Lynne Carver
Encyclopedia
Lynne Carver was an American film actress. She appeared in 42 films between 1934 and 1953.
Actress Lynne Carver was born Virginia Reid Sampson on September 13, 1916, in Douglas, Arizona
. Her father, Reid Johnson Sampson, was a mining engineer in Arizona and New Mexico for several years preceding the World War I
, and he and his family were briefly detained by Poncho Villa during one of the Mexican general's raids across the border into the Southwestern US, when Virginia was an infant.
Virginia went to Hollywood at a young age to pursue a career in acting after winning a beauty pageant. Some members of her family maintained that she took a stage name because she felt that her given name was too “old–fashioned” and that she was reaching for her paternal grandmother’s maiden name, Cravens, but could not quite recall it properly.
Early on she was billed as Virginia Reid with RKO Pictures
and can be seen in several musicals as one of the "Goldwyn Girls
". She dated Howard Hughes
, briefly, in the 1930s, before moving on to MGM as Lynne Carver where she became a regular in their stable of actresses. Her older sister, Marjorie Lee Sampson, followed Virginia to Hollywood and landed a few small parts, but never achieved the status of her sister, and soon moved on.
First playing minor bit parts, Lynne Carver eventually moved up to the level of ingénue in a few of her later roles, probably because of her striking looks and Southern charm. The Sampson family were prominent Kentuckians for several generations, where her grandfather, William Sampson, had served as Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court
during the American Civil War
.
As her career advanced, she appeared in several films with Fred Astaire
and Ginger Rogers
, and was probably best known for her role as Alice Raymond in the early Dr. Kildare films. She was "Barbara" in the magical musical production "Maytime" in 1937 along with Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald and also appeared with them in "Bitter Sweet",a 1940 attempt to recapture the success of "Maytime". Two of her better known M-G-M performances are as Sylvia Bellaire in the 1938 musical comedy film, Everybody Sing starring Allan Jones
and Judy Garland
, and as Bess, Scrooge's nephew's fiancee, in A Christmas Carol
starring Reginald Owen
as Ebenezer Scrooge. Both films were released in
1938. Her last film for M-G-M was Tennessee Johnson
which starred Van Heflin
as the 17th President Of The United States. Carver played Martha, the daughter of Andrew Johnson
.
She married Nicholas Nayfack
in 1937 and they divorced in 1942. The slowdown of work in Hollywood due to World War II
caused her career to stall. During and after the war, she played mostly in Republic Westerns with Roy Rogers
and Johnny Mack Brown
and other more obscure films, but never achieved the level of success she had known earlier.
Around 1948, her marriage to William Mullaney, along with increasing health problems, caused her to drop out of the movie business altogether. She died of cancer, in New York City
on August 12, 1955, just one month before her 39th birthday. She had no children.
Actress Lynne Carver was born Virginia Reid Sampson on September 13, 1916, in Douglas, Arizona
Douglas, Arizona
Douglas is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States. Douglas has a border crossing with Mexico and a history of mining.The population was 14,312 at the 2000 census...
. Her father, Reid Johnson Sampson, was a mining engineer in Arizona and New Mexico for several years preceding the World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, and he and his family were briefly detained by Poncho Villa during one of the Mexican general's raids across the border into the Southwestern US, when Virginia was an infant.
Virginia went to Hollywood at a young age to pursue a career in acting after winning a beauty pageant. Some members of her family maintained that she took a stage name because she felt that her given name was too “old–fashioned” and that she was reaching for her paternal grandmother’s maiden name, Cravens, but could not quite recall it properly.
Early on she was billed as Virginia Reid with RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
and can be seen in several musicals as one of the "Goldwyn Girls
Goldwyn Girls
The Goldwyn Girls were a musical stock company of female dancers employed by Samuel Goldwyn. Famous actresses whose career included a stint in the Goldwyn Girls include Lucille Ball, Paulette Goddard, Betty Grable, Ann Sothern, Jane Wyman, Virginia Bruce, Virginia Grey, Mary Meade, and Virginia...
". She dated Howard Hughes
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
, briefly, in the 1930s, before moving on to MGM as Lynne Carver where she became a regular in their stable of actresses. Her older sister, Marjorie Lee Sampson, followed Virginia to Hollywood and landed a few small parts, but never achieved the status of her sister, and soon moved on.
First playing minor bit parts, Lynne Carver eventually moved up to the level of ingénue in a few of her later roles, probably because of her striking looks and Southern charm. The Sampson family were prominent Kentuckians for several generations, where her grandfather, William Sampson, had served as Chief Justice of the Kentucky Supreme Court
Kentucky Supreme Court
The Kentucky Supreme Court was created by a 1975 constitutional amendment and is the state supreme court of the commonwealth of Kentucky. Prior to that the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky...
during the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
As her career advanced, she appeared in several films with Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
and Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer, and singer who appeared in film, and on stage, radio, and television throughout much of the 20th century....
, and was probably best known for her role as Alice Raymond in the early Dr. Kildare films. She was "Barbara" in the magical musical production "Maytime" in 1937 along with Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald and also appeared with them in "Bitter Sweet",a 1940 attempt to recapture the success of "Maytime". Two of her better known M-G-M performances are as Sylvia Bellaire in the 1938 musical comedy film, Everybody Sing starring Allan Jones
Allan Jones
Allan Jones was an American actor and singer. For many years he was married to actress Irene Hervey; their son is American pop singer Jack Jones.-Life and career:...
and Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, and as Bess, Scrooge's nephew's fiancee, in A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
starring Reginald Owen
Reginald Owen
John Reginald Owen was a British character actor. He was known for his many roles in British and American movies and later in television programs.-Personal:...
as Ebenezer Scrooge. Both films were released in
1938. Her last film for M-G-M was Tennessee Johnson
Tennessee Johnson
Tennessee Johnson is a 1942 American film about Andrew Johnson, the 17th president of the United States. It was directed by William Dieterle and written by Milton Gunzburg, Alvin Meyers, John Balderston, and Wells Root. It starred Van Heflin as Johnson, Lionel Barrymore as his nemesis Thaddeus...
which starred Van Heflin
Van Heflin
Emmett Evan "Van" Heflin, Jr. was an American film and theatre actor. He played mostly character parts over the course of his film career, but during the 1940s had a string of roles as a leading man...
as the 17th President Of The United States. Carver played Martha, the daughter of Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson
Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...
.
She married Nicholas Nayfack
Nicholas Nayfack
Nicholas Nayfack was an American movie producer whose notable works include Forbidden Planet and The Invisible Boy. He was the nephew of MGM studio chief Nicholas Schenck and United Artists studio boss Joseph M. Schenck. He married actress Lynne Carver in 1937...
in 1937 and they divorced in 1942. The slowdown of work in Hollywood due to World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
caused her career to stall. During and after the war, she played mostly in Republic Westerns with Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers
Roy Rogers, born Leonard Franklin Slye , was an American singer and cowboy actor, one of the most heavily marketed and merchandised stars of his era, as well as being the namesake of the Roy Rogers Restaurants franchised chain...
and Johnny Mack Brown
Johnny Mack Brown
Johnny Mack Brown was an All-American college football player and film actor originally billed as John Mack Brown at the height of his screen career.-Early life:...
and other more obscure films, but never achieved the level of success she had known earlier.
Around 1948, her marriage to William Mullaney, along with increasing health problems, caused her to drop out of the movie business altogether. She died of cancer, in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on August 12, 1955, just one month before her 39th birthday. She had no children.
Selected filmography
- Maytime (19371937 in filmThe year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US....
), with Jeanette MacDonaldJeanette MacDonaldJeanette MacDonald was an American singer and actress best remembered for her musical films of the 1930s with Maurice Chevalier and Nelson Eddy...
and Nelson EddyNelson EddyNelson Ackerman Eddy was an American singer and actor who appeared in 19 musical films during the 1930s and 1940s, as well as in opera and on the concert stage, radio, television, and in nightclubs. A classically trained baritone, he is best remembered for the eight films in which he costarred... - Madame XMadame X (1937 film)Madame X is a drama film, a sanitized remake of several Pre-Code films of the same name. It was directed by Sam Wood with additional direction by Gustav Machatý .-Plot:...
(1937) - Everybody SingEverybody Sing (film)Everybody Sing is a 1938 musical comedy film starring Judy Garland, Allan Jones, Fanny Brice, Reginald Owen and Billie Burke.-Plot:Young Judy Bellaire has trouble fitting in at school, causing trouble by introducing her jazzy style into music class and being expelled as a result...
(19381938 in filmThe year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...
) - Young Dr. KildareYoung Dr. KildareYoung Dr. Kildare is a 1938 film starring Lew Ayres as an idealistic but somewhat immature young medical doctor, who benefits greatly from the wise counsel of his mentor, Dr. Gillespie, a seasoned older physician. This was the second of a total of ten Dr...
(1938) - A Christmas CarolA Christmas Carol (1938 film)A Christmas Carol is a 1938 American film adaptation of Charles Dickens's novelette.-Cast:*Reginald Owen as Ebenezer Scrooge*Gene Lockhart as Bob Cratchit*Kathleen Lockhart as Mrs. Cratchit*Terry Kilburn as Tiny Tim*Barry MacKay as Fred...
(1938) - The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnThe Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1939 film)The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a 1939 film adaptation of Mark Twain's classic novel of the same name, starring Mickey Rooney in the title role.-Cast:*Mickey Rooney as Huckleberry Finn*Walter Connolly as the 'King'*William Frawley as the 'Duke'...
(19391939 in filmThe year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...
) - Broadway Melody of 1940Broadway Melody of 1940Broadway Melody of 1940 is a 1940 MGM movie musical starring Fred Astaire, Eleanor Powell and George Murphy. It was directed by Norman Taurog and features music by Cole Porter, including "Begin the Beguine"....
(19401940 in filmThe year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....
) - Bitter SweetBitter Sweet (1940 film)Bitter Sweet is a 1940 Technicolor American musical film directed by W. S. Van Dyke, based on the operetta by Noel Coward and previously filmed in 1933; see Bitter Sweet . It was nominated for two Academy Awards, one for Best Cinematography and the other for Best Art Direction by Cedric Gibbons and...
(1940)