Virginia Sale

Virginia Sale was an American character actress who worked in film, stage, radio and television across a career of about 46 years, and who was often cast as older women even while she was in her twenties. Born in Urbana, Illinois, she studied at the University of Illinois and then at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, and her brother, the vaudeville comedian Chic Sale, persuaded her to try Hollywood. She entered films at the end of the silent era with Legionnaires in Paris (1927) and went on to appear in Topper (1937), They Died with Their Boots On (1942), Badman's Territory (1946) and Night and Day (1946). She was known for her one-woman show Americana Sketches, performed more than 1,000 times over 15 years, and later turned to television, including a role on Petticoat Junction from 1964 to 1965. Her last film was Slither (1973). She died in 1992.