Ellen Drew | |
|---|---|
 Drew in 1938 | |
| Born | Esther Loretta Ray[1] (1914-11-23)November 23, 1914 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | December 3, 2003(2003-12-03) (aged 89) Palm Desert, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1936–1961 |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 2[2] |
Ellen Drew (bornEsther Loretta Ray;[3][4][5] November 23, 1914 – December 3, 2003) was an American film actress.[6]
Drew, born inKansas City, Missouri in 1914, was the daughter of an Irish-born barber. She had a younger brother, Arden. Her parents separated in 1931.[2] She worked in multiple jobs and won a number of beauty contests before becoming an actress.[7] Moving to Hollywood in an attempt to become a star, she was discovered while working at an ice cream parlor where one of the customers, actorWilliam Demarest, took notice of her and eventually helped her get into films.[8]
Ray's venture into the movies brought about a conflict in names when she tried starting her career with the name Terry Ray, which happened to be the name of another, male, actor. A 1937 newspaper photo showed the resolution of the conflict as "They conferred, drew lots from the hat, and masculine Terry Ray became Terry Rains, while feminine Terry Ray remained as before."[9] She later tried the name of Erin Drew.[1]
After appearing in 25 features using her birth name,[10] she became a fixture atParamount Pictures officially as Ellen Drew[1] from 1938 to 1944, where she appeared in as many as six films per year, includingSing You Sinners (1938) withBing Crosby andThe Lady's from Kentucky (1939) withGeorge Raft. She moved to RKO in 1944. Among her leading men wereRonald Colman,William Holden,Basil Rathbone,Dick Powell, andRobert Preston (inThe Night of January 16th andNight Plane from Chungking).
Her other films includeChristmas in July (1940),Isle of the Dead (1945),Johnny O'Clock (1947),The Man from Colorado (1948),The Crooked Way (1949), andThe Baron of Arizona withVincent Price (1950). In the 1950s, with her movie career on the decline, she worked as a television actress. Among her final roles was the part of Julia Webberly in the 1960Perry Mason episode, "The Case of the Larcenous Lady".
On June 23, 1943, Drew co-starred withAgnes Moorehead and Ted Reid in "Uncle Henry's Rosebush" onSuspense,[11] and on July 25, 1943, she co-starred withPreston Foster in "China Bridge", a presentation ofSilver Theater onCBS radio.[12] She also appeared twice on theKate Smith Hour.[13]
Drew died on December 3, 2003, inPalm Desert, California, of a liver ailment, aged 89.[14] She wascremated and her ashes scattered at sea.[1]
For her contributions to the motion picture industry, Drew was honored with a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, located at 6901 Hollywood Blvd.[15]
A highly fictionalized version of her appears inJames Ellroy's novelsPerfidia (2014)[16] andThis Storm (2019).[17]
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