{{Short description|American actress (1924–2002)}} {{Use American English|date=July 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Dolores Gray | image = DoloresGray.jpg | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1924|06|07}} | birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|2002|6|26|1924|6|7}} | death_place = New York City, U.S. | years_active = 1941–1989 | occupation = Actress, singer | father = | spouse = {{marriage|Andrew J. Crevolin|1966|1992|end=d.}} | awards = Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical<br>''Carnival in Flanders'' (1954) }}
'''Dolores Gray''' (June 7, 1924 – June 26, 2002) was an American actress and singer. She was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical twice, winning once.
==Early life== Both her mother and father were vaudeville actors, which is how they met. Gray's parents divorced when she was a young child.<ref name="ci">{{cite magazine |last=Claesson |first=Samuel |date=April 2025 |title=Dolores Gray: Hollywood's Greatest Entertainer |magazine=Classic Images |pages=26–29}}</ref> She had an older brother, Richard Gray, who also had a career in Hollywood. While attending Polytechnic High School she was in the Girls' Glee Club. She was discovered by Rudy Vallee, who gave her a guest spot on his nationwide radio show. <!-- Her final televised appearance was in the ''Doctor Who'' serial entitled ''Silver Nemesis'' -->
==Career== Her career commenced as a cabaret artist in restaurants and supper clubs in California and in Reno, Nevada.<ref name=gale>''Who's Who in the Theatre'' (1981) Gale, ''Gale Biography In Context''</ref> In Los Angeles in 1941 she appeared at the Pirate's Den<ref>"Three Girls Headline Pirates Den Show", Los Angeles Evening Citizen News, 19 April 1941, p. 4</ref> and Hollywood Playhouse.<ref>"Seat Sales Boom As Musical Opening at Hand". Los Angeles Evening Citizen News, 30 August 1941, p. 4</ref> Later that year San Francisco engagements included one at Stairway to the Stars.<ref>"At Stairway". Oakland Tribune, 11 December 1941, p. 18</ref> Gray returned to Los Angeles in early April 1942;<ref>"With the Lamplighter After Dark". Los Angeles Daily News, 13 April 1942, p. 16</ref> she headlined at Slapsy Maxie's late that year.<ref>(Slapsy Maxie’s advertisement), Los Angeles Evening Citizen News, 9 December 1942, p. 7</ref> In Los Angeles, on 1 April 1943, she was the victim of a drive-by sidewalk shooting, fracturing her left humerus.<ref>"Night Club Singer Wounded by Bullet". Oakland Tribune, 1 April 1943, p. 1</ref> That July, she sang at the city's Biltmore Bowl.<ref>"With the Lamplighter After Dark". Los Angeles Daily News, 16 July 1943, p. 33</ref>
In 1945 she appeared in her own radio program,<ref name=gale/> and that same year starred in the Broadway musical ''Are You with It?''<ref>{{cite book|chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofmu00ganz_1/page/810/mode/2up?q=%22Gray%2C+Dolores%22|title=The Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre|edition=second|volume=II|first=Kurt|last= Gänzl|chapter=Gray, Dolores |location=New York|publisher=Schirmer Books|oclc=45715912|year=2001|page=811}}</ref> While she was appearing in ''Annie Get Your Gun'' in London (1947–1950),<ref name="Larkin50"/> she studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1948. As a fundraiser to help rebuild the RADA theatre, she appeared as Nell Gwyn in ''In Good King Charles's Golden Days'' at Drury Lane Theatre (Oct 1948).<ref name=gale/>
Gray was briefly signed with MGM, appearing in ''Kismet'' (1955), ''It's Always Fair Weather'' (1955), and ''The Opposite Sex'' (1956).<ref name="Larkin50"/>
Portraying a singing and dancing stage actress, she appeared with Gregory Peck and Lauren Bacall in the film ''Designing Woman'' (1957) as his former romantic interest. During her music career, she sang Marilyn Monroe's part on the Decca Records soundtrack album of ''There's No Business Like Show Business'' (1954).
She appeared at the London Palladium in 1958 while doing a concert tour of Europe and in cabaret at The Talk of the Town in February 1963.<ref name="gale" /> Among her many stage roles, she appeared in ''Two on the Aisle'' (1951), ''Carnival In Flanders'' (1953), ''Destry Rides Again'' (1959), ''Sherry!'' (1967), and ''42nd Street'' (1986). She also performed the lead role in ''Annie Get Your Gun'' in its first London production (1947).<ref> {{cite web | last = Ruhlmann | first = William | title = Annie Get Your Gun (Original London Cast) (Bonus Tracks) – Original Soundtrack, AllMusic Review | website = AllMusic | location = Ann Arbor, USA | url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/annie-get-your-gun-original-london-cast-bonus-tracks-r513933/review | access-date = 2012-05-17 }}</ref> Gray won the Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Musical for her role in ''Carnival in Flanders'', even though this Broadway musical, with a script by Preston Sturges, ran for only six performances. She therefore holds a record that is unlikely to be broken: briefest run in a performance which still earned a Tony. She is the first person to have sung the English version of the French song "C'est si bon" for the short film ''Holiday in Paris: Paris'' directed by John Nasht.{{Citation needed |date=May 2021}}
She was best known for her theatre roles. In 1973 she took over from Angela Lansbury in the London production of ''Gypsy'' at the Piccadilly Theatre.<ref name="Larkin50"/> In 1987 she starred as Carlotta in the first London production of Stephen Sondheim's ''Follies'' at the Shaftesbury Theatre (also recorded)<ref>Milnes, Rodney. Review of London cast recording of Follies. ''Opera'', September 1988, Vol. 39 No. 9, p. 1144.</ref> and appeared in the Royal Variety Performance of that year with a performance of the song "I'm Still Here" from the show.<ref name="Larkin50"/> In 1978 she also appeared on BBC TV's long-running variety show ''The Good Old Days'' – chairman Leonard Sachs had also appeared in ''Follies'' as theatre owner Dimitri Weismann, introducing Miss Gray, one of "The Weismann Girls". Theatre critic Michael Phillips wrote that Gray's voice sounded like "a freight-train slathered in honey".<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2002/07/03/chicago-born-dolores-gray-blessed-us-with-her-voice/ | newspaper=Chicago Tribune | first=Michael | last=Phillips | title=Chicago-born Dolores Gray blessed us with her voice | date=July 3, 2002}}</ref> In 1988 she appeared in the ''Doctor Who'' 25th-anniversary story "Silver Nemesis" playing an American tourist.
Apart from the many soundtrack albums she appeared on, Gray recorded one album of songs in 1957 for Capitol Records with the title ''Warm Brandy''.<ref name="Larkin50">{{cite book|title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Fifties Music|editor=Colin Larkin|editor-link=Colin Larkin (writer)|publisher=Virgin Books|date=2002|edition=Third|isbn=1-85227-937-0|page=177}}</ref>
==Personal life and marriage== In November 1962 Gray's engagement to playboy-entrepreneur James B. Lofland, complete with a 25-carat engagement ring, was announced.<ref>"Two to Cooperate in Oil Lease Probe". Knickerbock News (Albany, New York), 27 June 1963, p. 3A</ref> An investment enterprise of Lofland's would later be investigated, and on 27 June 1963 Gray appeared before the New York Supreme Court concerning the matter, though she testified that "she had no inkling of any possible fraud in the operation until she read about it in the newspapers".<ref>"Among Witnesses in Oil Inquiry". The New York Times, 26 June 1963, p. 50</ref><ref>"Inquiry Hears 4 in Oil Lease Case". The New York Times, 28 June 1963, p. 42.</ref> Separately, Gray sued Lofland for $450,000 alleging "he assaulted her in April [1963] in a dispute that ended their engagement".<ref>"Inquiry Hears 4 in Oil Lease Case". The New York Times, 28 June 1963, p. 42</ref> Lofland eventually "admitted masterminding a scheme of selling $3,000,000 of worthless oil leases to his high society friends" and was sentenced to 33–60 months imprisonment for grand larceny and perjury,<ref>"Playboy Sent to New Playpen". Nassau (NY) Newsday, 5 March 1965</ref> to be served concurrently with his 10-year sentencing in California for possessing stolen securities.<ref>"Stock-Fraud Case Brings Prison Term", Los Angeles Independent, 13 April 1965, p. 23</ref>
On September 24, 1966, Gray married Andrew J. Crevolin, a California businessman and Thoroughbred racehorse owner who won the 1954 Kentucky Derby.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=MJsRAAAAIBAJ&pg=5929,1658550&dq=andrew+crevolin&hl=en|title=The Spokesman-Review |via= Google News Archive Search|website=News.google.com}}</ref> Despite erroneous reports in the media that they divorced, they remained married until his death in 1992. The couple had no children.
==Death== Gray died of a heart attack in Manhattan, aged 78.<ref>{{cite news|last=Goldman|first=Ari L.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/29/arts/dolores-gray-78-sultry-star-of-stage-and-movie-musicals.html|title=Dolores Gray, 78, Sultry Star Of Stage and Movie Musicals – Obituary|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-06-29|access-date=2010-07-16}}</ref> Upon her death, she was cremated and her ashes interred at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOHgDAAAQBAJ&q=dolores+gray+burial+site+holy+cross+scott+wilson&pg=PA295|title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.|first=Scott|last=Wilson|year=2016|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1476625997|via=Google Books}}</ref>
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable" |- !style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year !style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title !style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role !style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- |1942 || ''Lady for a Night'' || Dolores, a Singer || Uncredited |- |1944 || ''Mr. Skeffington'' || Performer || Uncredited |- |rowspan=2|1955 || ''It's Always Fair Weather'' || Madeline Bradville || |- |''Kismet'' || Lalume || |- |1956 || ''The Opposite Sex'' || Sylvia Fowler || |- |1957 || ''Designing Woman'' || Lori Shannon || |}
==Stage work== * ''Seven Lively Arts'' (1944) * ''Are You with It?'' (1945) * ''Sweet Bye and Bye'' (1946) (closed on the road) * ''Annie Get Your Gun'' (1947; 1962) * ''Two on the Aisle'' (1951) * ''Pygmalion'' (1952) (summer theatre)<ref name=gale/> * ''Carnival in Flanders'' (1953) * ''Can-Can'' (1957) (summer theatre)<ref name=gale/> * ''Silk Stockings'' (1958–59) (summer theatre)<ref name=gale/> * ''Destry Rides Again'' (1959) * ''Lady in the Dark'' (1959) (summer theatre)<ref name=gale/> * ''Sherry!'' (1967) * ''Gypsy'' (1973, 1976, 1982) * ''All Dressed Up'' (1982) * ''Going Hollywood'' (1983) (workshop) * ''42nd Street'' (1986) * ''Star Dust'' (1987) (concert reading) * ''Follies'' (1987) * ''Broadway at the Bowl'' (1988)
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Archival records|title=Dolores Gray collection, circa 1944-2002|description_URL=https://lccn.loc.gov/2014572493}} {{Commons}} {{Wikiquote|Dolores Gray}} {{Portal|Biography}} * {{IBDB name}} * {{iobdb name|7745}} * {{IMDb name|336576}} * [https://www.lypsinka.com/favorite/dolores.html Dolores Gray Biography] * {{YouTube|6d49AETet70|One of Her Most Beautiful Songs: Here's That Rainy Day}}
{{TonyAward MusicalLeadActress 1948–1975}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Dolores}} Category:1924 births Category:2002 deaths Category:Actresses from Chicago Category:Singers from Chicago Category:American film actresses Category:American television actresses Category:American musical theatre actresses Category:Tony Award winners Category:20th-century American actresses Category:Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Category:Burials at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Decca Records artists Category:20th-century American singers Category:20th-century American women singers Category:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players