Lynne Carver

One of our Christmas traditions is viewing Reginald Owen as Scrooge in A CHRISTMAS CAROL (MGM, 1938) on Turner Classic Movies. In that film, a gal named "Bess" is engaged to Scrooge's nephew, and Bess is played by Lynne Carver, a very pretty lady who can even deliver dialog reasonably well. As I was watching, I recalled that Carver did a few 1940s Monogram westerns with Johnny Mack Brown. I wondered "whatever happened to Lynne Carver?"

According to the genealogy website listed at the bottom of this page, Carver was born Virginia Reid Sampson on September 13, 1916 in Douglas, Arizona, and her parents were Reid Johnson Sampson and Maude Fleenor Sampson. But there's confusion with her birth info. The 1936-1937 Motion Picture Almanac lists Virginia Reid as born in Lexington, Kentucky on September 13, 1916. However, Motion Picture Almanacs from the mid 1940s have her born in Birmingham, Alabama.

Hoping to get more info on Carver, I jotted off an e-mail to the Douglas, Arizona Library. Cindy Hayostek, a professional writer and historical researcher, quickly responded. Cindy writes:

"Virginia Reid Sampson was born in Douglas, Arizona on September 13, 1916. Her father, Reid Johnson Sampson, was an engineer at the Copper Queen smelter. The Copper Queen was the larger of the two copper smelters in town at the time. Her mother is listed on Virginia's birth certificate as Maud Fleenor, a housewife. Virginia was the second of Maud's children. In the 1917 Douglas City directory, there were two other Sampsons in Douglas. I imagine they are relatives of some sort. In the 1918 Douglas City directory, none of the Sampsons are listed. Virginia may have been born here, but she didn't live here long."
(Note: in a follow-up e-mail to Cindy, I asked her to double-check the spelling on the first name of Carver's Mom - it is Maud with no "e" at the end.)

Her Hollywood career began around 1934 and she can be seen in films at RKO and as one of many starlets doing musicals as a Goldwyn Girl. In her early film work, she called herself Virginia Reid. By the late 1930s at MGM, she was billed as Lynne Carver and appeared in the Dr. Kildare series, A CHRISTMAS CAROL (1938), THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN (1939) wih Mickey Rooney, more.

She did a half dozen B westerns in the 1940s. There was a pair with Roy Rogers: SUNSET ON THE DESERT (Republic, 1942) and MAN FROM CHEYENNE (Republic, 1942). That was followed by a quartet with Johnny Mack Brown: LAW OF THE VALLEY (Monogram, 1944), FLAME OF THE WEST (Monogram, 1945), DRIFTING ALONG (Monogram, 1946) and CROSSED TRAILS (Monogram, 1948). But in three of those half dozen, Carver wasn't the heroine/leading lady. In MAN FROM CHEYENNE, Lynne plays a baddie, working in cahoots with William Haade and a gang of rustlers. She's a saloon gal in CROSSED TRAILS. And she's background in FLAME OF THE WEST which has Joan Woodbury as the female lead. Supposedly, Carver has an unbilled / uncredited role in John Wayne's IN OLD CALIFORNIA (Republic, 1942), but I've been unable to spot her in that film.

After exiting Hollywood, Lynne spent time doing plays and there's traces in tradepapers - a couple examples:

June 3, 1953 issue of Variety noted that Lynne was doing leading roles in plays for the Lakeside Summer Theater in Worcester, Massachusetts ... and that she "has recovered from several serious operations performed last winter."
January 13, 1954 Variety - " 'Laura', new production of the Houston Playhouse Theater, with Lynne Carver, former Hollywood actress in the title role, opens tonight."

There were several marriages:

While at RKO as "Virginia Reed", she married dentist Dr. Ralph C. McClung in January, 1935 and they divorced in November, 1936.

Lynne married Nicholas Nayfack in Yuma, Arizona on July 18, 1937 and they divorced in May, 1942. Nayfack was an MGM executive and the nephew of Hollywood studio bosses Joseph M. Schenck and Nicholas M. Schenck. He and Lynne met while she was at MGM.

August 31, 1948 marriage to actor John Burt. In an October, 1948 UP syndicated news report, Lynne claimed she was drinking the night they married, had no recollection of the marriage, and was granted an annulment in a Hollywood court.

Marriage number four was to New York City theatrical director William J. Mullaney and they were together through Lynne's passing on August 12, 1955 from cancer.

She exited films and Hollywood circa late 1940s due to health problems. Excerpts from 1955 newspapers on her August 12, 1955 death: "NEW YORK --- Lynne Carver, 38-year-old actress, died in Memorial Hospital here Friday after a year-long battle against cancer." ; "She was married to William J. Mullaney, New York theatrical director." and "Lynne Carver ... wife of William J. Mullaney of 97 Perry Street, New York City. Funeral from Universal Chapel, 52nd Street and Lexington Avenue."

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above from L-to-R are Lynne Carver, Johnny Mack Brown and Kathy Frye in a scene from CROSSED TRAILS (Monogram, 1948). This was Carver's last movie role.

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above from L-to-R are Douglas Fowley, Lynne Carver, stuntman Ted Mapes (with hat), Steve Clark, Terry Frost (with hat), Johnny Mack Brown, Lynton Brent (partial face), a very old Jack Rockwell (wearing the suit), Tom Quinn, and Raymond Hatton in a scene from JMB's DRIFTING ALONG (Monogram, 1946).

(Courtesy of Les Adams)

Above is the title lobby card to MAN FROM CHEYENNE (Republic, 1942). Behind Roy Rogers from L-to-R are Karl Farr (guitar), Lloyd Perryman (bass fiddle), Hugh Farr (fiddle), Tim Spencer (guitar), George 'Gabby' Hayes and Bob Nolan. Crop / blowup below of the photo inset - left to right are James Seay, Gale Storm, Roy Rogers and Lynne Carver.

Although some of the data is incomplete or inaccurate, the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has information on:
Lynne Carver: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0142568/
MGM Executive/Producer Nicholas Nayfack (1909 - 1958): https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0623255/

The Family Search website (free), Ancestry.com (subscription), Arizona Department of Health Services, and other sources have information on Virginia Reid Sampson / Lynne Carver:

Arizona Department of Health Services website has the birth certificate and supplemental birth certificate for Virginia Reid Sampson. She was born September 13, 1916 in Douglas, Cochise County, Arizona and her father was 29 year old Reid Johnson Sampson (occupation "Mining Engineer") and mother was 23 year old Maud Fleenor (occupation "Housewife"). When you get to the Arizona website, enter Sampson as the last name, 1916 as birth year, and Fleenor as her mother's maiden name. Run the search and two birth records will be shown and you can view / download those: https://www.azdhs.gov/licensing/vital-records/genealogy/index.php
1920 census summary and census takers worksheet - renting in Clifton, Greenlee County, Arizona were 32 year old R. J. Sampson (born Kentucky; occupation "Engineer - Copper mine"), his 26 year old wife Maud Sampson (born Kentucky), 5 year old daughter Marjorie (born Texas) and 3+ year old daughter Virginia (born Arizona): https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MCRV-48Y
1930 census summary and census takers worksheet - renting in Alhambra, Los Angeles, California were 42 year old Reid J. Sampson (born Kentucky; occupation Engineer - Mining), his 36 year old wife Maud F. (born Kentucky), 15 year old daughter Margery L. (born Texas), and 13 year old daughter Virginia D. (born Arizona): https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XCD9-G9S
Ancestry.com had the Alhambra, California High School yearbook for 1933, and Virginia Sampson is mentioned.
1940 census summary and census takers worksheet - living in Los Angeles were 31 year old Nicklson [sic] Nayfack (born New York), his 24 year old wife Virginia Nayfack (born Kentucky) and a cook and butler. They owned their home, but could not decipher the Los Angeles street address. Occupation of Nayfack was "Executive - Motion Pictures" and Virginia was "Actress - Motion Pictures". In 1939, she worked 26 weeks and earned $5000.00: https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K9CP-9MS
Death notice for Lynne Carver in the August 13, 1955 Los Angeles Times: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-los-angeles-times-death-notice-for-v/128312197/

Find A Grave website has a photo of the marker for Lynne Carver Mullaney (1916 - 1955) at Cemetery of the Gate of Heaven, Hawthorne, Westchester County, New York: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7994449/lynne-carver

There's a genealogy website with a page on Lynne Carver, and it shows her real name as Virginia Reid Sampson and born September 13, 1916 in Douglas, Arizona: https://freepages.rootsweb.com/~jsmith/genealogy/ps02/ps02_194.htm

Bio on Lynne Carver in the 1939 Who's Who at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer available at the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/whoswhoatmetrogo00metr_0/page/45/mode/1up?view=theater

It's always interesting to click through newspaper headlines and clippings - here's a couple articles on Lynne doing westerns at Republic Pictures and the quickie marriage and annulment in 1948 to actor John Burt: