Today is the birthday of Virginia Fox (1902-1982). A native of Wheeling, West Virginia, she was a Mack Sennett Bathing Beauty by 1919. Within a year, she had become Buster Keaton’s leading lady, appearing opposite in most of his two reel shorts from 1920-1923, while still continuing to appear in the occasional Sennett comedy. Her last Keaton picture was The Love Nest. After Keaton moved on to do features, Fox did one more Sennett comedy The Lion and the Souse (with Andy Clyde and Vernon Dent, directed by Harry Edwards) and a horror picture called Itching Palms.
In 1924, she married producer Daryl F. Zanuck who would come to be the head of Twentieth Century Fox (no relation). They remained married until his death in 1979, although they were separated from 1956 to 1973.
For more on silent and slapstick comedy please check out my new book: Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube, just released by Bear Manor Media, also available from amazon.com etc etc etc
(Travalanche) 