Gilda Gray (October 24, 1901 – December 22, 1959) was a Polish born
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress and dancer who became famous in the US for popularizing a dance called the "
shimmyA shimmy is a dance move in which the body is held still, except for the shoulders, which are alternated back and forth. When the right shoulder goes back, the left one comes forward. It may help to hold the arms out slightly bent at the elbow, and when the shoulders are moved, keep the hands in...
" which became fashionable in 1920s films and theater productions.
Gilda Gray was born as
Marianna Michalska in Kraków, Poland on 24 October 1901 to Max and Wanda Michalski, who emigrated to the United States in 1909 and settled in
Milwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin and 23rd largest in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. Its estimated 2008 population was 604,477. Milwaukee is the main cultural and economic center of the...
.
Gilda Gray (October 24, 1901 – December 22, 1959) was a Polish born
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress and dancer who became famous in the US for popularizing a dance called the "
shimmyA shimmy is a dance move in which the body is held still, except for the shoulders, which are alternated back and forth. When the right shoulder goes back, the left one comes forward. It may help to hold the arms out slightly bent at the elbow, and when the shoulders are moved, keep the hands in...
" which became fashionable in 1920s films and theater productions.
Early life and 'The Shimmy'
Gilda Gray was born as
Marianna Michalska in Kraków, Poland on 24 October 1901 to Max and Wanda Michalski, who emigrated to the United States in 1909 and settled in
Milwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin and 23rd largest in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. Its estimated 2008 population was 604,477. Milwaukee is the main cultural and economic center of the...
. She had one sibling, Josephine Michalska, Mrs. Sielecki.
When Marianna was 14 or 15 years old she married John Gorecki, a concert violinist. The couple, who divorced in 1923, had one son, Martin Gorecki, who became a bandleader under the name
Martin Gray. An obituary published in
Time magazine claimed that Gilda Gray was reportedly married at 11 and became a mother at 12.
Although the
shimmyA shimmy is a dance move in which the body is held still, except for the shoulders, which are alternated back and forth. When the right shoulder goes back, the left one comes forward. It may help to hold the arms out slightly bent at the elbow, and when the shoulders are moved, keep the hands in...
is said to have been introduced to American audiences by Gray in
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1919, other sources say that her shimmy was born one night when she was singing the Star Spangled Banner and forgot some of the lyrics. She covered up her embarrassment by shaking her shoulders and hips. Although the shimmy was already a well-known dance move, Marianna appropriated it as her own when she was asked about her dancing style, she replied in a heavy Polish accent; "I'm shaking my
chemiseThe term chemise or shift can refer to the classic smock, or else can refer to certain modern types of women's undergarments and dresses...
," which sounded to the English-speaking audience like
shimmy.
Career
Her desire to continue her burgeoning career, she used the professional name
Mary Gray for a while, and her faltering relationship with her husband prompted her to relocate to
ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
where she was noticed by a talent agent, Frank Westphal, who took her to
New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and introduced her to his wife, singer
Sophie TuckerSophie Tucker , an American singer. Known for her stentorian delivery of comical and risque songs, she was one of the most popular entertainers in America during the first two-thirds of the 20th century...
. It was Tucker who prompted her to change her first name name to Gilda, a reference to her golden hair. By 1919, she was appearing in a J.J. Shubert show, The Gaieties of 1919. By 1920, Gilda had found a new manager, Gaillard T. "Gil" Boag (d. 1959). After being seen by
Florenz ZiegfeldFlorenz "Flo" Ziegfeld, Jr. was an American Broadway impresario. He is best known for his series of theatrical revues, the Ziegfeld Follies , inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris. He was known as the "glorifier of the American girl".-Early life and career:Ziegfeld was born in Chicago to German...
, she appeared in the 1922
Ziegfeld FolliesThe Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
where she was enormously popular with the public.
After her divorce from her first husband, in 1923 she married Gil Boag and took her successful
vaudevilleVaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
to Hollywood, California; they divorced four years later. She quickly abandoned vaudeville to become a film star, and between 1919 and 1936 Gray made several movies, in all of which she performed her famous shimmy. Her second role was a small part in
Girl with the Jazz Heart.
Jesse Lasky signed her to a contract with Famous Players. With him she made
Aloma of the South Seas, which grossed $3,000,000 in its first three months. The success of this film was enhanced by Gilda's personal appearances doing the shimmy as a promotion. In 1927, she made two more films,
The Devil Dancer and
CabaretCabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue—a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance being introduced by a master of ceremonies, or MC.Cabaret...
.
1929 stock market crash
When the stock market crashed in 1929, Gilda Gray lost most of her financial assets, but she managed to get a job dancing at the
Palace TheaterThe Palace Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 1564 Broadway in midtown-Manhattan.-History:Designed by architects Kirchoff & Rose, the theatre, built by California vaudeville entrepreneur and Broadway impresario Martin Beck, experienced a number of problems before it opened. E. F....
in New York. In future years she attempted comebacks but was hindered by poor health from regaining her status as a star. By now her second marriage had failed due to the stresses of financial problems complicated by her affair with her stage manager, C.D. Krepps.
Post-crash life
In 1931 she suffered a
heart attackMyocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, is the interruption of blood supply to part of the heart, causing some heart cells to die...
. In 1932, Gray announced her engagement to singer Arthur Jarrett, but abandoned their marriage plans when it became clear that the five-day waiting period between filing a marriage license and the actual ceremony could not be waived. On 23 May 1933, she married a
VenezuelaVenezuela , officially titled Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It is a continental mainland with numerous islands located off its coastline in the Caribbean Sea...
n diplomat, Hector Briceño de Saa. The couple separated two years later and divorced in 1938.
Polish patriot
In 1953
Ralph EdwardsRalph Livingstone Edwards was an American radio and television host and television producer.-Early career:...
did her life story on his television show,
This Is Your LifeThis Is Your Life is a television documentary series hosted by its producer, Ralph Edwards. It originally aired in the United States from 1952 to 1961, and again in 1972 on NBC. It originated as a radio show airing from 1948 to 1952 on NBC Radio. A version of it continues a very long run in the...
. He portrayed her courage in bringing six Polish citizens to America during the
Cold WarThe Cold War was the continuing state of political conflict, military tension, and economic competition existing after World War II , primarily between the USSR and its satellite states, and the powers of the Western world, including the United States...
era. Gray also subsidized their education. She was decorated by Poland
for her interest and help to her countrymen and her country.
Death
By the time of her death at the age of 58 from a second heart attack, on December 22, 1959, Gilda Gray was again in financial trouble.
According to an obituary published in
The New TimesThe New Times is a national English language newspaper in Rwanda. It is published in Kigali from Monday to Saturday with the sister paper The Sunday Times appearing on Sundays.- External links :*...
, she had lived there with Antonio Raio, a fire captain for Warner Bros, and his wife for the past six years. Gray had suffered an attack of food poisoning five days prior to her death and was under the treatment of a physician. The Motion Picture Relief Fund paid for her funeral. Pierce Brothers mortuary supervised her funeral proceedings.
Sources
- The Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California since 1881. It is distributed throughout the Western United States. It is the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States and the fourth-most widely distributed newspaper in the United States...
, Shimmy Dancer Gilda Gray Dies, December 23, 1959, page 2.
- The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded in 1851 and published in New York City. The largest metropolitan newspaper in the United States, "The Gray Lady"—named for its staid appearance and style—is regarded as a national newspaper of record...
, "Gilda Gray Dead on Coast at 58; Creator of Shimmy Was Singer", December 23, 1959, page 27.
Filmography
- Virtuous Vamp (1919)
- Girl with the Jazz Heart (1923)
- Lawful Larceny (1925)
- Aloma of the South Seas (1927)
- Cabaret
Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue—a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance being introduced by a master of ceremonies, or MC.Cabaret...
(1927)
- The Devil Dancer (1929)
- Piccadilly (1929)
- The Great Ziegfeld
The Great Ziegfeld is a musical film produced by MGM. Although the film is a fictionalized biography of Florenz Ziegfeld from his show business beginnings to his death, it showcases a series of spectacular musical productions. The film includes original music by Walter Donaldson and Irving Berlin...
(1936)
- Rose-Marie (1936)
Plays
- Music Box Revue (1921)
- Ziegfeld Follies
The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
(1922)
- Devil Dancer Play (1927)
External links