe|page=9|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}</ref> She was a member of the Junior League of Boston.<ref name=dunn>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44066069/the_boston_globe/|title=Boston's Own Virginia Walker Gets Role With Jimmy Dunn|first=Mayme Ober|last=Peak|date=March 31, 1945|newspaper=The Boston Globe|page=12|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}</ref>
==Early work== Walker began modeling in national magazine advertisements for various companies, including a car manufacturer and a garment designer.<ref name=face2/><ref name=face/> She performed in amateur stage productions in Brookline, including dramatic plays staged by the Harvard Dramatic Club and comedies produced by the Hasty Pudding Club.<ref name=globe>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43934423/virginia_hawks_dead_on_coast/|title=Virginia Hawks Dead on Coast|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=December 24, 1946|page=12|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}</ref> Additionally, she created a skin care product which she manufactured in her home kitchen.<ref name=face2/><ref name=face/>
==Film career== In 1935, Walker responded to a call for "new faces" by Hollywood filmmaker Cecil B. DeMille, who sought a new actress for his production of ''Samson and Delilah''. DeMille received 3,000 entries from around the country and chose Walker's picture together with five others for further consideration.<ref name=face2/><ref name=face/> She was ultimately not chosen for a screen test, but in June 1937, a Universal Pictures scout saw Walker's picture in a magazine advertisement for a soap product, signed her to a contract, and brought her to Hollywood.<ref name=reel/>
Before the studio cast her in a film, however, Walker and a friend went to visit executives at RKO Pictures, including director Howard Hawks. Hawks recognized Walker from her magazine advertisements and wanted her to work for him. He negotiated Walker's release from Universal and signed her to a personal contract.<ref name=reel/> She was one of the first actresses whom Hawks signed to a personal contract, and was loaned to RKO to appear in Hawks's 1938 film ''Bringing Up Baby''.{{sfn|McCarthy|2007|p=391}} Walker made her film debut playing Alice Swallow, the fiancée of Cary Grant's character.{{sfn|McCarthy|2007|p=391}}<ref>{{cite web |url= https://cine-fille.com/2011/07/31/bringing-up-baby-the-supporting-cast/|title=''Bringing Up Baby'': Meet the Supporting Cast|date=July 31, 2011|access-date=February 9, 2020|work=Cine-Fille}}</ref>
She put aside her screen career upon her marriage in 1938,<ref name=globe/><ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/16120123/the_decatur_daily_review/|title=Film Actress Dies|date=December 24, 1946|newspaper=The Decatur Daily Review|page=15|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}</ref> but resumed it after her 1942 divorce. In the second part of her career, she signed with 20th Century Fox<ref name=dunn/> and played bit roles in four films, three of them uncredited.<ref name=aen/> In 1945 she was signed to appear with James Dunn in ''Command to Embezzle'',<ref name=dunn/> a drama film that was ultimately shelved.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=LQgbBwAAQBAJ&pg=PT124|title= Joan Blondell: A Life Between Takes|first=Matthew|last=Kennedy|year=2009|publisher=University Press of Mississippi|isbn= 9781626744325|page=124}}</ref>
==Personal life== Walker married film producer William Hawks, brother of Howard Hawks, in June 1938 in Mexico.{{sfn|McCarthy|2007|p=391}}<ref name="hcourant">{{cite news|title=Bessie Love's Former Husband Weds Actress|newspaper=The Hartford Courant|date=June 29, 1938|page=4}}</ref> It was the second marriage for Hawks.<ref name="hcourant" /> The couple divorced in October 1942 in Reno, Nevada.<ref>{{cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NQwEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT54|title=Divorces|magazine=Billboard|date=November 14, 1942| volume=54|issue=46|page=54}}</ref>
Walker died on December 23, 1946, after a months-long illness and a surgical procedure at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles.<ref name=aen>{{cite web |url= https://www.aenigma-images.com/2017/06/photo-research/virginia/|title=Virginia Walker|publisher=aenigma-images.com|year=2020|access-date=February 9, 2020}}</ref><ref name=nyt>{{cite web |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1946/12/25/archives/mrs-virginia-w-hawks-former-actress-left-boston-society-for-film.html|title= MRS. VIRGINIA W. HAWKS; Former Actress Left Boston Society for Film Career|date=December 25, 1946|access-date=February 9, 2020|work=The New York Times}}</ref> A requiem mass was held for her at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/44065149//|title=Mass Thursday for Mrs. Hawks, Former Actress|newspaper=Valley Times|location=North Hollywood, California|date=December 24, 1946|page=2|via=Newspapers.com}}{{open access}}</ref>
==Filmography== {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Film ! Role ! Notes |- |rowspan=1|1938 |''Bringing Up Baby'' |Alice Swallow | |- |rowspan=4|1945 |''A Royal Scandal'' |Lady-in-waiting |Uncredited |- |''Diamond Horseshoe'' |Chorine |Uncredited |- |''Nob Hill'' |Mrs. Van Buren |Uncredited |- |''The Caribbean Mystery'' |Adelaide Marcel | |} {{col-end}} <small>Sources:<ref name=dunn/><ref name=aen/>{{sfn|McBride|2013|p=237}}{{sfn|American Film Institute Catalog|1999|p=380}}</small>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Sources== * {{cite book|ref={{harvid|American Film Institute Catalog|1999}}|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fRY0QiacQccC&pg=PA380|title=American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures Produced in the United States – Feature Films, 1941–1950 – Film Entries, A–L|year=1999|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520215214}} * {{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W_4d5Vm5Ku8C&pg=PT237|title=Hawks on Hawks|first=Joseph|last=McBride|author-link=Joseph McBride (writer)|year=2013|publisher=University Press of Kentucky|isbn=9780813144306}} * {{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=VurpbRg7GRoC&pg=PT391|title=Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood|first=Todd|last=McCarthy|author-link=Todd McCarthy|year=2007|publisher=Open Road + Grove/Atlantic|isbn=9780802196408}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0908294}} * {{Find a Grave|117254225}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Virginia}} Category:1908 births Category:1946 deaths Category:American film actresses Category:School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts alumni Category:Actresses from Cambridge, Massachusetts Category:20th-century American actresses Category:Members of the Junior League Category:American Roman Catholics