Virginia Christine

Virginia Christine
Virginia Christine in Women in the Night
Born	Virginia Christine Ricketts (1920-03-05)March 5, 1920 Stanton, Iowa, U.S.
Died	July 26, 1996(1996-07-26) (aged 76) Brentwood, Los Angeles California, U.S.
Cause of death	Cardiovascular disease
Resting place	Mount Sinai Memorial Park Cemetery
Nationality	American
Other names	Virginia Christine Kraft
Education	Elmwood Elementary School Mediapolis High School
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1943–1979
Spouse(s)	Fritz Feld (m. 1940–93)
Children	Danny and Steve

Virginia Christine (March 5, 1920 – July 24, 1996) was an American stage, radio, film, television, and voice actress. Christine had a long career as a character actress in film and television. She is particularly remembered as "Mrs. Olson" (or the "Folgers Coffee Woman") in a number of television commercials for Folgers.

Christine was born Virginia Christine Ricketts in Stanton in Montgomery County in southwestern Iowa. She was of Swedish descent. Upon her mother's remarriage, she changed her last name to "Kraft". The family later moved to Des Moines in Polk County, where Virginia attended Elmwood Elementary School. The family relocated again to Des Moines County in southeastern Iowa, not to be confused with the state capital in central Iowa. There Christine attended Mediapolis High School, where she aspired to be a concert pianist. Her family later moved to California, where she enrolled at UCLA.

Christine began working in radio during college. She began training for a theatrical career with actor/director Fritz Feld whom she married in 1940. In 1942, she made her stage debut in the Los Angeles production of Hedda Gabler. While performing in the play, she was spotted by an agent from Warner Bros. who signed her to a film contract with the studio. Her first film for Warner's was Edge of Darkness (1943), in which she played a Norwegian peasant girl. She was dropped by Warner Bros. in 1943 and signed with Universal Pictures in 1944. That year, Christine had a supporting role in The Mummy's Curse and The Wife of Monte Cristo, with her husband Fritz Feld (the two would also go on to appear together in the Western 4 for Texas in 1963). In 1946, she appeared in The Scarlet Horseman, a 13-chapter film serial playing Carla Marquette, or Matosca, followed by a supporting role in mystery film The Inner Circle. Christine's next film for Universal was the film noir classic The Killers. She initially tested for the lead role of femme fatale Kitty Collins, but lost out to Ava Gardner. The film's producer, Mark Hellinger, was impressed with her test and cast her as Lilly Harmon Lubinsky, the wife of Lt. Sam Lubinsky (Sam Levene). Christine also portrayed the role of Miss Watston in the 1964 remake of the film, starring Lee Marvin and Angie Dickinson.