Virginia Gregg

Born March 6, 1916, Virginia Gregg was a talented radio, film, and television actress. She was born in Illinois, but left her midwestern upbringing to become a star on radio.

Her most well known radio role is that of a cast member on Dragnet. This series was incredibly popular and she starred in both the radio and television versions of it. She had literally dozens of roles in the radio broadcast and was a major asset to the cast. She also starred in the film version of Dragnet as Evelyn Starkie. This role received great critical acclaim.

Gregg also played Missy Wong on the radio show Have Gun, Will Travel. This show actually began on television and then was turned into a radio show. While this happened a few times, Have Gun, Will Travel was the most successful of them. Virginia also voiced other characters on the show.

While she was rarely the main character she appeared in a great many series in support roles throughout the forties and fifties. You can hear her in many shows on RUSC including Richard Diamond, Yours Truly Johnny Dollar, The Lineup, Arch Oboler's Plays, Escape, Unexpected, Tales of the Texas Ranger, Fort Laramie, The Whistler,  Suspense,  Escape, Family Theater,  Let George Do It and Dr Kildare. In fact if you do a power search on her you will find her listed in shows on RUSC over 250 times!

As radio gave way to television and film, Gregg had many roles on well-known series. She made several appearances on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Lassie, Mike Hammer, 77 Sunset Strip, Perry Mason, and even the Adams Family. The list of guest appearances goes on and on.

Perhaps one of the roles she’s best known for came from a television role. She was the famous voice of Norma Bates in Psycho. While she was uncredited in the original film, she went on to reprise the voice in the sequels. This role was a voice role only as she played the creepy mother of Norman Bates.

>Her last television role was a small part on the hit TV show Dynasty in 1983. On September 15, 1986, Virginia Gregg passed away from lung cancer in Encino, California.

While Virginia Gregg was never a leading lady famous for her diva nature, her career is significant. She was able to move from radio to television to film and had a career that spanned over 50 years. She worked up until the end of her life and had a successful run as a guest star in many shows.

If you’re interested in hearing some of her work, check out the recordings of Dragnet or Have Gun, Will Travel. You can also hear her in the CBS Radio Workshop episode entitled The Enormous Radio.

Happy listening my friends,