The Last Gaiety Girl: Gabrielle Ray

Gabrielle Ray (1883-1973) was born in Stockport, near Manchester England in 1883. She was quick to take to the stage first appearing in 1893, aged 10, in a production of "Miami" at the Princess's Theatre in London. She continued touring and acting throughout the late 1800's until she was spotted in 1903 by famous theatre manager and impresario, George Edwardes. From that point on she was catapulted into fame, one major London show following another, befriending fellow Gaiety Girls Lily Elsie and Gertie Meillar. In 1912 Gabrielle Ray announced she was retiring from the stage to marry Eric Loder (1888-1966) of the noble Loder family. However, the marriage was unsuccessful and divorce followed after two short years. Attempting to return to the stage proved a less easy task in 1915 and while she continued to attempt to revive her career, in the early 1920s she finally lost interest. There then followed years of leading a more hedonistic lifestyle which eventually led to alcoholism and depression. In the late 1930s Gabrielle Ray was admitted to a mental home in Surrey, where she was to spend the rest of her life until 1973 when she died aged 90, largely forgotten by the public that once so loved her. In this video we will revive Gabs for a brief moment.

Sources:

Rohan McWilliam, The Gaiety Girl and the Matinee Idol: Constructing Celebrity, Glamour and Sexuality in the West End of London, 1890–1914, Cambridge University Press, https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/transactions-of-the-royal-historical-society/article/gaiety-girl-and-the-matinee-idol-constructing-celebrity-glamour-and-sexuality-in-the-west-end-of-london-18901914/6464F73F67157609C6760F1872976017

H Jaremko, Gabrielle Ray, https://gabrielleray.com/

The Loder Family, The Peerage, https://www.thepeerage.com/p49990.htm#i499897

Summertime76, "Gabrielle Ray: Holloway Sanatorium", https://summertime76.wordpress.com/2014/10/23/gabrielle-ray-holloway-sanatorium/

Sydney Higgins, The Golden Age of British Theatre, http://www.ikjordan.plus.com/Players/britishtheatre/GabrielleRay.html

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