Gabrielle Ray
Encyclopedia
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
stage actress, dancer and singer, best known for her roles in Edwardian musical comedies.
Ray was considered one of the most beautiful actresses on the London stage and became one of the most photographed women in the world. In the first decade of the 20th century, she had a good career in musical theatre. After an unsuccessful marriage, however, she never recovered the fame that she had enjoyed. She spent many of her later years in mental hospitals.
Biography
Ray was born Gabrielle Elizabeth Clifford Cook in CheadleCheadle Hulme
Cheadle Hulme is an area of the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, in Greater Manchester, England. It is southwest of Stockport and southeast of the city of Manchester. It lies in the Ladybrook Valley on the Cheshire Plain, and the drift consists mostly of boulder clay, sands and gravels...
, Stockport
Metropolitan Borough of Stockport
The Metropolitan Borough of Stockport is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, in north west England, centred around the town of Stockport. It has a population of about 280,600 and includes the outyling areas of Cheadle and Cheadle Hulme, Marple, Bredbury, Reddish and Romiley...
, England. She was the fourth child of William Austin Cook, a prosperous iron merchant and a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
for Cheshire
Cheshire
Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...
, and his wife Anne Maria Elizabeth née Holden.
Early career
Ray first appeared on London's West EndWest End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
at the age of ten in the role of Eveleen in John Hollingshead
John Hollingshead
John Hollingshead was an English theatrical impresario, journalist and writer during the latter half of the 19th century. He is best remembered as the first manager of the Gaiety Theatre, London...
's production of a musical play called Miami at the Royal Princess's Theatre. This was followed by juvenile roles in a series of plays in London and on tour. The next year, she played a role in A Celebrated Case. She was also a dancer in the Blackpool ballet. At the Richmond Theatre from 1893, she played Cupid in Little Red Riding Hood, Adrienne in Proof, and Cissie in The Silver King, among other plays and pantomimes. In 1899, she appeared in Sinbad the Sailor at the Hammersmith Lyric Opera House. Manager Ben Greet
Ben Greet
Sir Philip Barling "Ben" Greet was a Shakespearean actor, director, and impresario.-Early life:The younger son of Captain William Greet RN and his wife, Sarah Barling, Greet was born on board HMS Crocodile, a Royal Navy recruiting ship tied up at the Tower of London. He was educated at the Royal...
noticed her dancing skills and engaged her to tour with his company. With Greet, she toured for three years in the roles of Mamie Clancy in The Belle of New York
The Belle of New York (theatre)
The Belle of New York is a musical comedy in two acts, with book and lyrics by Hugh Morton and music by Gustave Kerker, about a Salvation Army girl who reforms a spendthrift, makes a great sacrifice and finds true love....
and Dolly Twinkle in The Casino Girl (1901). Ray was back at the Lyric in 1902 to play the title character in the pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
Little Red Riding Hood.
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
for her looks, she was admired by such gentlemen as Alfred Vanderbilt and the King Manuel of Portugal
Manuel II of Portugal
Manuel II , named Manuel Maria Filipe Carlos Amélio Luís Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Francisco de Assis Eugénio de Bragança Orleães Sabóia e Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha — , was the last King of Portugal from 1908 to 1910, ascending the throne after the assassination of his father and elder brother Manuel...
.
George Edwardes
George Edwardes
George Joseph Edwardes was an English theatre manager of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond....
hired Ray to understudy Gertie Millar
Gertie Millar
Gertrude "Gertie" Millar was one of the most famous English singer-actresses of the early 20th century, known for her performances in Edwardian musical comedies....
in The Toreador
The Toreador
The Toreador is an Edwardian musical comedy in two acts by James T. Tanner and Harry Nicholls, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton. It opened at the Gaiety Theatre in London, managed by George Edwardes, on 17 June 1901 and ran for an...
at the Gaiety Theatre, London
Gaiety Theatre, London
The Gaiety Theatre, London was a West End theatre in London, located on Aldwych at the eastern end of the Strand. The theatre was established as the Strand Musick Hall , in 1864 on the former site of the Lyceum Theatre. It was rebuilt several times, but closed from the beginning of World War II...
in 1902, where she had the chance to play the role on many occasions. She then took over for Letty Lind
Letty Lind
Letitia Elizabeth Rudge, better known as Letty Lind , was an English actress, dancer and acrobat, best known for her work in burlesque at the Gaiety Theatre, and in musical theatre at Daly's Theatre, in London....
in The Girl from Kays
The Girl from Kays
The Girl from Kays is an English musical comedy with music by Ivan Caryll, Paul Rubens, Wilhelm Meyer Lutz and Edward Jones, book by Cecil Cook and lyrics by Adrian Ross and Claude Aveling...
at the Apollo Theatre
Apollo Theatre
The Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
, earning good notices for her graceful, acrobatic dancing in particular. Next, she earned considerable fame playing Thisbe in the hit musical The Orchid
The Orchid
The Orchid is a musical play in two acts by James T. Tanner, with lyrics by Adrian Ross and Percy Greenbank and music by Ivan Caryll and Lionel Monckton and additional numbers by Paul Rubens. It opened at Gaiety Theatre in London on 26 October 1903 and ran for 559 performances. It starred Gertie...
(1903), where she danced in pink pyjamas while singing "The Pink Pyjama Girl". She continued to appear in Edwardes' productions in 1905 and 1906, including three successes at the Prince of Wales's Theatre: Lady Madcap (1905, in which she performed a popular Parisian dance, "La Maxixe"), Lady Dorothy Congress in The Little Cherub (1906) and So-Hie in See See (1906). The same year she also played Eglé in Les merveilleuses.
The Merry Widow
The Merry Widow is an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play,...
, which ran for 778 performances at Daly's Theatre
Daly's Theatre
Daly's Theatre was a theatre in the City of Westminster. It was located at 2 Cranbourn Street, just off Leicester Square. It opened on 27 June 1893, and was demolished in 1937.-Early years:...
. Ray's dance number, complete with handstands and high kicks, all performed on a table at Maxim's held head high by four men, was a show stopper. Next she was Daisy in The Dollar Princess
The Dollar Princess
The Dollar Princess is a musical in three acts by A.M. Willner and Fritz Grünbaum , adapted into English by Basil Hood , with music by Leo Fall and lyrics by Adrian Ross. It opened in London at Daly's Theatre on 25 September 1909, running for 428 performances...
(1909) at Daly's and Polly Polino in Peggy
Peggy (musical)
Peggy is a musical comedy in two acts, written by British composer Leslie Stuart, with a book by George Grossmith, Jr. and lyrics by C. H. Bovill, based on Xanroff and Guérin's L'Amorçage...
(1911) at the Gaiety.
Marriage and later years
Ray announced her retirement to marry the wealthy Eric Loder (1888–1966) in early 1912 and left the production of Peggy. She did not appear at the well-attended scheduled ceremony at St Edwards Roman Catholic Church in WindsorWindsor, Berkshire
Windsor is an affluent suburban town and unparished area in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in Berkshire, England. It is widely known as the site of Windsor Castle, one of the official residences of the British Royal Family....
because of Loder's failure to sign the prenuptial contract, but the marriage took place soon afterwards. Loder strayed, however, and the couple divorced in 1914.
The broken marriage was difficult for Ray, but in 1915, she returned to the stage to play the role of Estelle in the musical Betty
Betty (musical)
Betty is an English musical in three acts, with a book by Frederick Lonsdale and Gladys Unger, music by Paul Rubens and Ernest Steffan, and lyrics by Adrian Ross and Rubens. It was first produced at the Prince's Theatre in Manchester, opening on December 24, 1914, then at Daly's Theatre in London,...
at the Gaiety Theatre and, in the following year, in the revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
Flying Colours at the London Hippodrome. These were her last appearances on the West End, but for nearly a decade afterwards, she appeared occasionally in provincial variety tours and pantomimes, finally leaving the stage about 1924. For instance, she played Maid Marian in The Babes in the Wood at Prince's Theatre in Bradford
Bradford
Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, in Northern England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield. Bradford became a municipal borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897...
at Christmas 1919 and was Mother Goose at the Theatre Royal, Manchester, at Christmas 1920.
After this, Ray struggled with depression
Clinical depression
Major depressive disorder is a mental disorder characterized by an all-encompassing low mood accompanied by low self-esteem, and by loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities...
and alcohol abuse
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
. In 1936, she suffered a mental breakdown and was institutionalized for nearly forty years.
Ray died in 1973 at Holloway Sanatorium
Holloway Sanatorium
Holloway Sanatorium was an institution for the treatment of the insane, located on of parkland near the town of Virginia Water, Surrey, within the boundary of the Greater London Urban Area, about south-west of Charing Cross....
in Egham
Egham
Egham is a wealthy suburb in the Runnymede borough of Surrey, in the south-east of England. It is part of the London commuter belt and Greater London Urban Area, and about south-west of central London on the River Thames and near junction 13 of the M25 motorway.-Demographics:Egham town has a...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, England, at the age of 90. A blue plaque
Blue plaque
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person or event, serving as a historical marker....
was erected on the site of her birth by the Stockport Heritage Trust.
External links
- Biography and photos of Ray
- Photos of Ray
- Site with photos and biographical links
- Numerous postcard photos of Ray
- Photos of Ray
- http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp52142National Portrait Gallery photos of Ray in PeggyPeggy (musical)Peggy is a musical comedy in two acts, written by British composer Leslie Stuart, with a book by George Grossmith, Jr. and lyrics by C. H. Bovill, based on Xanroff and Guérin's L'Amorçage...
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