Biography
Famed Broadway actress Virginia Vestoff was born on December 9, 1939, in New York City to vaudeville performers. Her father was a Russian immigrant, and her mother was a direct descendant of composer and songwriter Stephen Foster (1826–1864). Both her parents passed away when she was young, leaving Virginia an orphan by age nine and living with relatives. Her isolated and unhappy childhood fostered a vivid imagination and a strong inclination toward the performing arts. At 12, she earned third place on Ted Mack & the Original Amateur Hour (1948) and made her professional debut with the Children's Chorus of the New York City Opera Company. She later studied at New York's High School of the Performing Arts.
At 15, she left school to chase her acting ambitions and eventually toured with a dance company. This experience led to her professional stage debut in "The Boyfriend" in 1957. Virginia demonstrated versatility across classical plays and musicals, maintaining steady work throughout the 1960s and 1970s in productions such as "I'm Getting My Act Together and Taking It On the Road," "The Threepenny Opera," "Camelot," "My Fair Lady," "The King and I," "The Misanthrope," "Love and Let Love," "Man With a Load of Mischief," and "A Doll's House" (where she understudied Liv Ullmann as Nora).
Her Broadway debut came in 1960 with the musical revue "From A to Z." While performing as Daisy in the 1965 Sherlock Holmes musical "Baker Street," she met and later married psychologist and author Morty Lefkoe, founder and president of the Lefkoe Institute and creator of the Lefkoe Method, a psychological technique. Other Broadway credits include "Irma La Douce" (initially understudying the lead before assuming the role), "Boccaccio," the rock musical "Via Galactica," and notably, her role as Abigail Adams in the acclaimed revolutionary-era musical "1776," earning her a 1969 Tony Award nomination. That year, the award went to Marian Mercer for "Promises, Promises."
In the late 1960s, Virginia began securing replacement roles in daytime soap operas. From 1969 to 1970, she temporarily replaced Elizabeth Hubbard as Dr. Althea Davis on The Doctors (1963). She also played Samantha on the cult vampire soap Dark Shadows (1966) for four months, succeeding Kathryn Leigh Scott. Additionally, she frequently appeared in commercials promoting household products.
Virginia’s film career was limited, with just three supporting roles. She portrayed refined ladies in Such Good Friends (1971) and Robert Altman’s A Wedding (1978). Between these, she reprised her acclaimed role of Abigail Adams in the film adaptation of 1776 (1972), again starring opposite William Daniels as John Adams. Her sparse prime-time TV appearances included episodes of The Quinns (1977) and Kojak (1973). Tragically, she passed away from cancer at age 42 on May 2, 1982, in New York City.
