Jigee Viertel

Biography

Born Virginia Lee Ray in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Her younger sister, Anne (later married to Melvin Frank), originally pronounced Virginia as "Jigee". The family moved to Los Angeles, where Jigee became active in dance and theater and is credited with appearances in three early motion pictures: One in a Million (1936), Bottoms Up (1934) and Three Kids and a Queen (1935).
She married Budd Schulberg on New Year's Eve 1936. They had one child, daughter Victoria, before divorcing in 1943.  She married Peter Viertel in 1943, and was pregnant with their daughter, Christine, when Peter left her to live with fashion model Bettina Graziani – though they would not divorce until 1959. Reputedly dependent on alcohol and sleeping medication, Viertel woke one night in her Los Angeles home and while in the bathroom lit a cigarette that she then dropped inadvertently into the pocket of her dressing gown, causing her immolation. She died from the burns she suffered a month later on 31 January 1960.