Background
She was born Virginia Louise Noonan, one of 11 children born to a judge in Bayonne, New Jersey.
She was born Virginia Louise Noonan, one of 11 children born to a judge in Bayonne, New Jersey.
Convent-educated, she started her career in vaudeville, billed as "Chotsie Noonan". Known for her petite and curly brown hair. She was teamed with Constance Bennett and Joan Crawford in the MGM film , directed by Edmund Goulding, which brought her instant, but short-lived, fame.
She was paired with Crawford again as a WAMPAS Baby Star in 1926. Her fame began to subside after "talkies" replaced silents. She also had a problem with stage fright that didn't help either.
By the late 1930s, her film career was over, but she continued on stage and toured with the USO until the 1950s. She died of pneumonia in Galesburg, Illinois, aged 59, in 1968.