{{Short description|British actress and novelist (1911–1993)}} {{Use British English|date=October 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = The Right Honourable | name = The Countess of Midleton | image = Rene Ray.jpg | birth_name = Irene Lilian Creese | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1911|9|22}} | birth_place = London, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1993|8|28|1911|9|22}} | death_place = Jersey, Channel Islands | occupation = Actress | years_active = | spouse = {{Plainlist| * George Posford * {{marriage|George Brodrick, 2nd Earl of Midleton|1975|1979|end=d}}}} }} '''Irene Lilian Brodrick, Countess of Midleton''' (née '''Creese''', known as '''Rene Ray''', 22 September 1911 – 28 August 1993) was a British stage and screen actress of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s and also a novelist.
==Acting career== Ray made her screen début in the 1929 silent film ''High Treason'' and first appeared on the West End stage on 5 December 1930 in the André Charlot production of ''Wonder Bar'' at the Savoy Theatre.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news |author1= |title=Rene Ray Dies at 81; Actress and a Writer |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/06/obituaries/rene-ray-dies-at-81-actress-and-a-writer.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=15 April 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=6 September 1993 |page=1 16}}</ref> In 1935 she starred with Conrad Veidt in the Gaumont British film ''The Passing of the Third Floor Back''. Other film co-stars included George Arliss (''His Lordship'', 1936), John Mills (''The Green Cockatoo'', 1937), Gordon Harker (''The Return of the Frog'', 1938) and Trevor Howard (''They Made Me a Fugitive'', 1947).
At London's Lyric Theatre in 1936 she appeared with Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson in JB Priestley's short-lived play ''Bees on the Boat Deck''. Other West End credits included ''Yes and No'' (1937), ''They Walk Alone'' (1939) and ''Other People's Houses'' (1941).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://theatricalia.com/person/qek/rene-ray|title=Rene Ray | Theatricalia|website=theatricalia.com}}</ref> Her single Broadway appearance was in Cedric Hardwicke's production of Priestley's ''An Inspector Calls'', which ran at the Booth Theatre from October 1947 to January 1948.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ibdb.com/production.php?id=12862|title=An Inspector Calls – Broadway Play – Original | IBDB}}</ref> In 1951–52 she starred in the London production of Sylvia Rayman's ''Women of Twilight'', playing the central role nearly 450 times and reprising her performance in the subsequent film version.<ref>Frances Stephens, ''Theatre World Annual (London)'', Rockliff Publishing Corporation, 1952</ref>
She made her last screen appearance as an interviewee in the BBC documentary ''Britain's Missing Movie Heritage'', broadcast on 30 September 1992, 11 months before her death.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9ee335a8|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160524184410/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9ee335a8|url-status=dead|archive-date=24 May 2016|title=René Ray|website=BFI}}</ref>
==Books== She turned to writing for much of her later career. Her first novel, ''Wraxton Marne'', appeared in 1946.<ref name="NYT"/> According to a 1953 magazine profile, "Her second book, ''Emma Conquest'', was an immediate best-seller."<ref>'Meet Rene Ray: The Girl They Passed By', ''Answers'' (week ending) 10 January 1953</ref> (First published in 1950, this was reissued in 2010.) Other books included ''A Man Named Seraphin'' (1952) and ''The Tree Surgeon'' (1958). In 1956 she scripted the seven-part ATV science fiction serial ''The Strange World of Planet X''; the following year her novelisation was published by Herbert Jenkins Ltd and a feature film based on it was made by Artistes Alliance. In the United States the film was renamed ''Cosmic Monsters''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/strange_world_of_planet_x_the|title=Media : Strange World of Planet X, The : SFE : Science Fiction Encyclopedia|website=www.sf-encyclopedia.com}}</ref>
==Personal life== Her father was Alfred Edward Creese, a famous British automotive and aviation inventor.<ref name="Rhodes">Michael Rhodes, 'The Countess of Midleton' [obituary], ''The Times'' 3 September 1993</ref> Born as Irene, she signed her name with a grave accent on the first 'e', not an acute accent on the second (Rène not René); her method was followed on all theatre programmes, book jackets and other publicity material.
Her first husband was the composer George Posford.<ref>''Famous Film Stars No 21: Rene Ray'', R and J Hill Ltd [cigarette card] 1938</ref> In the 1950s she met George St John Brodrick, 2nd Earl of Midleton (1888–1979); she moved with him to Jersey in 1963 and became his third wife in 1975, thus allowing her to style herself the Countess of Midleton.<ref name="Rhodes"/> In retirement she became an accomplished amateur painter and a member of the Jersey Film Society, which in 1986 opened its 40th season with a screening of ''The Passing of the Third Floor Back''.<ref name="Rhodes"/> She died on 28 August 1993 in Jersey, the Channel Islands.<ref>{{cite web | title=Rene Ray Dies at 81; Actress and a Writer (Published 1993) | website=The New York Times | date=6 September 1993 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/09/06/obituaries/rene-ray-dies-at-81-actress-and-a-writer.html }}</ref>
==Partial filmography== {{div col|colwidth=30em}} * ''High Treason'' (1929) - (uncredited) * ''Varsity'' (1930) - Iris * ''Young Woodley'' (1930) - Kitty * ''Dance Pretty Lady'' (1931) - Elsie * ''Tonight's the Night'' (1931) - Rose Smithers * ''Keepers of Youth'' (1931) - Kitty Williams * ''Two White Arms'' (1932) - Trixie * ''When London Sleeps'' (1932) - Mary * ''Here's George'' (1932) - Telephonist * ''The King's Cup'' (1933) - Peggy * ''Excess Baggage'' (1933) - Angela Murgatroyd * ''Born Lucky'' (1933) - Mops * ''Tiger Bay'' (1934) - Letty * ''Rolling in Money'' (1934) - Eliza Dibbs * ''Nine Forty-Five'' (1934) - Mary Doane * ''Easy Money'' (1934) - Typist * ''Once in a New Moon'' (1935) - Stella Drake * ''Street Song'' (1935) - Lucy * ''Regal Cavalcade'' (1935) - Girl * ''Full Circle'' (1935) - Margery Boyd * ''The Passing of the Third Floor Back'' (1935) - Stasia * ''Beloved Imposter'' (1936) - Mary * ''Secret Agent'' (1936) - Maid (uncredited) * ''Crime Over London'' (1936) - Joan * ''His Lordship'' (1936) - Vera * ''Please Teacher'' (1937) - Ann Trent * ''Farewell Again'' (1937) - Elsie Wainwright * ''Jennifer Hale'' (1937) - Jennifer Hale * ''The Rat'' (1937) - Odile Verdier * ''The Green Cockatoo'' (1937) - Eileen * ''Bank Holiday'' (1938) - Doreen * ''Housemaster'' (1938) - Chris Faringdon * ''Weddings Are Wonderful'' (1938) - Betty Leadbetter * ''The Return of the Frog'' (1938) - Lela Oaks * ''Mountains O'Mourne'' (1938) - Mary Macree * ''Home from Home'' (1939) - Gladys Burton * ''The Call for Arms'' (1940, Short) - Joan * ''Old Bill and Son'' (1941) - Sally * ''They Made Me a Fugitive'' (1947) - Cora * ''If Winter Comes'' (1947) - Sarah 'Low Jinks' * ''The Galloping Major'' (1951) - Pam Riley * ''Women of Twilight'' (1952) - Vivianne * ''The Good Die Young'' (1954) - Angela *''The Vicious Circle'' (1957) - Mrs. Ambler {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=0712970|name=René Ray}} *{{IBDB name|82102|name=René Ray}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Midleton, Rene Ray, Countess of}} Category:1911 births Category:1993 deaths Category:British countesses by marriage Category:English film actresses Category:English stage actresses Category:Actresses from London Category:20th-century English actresses Category:20th-century English novelists Category:20th-century English women novelists Category:English women screenwriters Category:20th-century English screenwriters