Background
Virginia Cherrill was born on a farm in rural Carthage, Illinois, to James E. and Blanche (née Wilcox) Cherrill.
Virginia Cherrill was born on a farm in rural Carthage, Illinois, to James E. and Blanche (née Wilcox) Cherrill.
She had been voted "Queen of the Artists Ball" in Chicago in 1925 and was invited to perform on the variety stage by Florence Ziegfeld, an offer she declined. Chaplin soon cast Cherrill in City Lights. Although the film and her performance were well-received, her working relationship with Chaplin on the film was often strained.
As indicated in the documentary, Unknown Chaplin, Cherrill was fired from the film for leaving the set for a hairdressing appointment at one point and Chaplin planned to re-film all her scenes with Georgia Hale, but ultimately realized too much money had already been spent on the film.
Even before City Lights was released, 20th Century Fox signed Cherrill to a contract. Following the success of City Lights, the studio put her to work in early sound films of the 1930s, such as Girls Demand Excitement (1931), one of John Wayne"s first films as a star.
Big-name directors cast her in their films, such as John Ford in and Tod Browning in Fast Workers (1933). She also appeared in the 1931 Gershwin musical Delicious with Janet Gaynor.
She then went to Britain where she starred in two of James Mason"s earlier films, including Troubled Waters, which turned out to be her last film.
None of these later films were hits, and she gave up her film career, claiming that she was "no great shakes as an actress.".