Virginia Williams was born in Detroit, Michigan, on April 17, 1910. She attended the University of Michigan where she was a member of Delta Delta Delta sorority. After graduating with a degree in English Literature, she moved to New York City to pursue a career in music. At the age of twenty-three she began writing for several magazines, including Graham's and Harper's Bazaar, and worked as an advertising copywriter, songwriter and producer for RKO Radio Pictures
Her first film, "The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing" (1934), was nominated for seven Academy Awards. While working on the film "Stormy Weather" (1943), she met dancer Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, who became her husband. Virginia wrote the lyrics to his signature song "Jump for Joy." He also played the piano on some of her songs. The pair wrote numerous stage acts together; often Virginia sang and danced while her husband accompanied on piano.
He died in 1952 due to injuries sustained in a car accident. Virginia's most famous screen role is that of singer Lena Horne in Stormy Weather (1943). Having befriended the recently widowed actress Lena Horne backstage after one of her performances at the Apollo Theater in Harlem, Virginia asked Horne if she would like to sing with her onstage during the dance number "Stormy Weather" but Horne declined until Virginia assured her that no one else would be present at the time. After Horne agreed to perform with her, they became fast friends and remained so through their lives.
As a young woman, Horne taught Virginia how to dance and how to sing. Virginia also appeared as herself in two episodes of The Donna Reed Show . Virginia's first novel was published in 1955 by Random House under the title "Loving You." It became an immediate bestseller and was later made into a movie starring Rock Hudson as well as Doris Day as Virginia and Paul Ford as Bill Robinson. The novel tells the story of Virginia's early life from age twelve through twenty-three, during which time she lived with Bill Robinson and his family.
The book is considered a classic piece of fiction about love between a mother and daughter along with a mother-daughter love triangle between Virginia and Lena Horne. In 1977 it was made into a TV movie starring Debbie Reynolds as Virginia, Joanne Woodward as Lena Horne, Robert Mitchum as Bill Robinson and Celeste Holm as Mrs. Robinson.
When a woman opens up about her fertility struggles, I feel less alone, and I hope to help others in the same way.Virginia Williams
I felt like a failure, like somehow my self-worth was tied to my ability to procreate. I didn't feel like I could talk about it. I did not want other people's pity, so I mostly kept my story and my feelings to myself.Virginia Williams
