One of the most popular movie stars of the 1930s was raised in Fargo.

Virginia Bruce was not only a Hollywood glamour actress of the '30s, but also the wife of one of the biggest heartthrobs of the silver screen, John Gilbert.

Helen Virginia Briggs was born Sept. 29, 1910, to Earll F. Briggs and Margaret Morris Briggs in Minneapolis. A month later, her parents moved to Fargo. Her father was an independent insurance broker, and her mother was an outstanding golfer who won the North Dakota amateur golf championship three times.

At an early age, she preferred to be called by her middle name, Virginia, and used it the rest of her life.

She graduated from Fargo Central High School in 1929, the start of the Great Depression. Since the insurance business was very slow in North Dakota at the time, the family decided to move to southern California when Briggs expressed an interest in attending UCLA.

Shortly after arriving in Los Angeles, Briggs toured the Paramount movie studio and was spotted by Harry Wurtzel, the publicity man for director William Beaudine.

Beaudine signed her to a personal contract for $25 a week and changed her name to Virginia Bruce. He gave her a bit part in his movie "Fugitives."

Bruce appeared in small roles in 19 movies from 1929 to 1930, and one of the films that garnered her much attention was the 1930 musical "Whoopee."

This movie was directed by Thornton Freeland from Hope, N.D. In the picture, Bruce played a Goldwyn Girl and was joined in the cast by another Goldwyn Girl, Ann Sothern, from Valley City. One of the people who took Virginia under his wing at this time was Jack Harkrider, who was a designer for the great theater producer Flo Ziegfeld.

Harkrider helped Virginia land a role in the musical comedy "Smiles," which starred Fred Astaire.

Bruce was given a screen test by MGM. After a few small roles, she won the lead female role in the 1932 movie "Downstairs." The script for this film was written by John Gilbert, who also had the starring role.

During the 1920s, the two major romantic men of the screen were Rudolph Valentino and John Gilbert. However, when talkies were introduced, Gilbert's voice was "less dashing than his looks." His career plummeted, and he hoped that "Downstairs" would help him recover his fame.

Although that did not happen, he fell madly in love with Bruce. They married later that year, and she retired from acting.

She gave birth to their daughter in 1933, but life as Mrs. John Gilbert was not easy. Having fallen from favor with the movie public, Gilbert developed a dark mood and began to drink heavily.

No longer able to take his abuse, Bruce filed for divorce in 1934, moved in with her parents in a home she had purchased for them, and resumed her acting career. Her first film back from retirement was in the title role of "Jane Eyre."

In a flurry of activity, Bruce appeared in 14 movies in only 16 months.

John Gilbert died Jan. 6, 1936, leaving the bulk of his estate to Bruce and their daughter. Later that year, she appeared in "Born to Dance" opposite Jimmy Stewart. It was in this film that she introduced the song "I've Got You Under My Skin," which later became a big hit for Frank Sinatra.

In 1937, she was given the female lead in the western "The Bad Man of Brimstone."

The director-producer of the movie was J. Walter Rubin, and, following completion of the film, the two married on Dec. 18, 1937. However, Bruce was once again cheated out of marital happiness when Rubin died less than five years later of heart disease.

During the 1940s, Bruce was given less prominent roles in motion pictures.

In 1946, she married Ali Ipar, a Turkish writer-producer. This marriage also was filled with problems and heartaches for Bruce. In 1947, Ipar visited his father in Turkey but was denied reentry into the U.S. by immigration authorities and was not allowed back until a year later.

In 1951, Ipar was inducted into the Turkish Army but was denied a commission because he was married to a foreigner. To accommodate Ipar's request, Bruce granted him a divorce. Ipar was discharged in 1952, and the two remarried.

The next year, Ipar directed and produced the movie "The Plague," with Virginia Bruce becoming the first American actress to star in a Turkish movie. In 1961, Ipar was arrested and spent 19 months in a Turkish prison for not paying a debt of $3 million. In 1964, Bruce decided enough is enough and filed for divorce.

Except for television and a few Turkish films, Bruce did very little other film work during the '50s and '60s. She died in Los Angeles on Feb. 24, 1982.

However, one mystery about Bruce remains.

In 1981, underground movie director Paul Morrissey released a movie titled "Madame Wang's," about an East German who comes to the U.S. looking for Jane Fonda to help him start a revolution. In the credits, the role of Madame Wang, the lady who booked punk bands in her restaurant, is played by Virginia Bruce.

Morrissey claimed it was the same Virginia Bruce who was a major movie star of the 1930s. However, many people who have seen the movie insist it was someone else. Unfortunately, the only person who could definitively settle this matter died shortly after the movie was released.

(Written by Curt Eriksmoen and edited by Jan Eriksmoen. Reach the Eriksmoens at cjeriksmoen@;cableone.net)