Actress. Sherman Virginia Poole was born to Lady May Adams and Albion Winchester Poole in Los Angeles, California. When her parents divorced, she chose the stage name Virginia Gilmore, dropping the unfortunate first name of Sherman and adopting her stepfather's surname. She discovered the excitement of acting as a teenager and began performing in local shows in the San Francisco area. She made her theater debut in Monterey at the age of 16, playing Curley's wife in a stage version of "Of Mice and Men." Continuing to work in local theaters, she ultimately caught Samuel Goldwyn's interest, who offered her a seven-year contract for $50.00 per week. In 1939, she appeared in the movie "Winter Carnival" and in 1940 in the films "Laddie," "Manhattan Heartbeat," and "Jennie." From 1941 to 1943, she made 11 more movies, the last one being "The Loves of Edgar Allan Poe," before exploring acting on stage. Her first Broadway debuts were in 1943 with "Those Endering Young Charms" and "The World's Full of Girls," followed by "Dear Ruth" in 1944. She also appeared on stage in "Truckline Cafe" (1946), "The Grey-eyed People" (1952), and "Critics Choice" (1960), as well as in the films "Wonder Man" (1945), "Close-Up" (1948), and "Walk East on Beacon" (1952). She met and married Yul Brynner, a Russian-born actor who was just starting out as a director for CBS television in 1944. The couple were featured in an NBC television series, "We're On," in 1949. She and Yul had one son and divorced in 1960. She fought alcoholism for many years and credits Alcoholics Anonymous' Twelve Step program for her eventual recovery. Despite the organization's policy of anonymity, she rose to become the organization's senior spokesperson. She devoted much of her time to helping others in recovery and spent many years teaching theatre at Yale University.