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Dolores Gray
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dolores Gray (born 7 June 1924, Chicago; died 26 June 2002) was a well-known, Tony Award winning Broadway star in the 1940's-1950's.
Dolores Gray is largely forgotten today, but she possessed one of the finest voices of the Broadway stage, comparable and possibly superior to Ethel Merman and easily to Mary Martin. In her prime, she won a Tony award for "Carnival in Flanders", was the definitive Lalume in MGM's version of the musical "Kismet" and appeared in countless television programs, most notably "The Bell Telephone Hour". Gray possessed a vocal instrument for the ages, and her Broadway Cast Recordings, MGM soundtracks and her Capitol Records album "Warm Brandy" all deserve rediscovering for her gifted performances, vocal expertise and passion. They don't make 'em like that anymore. Possibly her biggest success was the London version of "Annie Get Your Gun" in the late 40s, which ran longer than the Broadway version and earned her a long relationship with London audiences.
During her successful music career, she sang Marilyn Monroe's part on the Decca records soundtrack album of There's No Business Like Show Business (1954) (Monroe herself sang on the film's soundtrack, but she was under contract to a different company.) In 1955, she briefly signed with MGM and appeared in such films as Kismet and It's Always Fair Weather. Her final televised appearance was in the "Silver Nemesis" episode of Doctor Who.
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 in Annie Get Your Gun in London (1947).
She died of a heart attack in Manhattan, New York. Dolores Gray remains one of the undiscovered treasures of Broadway in its prime and she's worth rediscovering.
| Preceded by Rosalind Russell for Wonderful Town |
Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical 1954 for Carnival in Flanders |
Succeeded by Mary Martin for Peter Pan |
