Mildred Shay | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | September 26, 1911 |
| Died | October 15, 2005(2005-10-15) (aged 94) |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1930s–1999 |
| Known for | Socialite |
| Spouse(s) | Thomas Francis Murphy (1934–1935) Winthrop Gardiner (1936–1937) Geoffrey Steele (1941–1987) |
| Children | Georgiana |
Mildred Helen Shay (September 26, 1911 – October 15, 2005) was an American film actress of the 1930s whose affairs, marriages and glamorous social life became a popular subject for gossip columnists. At five-feet tall, Shay was dubbed the "Pocket Venus" by Hollywood gossip columnists.[1]
Shay was born inCedarhurst, New York, the eldest daughter of a wealthy lawyer, Joseph A. Shay, and his wife, Lillian. She attended New York schools and a Swiss finishing school in France until age 14, when her father moved her and her younger sister, Adeline, to London. The family also lived in a house inFlorence and a French chateau inNice.
When Shay was 19 years old, the family moved toHollywood because of her father's work on behalf of various movie studios. She lived with her mother and sister at theGarden of Allah apartments which was populated by film stars. The family's friends and neighbors includedLaurence Olivier,Harpo Marx,Gary Cooper andGinger Rogers whom Shay said was her spa and skinny-dipping partner.
When Shay decided she wanted to be an actress, her father contacted the heads of Fox and Paramount movies studio for their help.[2] Quickly, she was given her first screen test withDouglas Fairbanks Jr. and then studied acting withClark Gable's wife, Josephine Dillon. Her first screen roles were small uncredited parts in such films asThe Age of Consent (1932),A Bill of Divorcement (1932) starringJohn Barrymore andBillie Burke, andRoman Scandals (1933) withEddie Cantor. Shay also dubbed the voice ofGreta Garbo inGrand Hotel.[2]
Shay took a break from acting during her first marriages. After the second ended, she acted onBroadway inThe Sap Runs High. She then returned to Hollywood in 1939 to playJoan Crawford's scene-stealing French maid inThe Women. According to Shay, her friendGroucho Marx thought she had a gift for comedy and offered to write material for her, but Shay refused because she wanted to be known as a "serious" actress.[3]
After moving to England during World War II, and except for the 1948 filmI Killed the Count, Shay gave up acting for the next two decades.
In 1968 she returned to acting with a small role in theJulie Andrews filmStar!. She appeared in the 1974 remake ofThe Great Gatsby. In 1976, directorKen Russell asked her to play an "aged American desperate for attention" inValentino, his biography ofRudolph Valentino, in which she got to dance with the film's star,Rudolf Nureyev. Shay continued to act and make small appearances over the next 30 years including appearances inCandleshoe (1977),Superman III (1983),Death Wish 3 (1985),Little Shop of Horrors (1986) andBullseye! (1990). Her last film was 1999'sParting Shots.
Although mostly an ingenue screen actress, Shay became well-publicized for her social life and romances. She was chauffeured around Hollywood in aMercedes-Benz limousine, to the studios as well as parties and events. Although of diminutive stature, her beauty attracted many admirers, andWalter Winchell dubbed her "Hollywood's Pocket Venus". Shay's dates includedErrol Flynn,Howard Hughes,Johnny Weissmuller,Victor Mature,Roy Rogers andCecil B. DeMille.[2]
Shay married Thomas Francis Murphy in 1934. Murphy has been described as an attractive Irishman as well as a drunken philanderer who accumulated large debts. The marriage ended within the year. Shay remarried in 1936 to Winthrop Gardiner, a member of a prominent New York family descended fromLord Lion Gardiner.[4] After only six months, Shay filed for divorce because of Gardiner's much-publicized affair with ice skaterSonja Henie whom he later married.
In 1940, Shay met British army captain Geoffrey Steele and fell in love. The couple married in 1941 amid speculation and bets by the tabloid magazines about how long the union would last.[2] Shay said, "Most gave it 3 to 6 months. Nobody gave us forty years." The couple remained married until Steel died in 1987.
DuringWorld War II, Shay moved to England with Steele where she gave birth to a daughter, Georgiana. Over the next few decades she frequentedBuckingham Palace and became a prominent figure in London society circles.
Shay suffered a stroke in 2004. Her final public appearance was theNational Film Theatre's 2004 tribute to her favorite director,George Cukor. Shay died at the age of 94 in California while visiting her daughter, Georgiana Waller, the former wife of musicianGordon Waller.[2]
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