Victoria Horne

Victoria Horne (November 1, 1911 – October 10, 2003) was an American character actress, appearing in 49 films (uncredited in 25 of these) during the 1940s and 1950s.

Victoria Horne
Victoria Horne (second from left) with the Three Stooges and co-star Patricia Wright (second from right) in Cuckoo on a Choo Choo.
Born	November 1, 1911 New York City, U.S.
Died	October 10, 2003 (aged 91) Beverly Hills, California, U.S.
Resting place	Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Other names	Victoria Horne Oakie
Alma mater	American Academy of Dramatic Arts
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1944-1959
Spouse(s)	Jack Oakie ​ ​ (m. 1950; died 1978)​

Early years

Horne was born on November 1, 1911, in New York City, New York, to Ignatz Hornstein (who emigrated from Braila, Romania) and Mary Louise Schoenwetter Hornstein.[1] She was the second of four children. The family named was changed to "Horne" when she was a child.

She was a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.[2]

Career

The films in which she appeared included Blue Skies, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, and Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff. Perhaps her best-known film roles were as James Stewart's love-searching niece Myrtle Mae Simmons in the 1950 film adaptation of Mary Chase's play Harvey, as Roberta in the 1952 Three Stooges short subject Cuckoo on a Choo Choo, and as Nabura, a villainous Japanese agent in the 1945 serial Secret Agent X-9.

Personal

She married actor Jack Oakie in 1950 and remained with him until his death on January 23, 1978. After his death, she arranged the posthumous publication of her late husband's book, Jack Oakie's Double Takes and also published a number of other books about him.

Victoria and Jack Oakie lived their entire married life at "Oakridge", their 11-acre (45,000 m²) estate at 18650 Devonshire Street (just west of Reseda Boulevard) in Northridge, Los Angeles, California. Victoria Oakie continued to live there after her husband's death and bequeathed the estate to the University of Southern California. After two failed attempts to develop the property, Oakridge was acquired by the City of Los Angeles. The city plans to use the property as a park and community event center. Oakridge was originally commissioned by Barbara Stanwyck and designed by Paul Williams, and is considered to be one of the last remnants of the large Northridge estates famed for thoroughbred breeding. The house and grounds are Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #484.[3][4][5]

Death

Horne died on October 10, 2003, in a retirement home in Beverly Hills, California. She was 91.[2]

Legacy

The Jack Oakie and Victoria Horne Oakie Charitable Foundation underwrites "lectures on comedy and scholarships for deserving film and theater students at some of the most prestigious institutions in the country."[6] An official of Syracuse University said that money provided by the foundation "was a godsend" in helping the university establish its semester-in-Los-Angeles program.[7]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1944	Phantom Lady	Miss Payton	Uncredited
1944	Men on Her Mind	Minor Role	Uncredited
1944	The Scarlet Claw	Nora
1944	San Diego, I Love You	Mrs. Allsop	Uncredited
1944	Murder in the Blue Room	Second Maid	Uncredited
1945	Roughly Speaking	Maid at Millwood	Uncredited
1945	The Unseen	Lily	Uncredited
1945	Pillow to Post	Mildred Henry	Uncredited
1945	That's the Spirit	Patience
1945	Secret Agent X-9	Nabura	Serial
1945	Love, Honor and Goodbye	Miss Whipple
1945	Pillow of Death	Vivian Fletcher	Voice, Uncredited
1946	The Scarlet Horseman	Loma
1946	Cinderella Jones	Agnes	Uncredited
1946	To Each His Own	Nurse Daisy Gingras
1946	In Old Sacramento	Ma Dodge	Uncredited
1946	She Wrote the Book	The Maid	Uncredited
1946	Blue Skies	Martha - Mary Elizabeth's Nanny
1947	Suddenly, It's Spring	WAC Lt. Billings
1947	The Guilt of Janet Ames	Nurse	Uncredited
1947	Smash-Up, the Story of a Woman	Woman	Uncredited
1947	The Ghost and Mrs. Muir	Eva Muir
1947	The Crimson Key	Miss Phillips
1947	Key Witness	Nurse Sibley	Uncredited
1947	Forever Amber	Quaker Woman	Uncredited
1947	Daisy Kenyon	Marsha - Dan's Secretary	Uncredited
1948	The Mating of Millie	Nurse	Uncredited
1948	The Gentleman from Nowhere	Miss Keams	Uncredited
1948	The Return of October	Margaret Grant	Uncredited
1948	The Snake Pit	Ward 33 Inmate	Uncredited
1949	The Life of Riley	Lucy Monahan
1949	Streets of San Francisco	Witness	Uncredited
1949	Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff	Mrs. Hargreave
1949	Mary Ryan, Detective	Wilma Hall
1950	The Good Humor Man	Bride
1950	Joe Palooka in Humphrey Takes a Chance	Miss Tucker
1950	The Men	Paraplegic's Wife	Uncredited
1950	Never a Dull Moment	Shivaree Partyer	Uncredited
1950	Harvey	Myrtle Mae Simmons
1951	The Company She Keeps	Marcia Guston	Uncredited
1951	Cuban Fireball	The Maid
1952	Scandal Sheet	Mary	Uncredited
1952	Dreamboat	Waitress at Ruby's	Uncredited
1952	Cuckoo on a Choo Choo	Roberta	Short
1953	The Blue Gardenia	Disturbed Woman with Big Feet	Uncredited
1953	Affair with a Stranger	Mrs. Wallace
1959	The Wonderful Country	Townswoman at Dance	Uncredited, (final film role)

References

1. Foote, Lisle (2014). Buster Keaton's Crew: The Team Behind His Silent Films. McFarland. p. 89. ISBN 9780786496839. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
2. McLellan, Dennis (October 17, 2003). "Victoria H. Oakie, 91; Gave Up Acting Career for Film Comic Husband". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
3. Book description for Jack Oakie's Oakridge at Amazon.com. Accessed June 16, 2007. (This appears to be incorrect; California Historical Landmark #484 is Georgetown, while Oakridge is Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #484.)
4. "City of Los Angeles Acquires Historic Oakridge Estate" (PDF). City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning, Office of Historic Resources. July 2010. p. 5. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
5. "Historic-Cultural Monument (HCM) List" (PDF). City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning, Office of Historic Resources. August 9, 2010. Retrieved November 6, 2010.
6. "The Oakie Foundation". Syracuse University: Los Angeles Semester. Syracuse University. Archived from the original on August 13, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2017.
7. Saval, Malina (July 19, 2017). "Jack Oakie and Victoria Horne Oakie Charitable Foundation Gives Back". Variety. Retrieved August 13, 2017.

Bibliography

• Jack Oakie (1980). Jack Oakie's Double Takes. Strawberry Hill Press. ISBN 0-89407-019-3. Autobiography published posthumously by Oakie's widow on January 1, 1980. 240 pages.
• Victoria Horne Oakie (1980). Jack Oakie's Oakridge. Strawberry Hill Press. ISBN 978-0-89407-102-7. A history of the Oakie family home, "Oakridge". 126 pages.
• Victoria Horne Oakie (1994). "Dear Jack": Hollywood birthday reminiscences to Jack Oakie. Strawberry Hill Press. ISBN 978-0-89407-113-3. Letters of congratulation and reminiscence sent from almost 150 celebrities to Jack Oakie in celebration of his 70th birthday. Compiled & edited by Mrs Oakie to commemorate his 90th birthday. 140 pages.
• Jack Oakie and Victoria Horne Oakie (1997). When the Line Is Straight: Jack Oakie's Comedy in Motion Pictures. Strawberry Hill Press. ISBN 978-0-89407-140-9.
• Victoria Horne Oakie (2001). Life With Jack Oakie: Anecdotes. Strawberry Hill Press. ISBN 0-7862-3417-2.

External links

• Victoria Horne at IMDb
• Victoria Horne at the Internet Broadway Database
• Aerial view of the Jack Oakie and Victoria Horne "Oakridge" estate - (circa 2006-07)
• Victoria Horne at Find a Grave