Virginia Fox

Virginia Fox, born Virginia Oglesby Fox in Wheeling, West Virginia, was an American actress whose career spanned silent film and Broadway. Her date of birth is disputed, though her death on October 14, 1982, is documented. She was the daughter of Mary Elizabeth (née Oglesby) and Frederick Fox.

Fox's entry into film came by chance during a break from boarding school, when she and a friend made an unplanned visit to Mack Sennett's studio in Los Angeles. Sennett hired her immediately, and she began appearing as a bathing beauty in his productions. She subsequently became a leading lady in early films by Buster Keaton, among them the 1920 production Neighbors.

On January 12, 1924, Fox married film producer Darryl F. Zanuck. The couple had three children: Darrylin, Susan Marie, and Richard Darryl. Following her marriage, Fox stepped back from performing and became a behind-the-scenes presence in her husband's professional life. The two separated in 1956 but never legally divorced. When Zanuck became mentally incapacitated in the early 1970s, Fox cared for him at their home until his death in 1979.

Fox's stage work included Broadway appearances in 1927, with credits encompassing The Pirates of Penzance, Iolanthe, and The Hot Mikado. Despite some accounts suggesting otherwise, Fox was not related to William Fox, the founder of Fox Studios, whose name is associated with 20th Century Fox and the present-day Fox Corporation.

Fox died on October 14, 1982, at her home in Santa Monica, California, following approximately a year of illness. The cause of death was a lung infection complicated by emphysema. She was buried at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Westwood, Los Angeles, near Darryl Zanuck. Her grave incorrectly lists Charleston, rather than Wheeling, as her place of birth.