Constance Vera Browne, Baroness Oranmore and Browne (née Stevens; 14 February 1915 – 24 September 2006), commonly known as Sally Gray, was an English film actress of the 1930s and 1940s.[1] Her obituary in The Irish Times described her as "once seen as a British rival to Ginger Rogers."[2]
The Lady Oranmore and Browne | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Constance Vera Stevens 14 February 1915 Holloway, London, England, UK |
| Died | 24 September 2006 (aged 91) London, England, UK |
| Spouse | The 4th Baron Oranmore and Browne (m. 1951, died 2002) |
According to her obituary in The Independent: "In the Thirties she was a charming soubrette of light movies and musical comedy. After a break from performing, she emerged in the mid-Forties as a sultry beauty who starred in a series of moody dramas and potent thrillers."[3]
Biography
Early life
Born Constance Vera Stevens in Holloway, London, Gray was the daughter of Charles Stevens, who drove a motor cab, and his wife, Gertrude Grace Green.[4] Her mother was a ballet dancer[3] and her grandmother a "principal boy" in the 1870s. Her father died when Gray was young.
Theatre career
She trained as a child at Fay Compton's School of Dramatic Art, and began acting on stage at the age of 10. Gray made her professional stage debut at the age of twelve in All God's Chillun at the Globe Theatre in London, playing an African boy. When she was 14, Gray appeared in a minstrel show at the Gate Theatre in London. She made her film debut with a bit part in The School for Scandal (1930).[3]
She then returned to school for two years, training at Fay Compton's School of Dramatic Art,[5] during which time she performed in cabarets.[6]
She appeared in The Gay Divorce (1933) on stage with Fred Astaire. The agent John Gliddon saw her in the musical Jill Darling (1934) and signed her.[7]
Film career
Gray returned to films in 1935, with The Dictator (1935). She could also be seen in Cross Currents (1935), Radio Pirates (1935), Lucky Days (1935), and Checkmate (1935).[3] She returned on stage and was spotted by Stanley Lupino, who fell in love with her.
Gray had the female lead in Cheer Up (1936) with Stanley Lupino. She had leads in Calling the Tune (1936), Cafe Colette (1936), and Saturday Night Revue (1937) with Billy Milton. In 1936, she was earning £150 a week.[8] Gray had support roles in Lightning Conductor (1937), a thriller; Over She Goes (1937) with Lupino; Mr. Reeder in Room 13 (1937), a non musical; and Hold My Hand (1938) with Lupino. Gray was the female lead in Sword of Honour (1938), The Saint in London (1939) with George Sanders, The Lambeth Walk (1939) with Lupino Lane, and A Window in London (1940), a non musical film with Michael Redgrave.[9][10] Gray was in Olympic Honeymoon (1940) then had the female lead in The Saint's Vacation (1941).[3] She had a sensitive role in Brian Desmond Hurst's romantic melodrama Dangerous Moonlight (1941).[3] The same year she appeared in the West End musical Lady Behave which had been written by her co-star Stanley Lupino. The show had to close early because of Lupino's illness.
Gray returned to the stage to star in My Sister Eileen (1942) with Coral Browne. Lupino died, leaving Gray £10,000.[11] Gray had a nervous breakdown, resulting in her retirement for several years.[2]
Comeback
Gray returned to the screen in 1946 and made her strongest bid for stardom in a series of melodramas. They include the hospital thriller Green for Danger (1946), Carnival (1946), They Made Me a Fugitive (1947) and The Mark of Cain (1948). Gray then made Silent Dust (1948) and Edward Dmytryk's film noir piece Obsession (1949), in which she plays Robert Newton's faithless wife.[5] Her final film was the spy yarn Escape Route (1952).[3]
RKO executives, impressed with Gray, authorised producer William Sistrom to offer her a long-term contract[4] if she would move to the United States. John Paddy Carstairs, director of The Saint in London, also thought she could be a star.[citation needed] However, she declined the offer and instead retired in 1952 after her marriage.
Personal life
Gray married the 4th Baron Oranmore and Browne, an Anglo-Irish peer, on 1 December 1951,[4] and thereafter lived for several years at Castle Macgarrett, near Claremorris, in County Mayo in the west of Ireland.[2][3] The couple kept the marriage secret until the 1953 coronation of Elizabeth II, at which she appeared with her husband.[12][13]
In the early 1960s, they returned to England and settled in a flat in Eaton Place, Belgravia, London. The couple had no children.
Death
The Dowager Lady Oranmore and Browne died on 24 September 2006, at 91 years of age,[5] in London, England.[14]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1930 | The School for Scandal | Bit part | (uncredited) | [3] |
| 1935 | The Dictator | Minor role | Released as Loves of a Dictator in the U.S. (uncredited) | |
| Cross Currents | Sally Croker | |||
| Radio Pirates | ||||
| Lucky Days | Alice | [3] | ||
| Checkmate | Jean Nicholls | [3] | ||
| 1936 | Cheer Up | Sally Gray | [3] | |
| Calling the Tune | Margaret Gordon | |||
| 1937 | Cafe Colette | Jill Manning | Released as Danger in Paris in the U.S. | |
| Saturday Night Revue | Mary Dorland | [3] | ||
| 1938 | Lightning Conductor | Mary | [3] | |
| Over She Goes | Kitty | [5] | ||
| Mr. Reeder in Room 13 | Claire Kent | Released as Mystery of Room 13 in the U.S. | [3] | |
| Hold My Hand | Helen Milchester | [5] | ||
| 1939 | Q Planes | Minor role | Released as Clouds Over Europe in the U.S. (uncredited) | |
| Sword of Honour | Lady Moira Talmadge | [3] | ||
| The Saint in London | Penny Parker | [3] | ||
| The Lambeth Walk | Sally | Released as Me and My Girl in the U.S. | [3] | |
| 1940 | A Window in London | Vivienne | Released as Lady in Distress in the U.S. | [3] |
| Olympic Honeymoon | Miss America | [5] | ||
| 1941 | The Saint's Vacation | Mary Langdon | [3] | |
| Dangerous Moonlight | Carol Peters Radetzky | Released as Suicide Squadron in the U.S. | [3] | |
| 1946 | Green for Danger | Nurse Linley | [3] | |
| Carnival | Jenny Pearl | [3] | ||
| 1947 | They Made Me a Fugitive | Sally | Released as I Became a Criminal in the U.S. | [3] |
| The Mark of Cain | Sarah Bonheur | [3] | ||
| 1949 | Silent Dust | Angela Rawley | [3] | |
| Obsession | Storm Riordan | Released as The Hidden Room in the U.S. | [3] | |
| 1952 | Escape Route | Joan Miller | Released as I'll Get You in the U.S. | [3] |
References
Sources
- Film Star Who's Who on the Screen 1938. London, UK: Amalgamated Press. December 1937.
- Tom Vallance (3 October 2006). "Husky-voiced, sultry beauty of Forties thrillers who retired from acting to marry a peer". The Independent. London.
External links
- Sally Gray at IMDb
- Sally Gray: Film beauty who rejected Hollywood for England and the aristocracy Obituary in The Guardian