Victoria Vinton

Biography

Born in New Jersey, Vinton and her sister, Violet (1914-2003), relocated with their father to California following their parents' divorce. Their father found work alongside his brother-in-law as a motion picture cameraman, but his long hours meant that his daughters were alternately raised by their grandmother as well as an aunt and uncle. Growing up with the movie industry all around her, as a young woman, Vinton decided to pursue a show business career. Making her screen debut around 1932, Vinton would become a familiar - though mostly uncredited - face in Busby Berkeley films of the 1930s. She appeared in titles like "Footlight Parade" (1933), "Fashions of 1934" (1934) "Dames" (1934), "Gold Diggers of 1935" (1935), and "Gold Diggers of 1937" (1936). Additionally, Vinton worked as a leg double for more famous actresses, so you may very well have glimpsed parts of her in other movies, as well. Although she was often referred to in the press as a "movie star type", she was destined to remain an extra for the majority of her career. After working in over 40 films, Victoria Vinton appears to have retired from the screen in 1944. Following a brief marriage that ended in annulment, Vinton wed cinematographer Charles "Scotty" Welbourne (1907-1979). The pair had one son together before divorcing in 1953. Vinton married for the third time in 1955, a union that lasted nearly 25 years until her husband passed away. Sadly, in June of 1980, Victoria Vinton took her own life. Though her actual date of death could not be clearly established, her body was found exactly one year to the day after her beloved husband, Jack (1901-1979), died. In addition to her son and her sister, her father, Victor (1888-1983), was among her survivors.