Virginia Payne
Encyclopedia
Virginia Payne was an American radio
actress, best known for her 27-year role as Ma Perkins. In 1939, in addition to Ma Perkins
, she took over the role of Mrs. Carter on the radio soap opera The Carters of Elm Street.
Noting the 25th anniversary of Ma Perkins, Time
described Payne in 1957:
After the long run of Ma Perkins came to an end, Payne did theater. She appeared on Broadway in the Betty Comden
- Adolph Green
musical comedy, Fade Out - Fade In (1964–65), and Paul Zindel's play, And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little (1971).
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
actress, best known for her 27-year role as Ma Perkins. In 1939, in addition to Ma Perkins
Ma Perkins
Ma Perkins is an American radio soap opera which was heard on NBC from 1933 to 1949 and on CBS from 1942 to 1960. Between 1942 and 1949, the show was heard simultaneously on both networks...
, she took over the role of Mrs. Carter on the radio soap opera The Carters of Elm Street.
Noting the 25th anniversary of Ma Perkins, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
described Payne in 1957:
- Like other daytime heroines, Ma neither drinks, smokes, takes snuff or has affairs with men. Unlike Ma, Cincinnati-born Virginia Payne, 47, has never been married, downs an occasional whisky sour and makes up to $50,000 a year—more than any other actress in daytime broadcasting. Her present writer (she has had ten) lived on the Riviera for two years, now counts his money on Cape CodCape CodCape Cod, often referred to locally as simply the Cape, is a cape in the easternmost portion of the state of Massachusetts, in the Northeastern United States...
. A devout Roman Catholic with an M.A. in literature (University of CincinnatiUniversity of CincinnatiThe University of Cincinnati is a comprehensive public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, and a part of the University System of Ohio....
), Virginia sheds Ma's vocabulary of "ain'ts," "folks" and "Land o' Goshens" with ease, but insists on making personal appearances in wig, makeup, frumpy clothes and spectacles, "though I often feel like a great imposter." She is an accomplished pianist, lives alone in a posh East Side Manhattan apartment decorated with Duveen-collected oil paintings, accumulates antiques, and grows roses (two varieties have been named for her).
After the long run of Ma Perkins came to an end, Payne did theater. She appeared on Broadway in the Betty Comden
Betty Comden
Betty Comden was one-half of the musical-comedy duo Comden and Green, who provided lyrics, libretti, and screenplays to some of the most beloved and successful Hollywood musicals and Broadway shows of the mid-20th century...
- Adolph Green
Adolph Green
Adolph Green was an American lyricist and playwright who, with long-time collaborator Betty Comden, penned the screenplays and songs for some of the most beloved movie musicals, particularly as part of Arthur Freed's production unit at MGM, during the genre's heyday...
musical comedy, Fade Out - Fade In (1964–65), and Paul Zindel's play, And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little (1971).