Virginia Patton (1925-2022) died Thursday at an assisted living facility in Albany, Georgia. This was announced by the “Mathews Funeral Home”. The actress, best known for her role in ‘Isn’t Life Beautiful?’ (1946) was 97 years old.
In Frank Capra’s (1897-1991) cult film, which is still one of the Christmas classics, she played Ruth Dakin Bailey, the sister-in-law of the main character George Bailey (James “Jimmy” Stewart, 1908-1997). Her big scene takes place at Bedford Falls train station, where she first meets George and Uncle Billy (Thomas Mitchell, 1892-1962).
Virginia Patton’s short film career
The actress was born on June 25, 1925 in Cleveland, Ohio. Her family relocated to her father’s hometown of Portland, Oregon when she was a toddler. There she stayed until her high school graduation and moved to Los Angeles to attend the University of Southern California.
She worked with, among others, the playwright and screenwriter William C. deMille (1878-1955), who helped found the USC film school. He was the older brother of director Cecil B. DeMille (1881-1959) and it was through this connection that she met director Frank Capra.
The young actress signed a contract with Warner Brothers and made her screen debut in 1943’s Thank Your Lucky Stars. She then had small roles in Janie (1944), Hollywood Canteen (1944) and Angel With a Trumpet (1945). She was last seen in “The Lucky Stiff” in 1949.
Marriage and reorientation
After her marriage to automobile executive Cruse W. Moss, whom she met in 1949, she gave up acting. The couple had three children. The former actress later served as an associate professor at the University of Michigan Museum of Art and as president and director of Patton Corp, an investment and real estate holding company.