Shirley Grey

American actress (1902–1981)

Foster Williams

(m. 1921; div. 1925)

Arthur Margetson

(m. 1936; died 1951)

^[1]

Shirley Grey (born Agnes Evangeline Zetterstrand;^[2] April 03, 1902 – August 12, 1981) was an American actress. She appeared in more than 40 films between 1930 and 1935.

Early years

Born in Naugatuck, Connecticut, Grey was the daughter of Ernst Adrian Zetterstrand, a minister,^[3] who died when she was eight years old. Thereafter, her mother raised Grey and her six siblings.^[4] She graduated from Waterbury High School, where she was active in the Dramatic Club.^[3]

Career

Grey began her acting career with the Poli Players.^[5] She went on to act with companies in New Orleans, Louisiana; Jacksonville, Florida; San Francisco, California, and Nova Scotia.^[3] She had her own acting troupe, the Shirley Grey Players, in the late 1920s.^[6] In 1931, she starred in the comedy-drama Chicago at the Fulton Theater in Oakland, California. It was the third play of Grey's "limited season".^[7]

Grey's work in stock theater led to her career in films. A talent scout who worked for film producer Samuel Goldwyn saw Grey performing in a stock production in Oakland and arranged for her to take a screen test, which led to her signing a contract with Goldwyn.^[8]

Personal life

On August 28, 1921, Grey married actor Foster Williams,^[9] known professionally as Frank McCarthy.^[10] They had one son. She filed for divorce from him on September 30, 1925.^[9] In 1936, Grey married English actor Arthur Margetson, who died in 1951.^[2]

In her later years, Grey was a semi-recluse, living with her sisters before moving to a Jacksonville Beach, Florida, convalescent home where she died.^[11]

Partial filmography

The Golf Specialist (1930, Short) - House Detective's Wife (uncredited)
The Public Defender (1931) - Barbara Gerry
Secret Service (1931) - Miss Edith Varney
Air Eagles (1931) - Eve
One Man Law (1932) - Grace Duncan
Texas Cyclone (1932) - Helen Rawlings
The Riding Tornado (1932) - Patsy Olcott
Get That Girl (1932) - Ruth Dale
The Hurricane Express (1932) - Gloria Martin / Gloria Stratton
Cornered (1932) - Jane Herrick
Drifting Souls (1932) - Greta Janson
Back Street (1932) - Francine
Virtue (1932) - Gert
Uptown New York (1932) - Patricia Smith
Treason (1933) - Joan Randall
From Hell to Heaven (1933) - Winnie Lloyd
Private Jones (1933) - Helen Jones
Out All Night (1933) - Kate
Terror Aboard (1933) - Lili Kingston
The Little Giant (1933) - Edith Merriam
The Girl in 419 (1933) - Nurse Irene Blaine
The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933) - Goldie West
Don't Bet on Love (1933) - Goldie Williams
Too Much Harmony (1933) - Lilyan
Hold the Press (1933) - Edith White
Murder on the Campus (1933) - Lillian Voyne
Twin Husbands (1933) - Chloe Werrenden
Bombay Mail (1934) - Beatrice Jones aka Sonia Smeganoff
I Like It That Way (1934) - Peggy
Sisters Under the Skin (1934) - Gilda Gordon
The Crime of Helen Stanley (1934) - Betty Lane
One Is Guilty (1934) - Sally Grey
Green Eyes (1934) - Jean Kester
The Defense Rests (1934) - Mabel Wilson
His Greatest Gamble (1934) - Bernice Solon
Beyond the Law (1934) - Helen Glenn
Girl in Danger (1934) - Gloria Gale
Wednesday's Child (1934) - Louise
Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round (1934) - Anya Rosson
Public Opinion (1935) - Joan Nash
Circumstantial Evidence (1935) - Adrienne Grey
The People's Enemy (1935) - Ann Griffin
The Girl Who Came Back (1935) - Gilda Gillespie aka Mary Brown
The Public Menace (1935) - Mimi LaVerne
The Mystery of the Mary Celeste (1935) - Sarah Briggs

References

^ Maxford, Howard (2018). Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company. McFarland. p. 537. ISBN 9781476629148.
^ ^a ^b Maxford, Howard (2018). Hammer Complete: The Films, the Personnel, the Company. McFarland. p. 537. ISBN 9781476629148. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Shirley Grey, Leading Lady Here, Began Dramatic Work While Yet in High School". The Courier-News. New Jersey, Bridgewater. October 17, 1928. p. 2. Retrieved March 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Coons, Robbin (October 5, 1931). "Long Shots and Close-Ups". Star-Gazette. New York, Elmira. p. 17. Retrieved March 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Cotter, Robert Michael “Bobb” (2014). The Women of Hammer Horror: A Biographical Dictionary and Filmography. McFarland. p. 93. ISBN 9781476602011. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
^ "Reade's Plainfield". The Courier-News. New Jersey, Bridgewater. October 29, 1928. p. 13. Retrieved March 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Fulton Bills Shirley Grey in 'Chicago'". Oakland Tribune. California, Oakland. March 11, 1931. p. 21. Retrieved March 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Shirley Grey Making Good In Pictures". The San Francisco Examiner. California, San Francisco. Universal Service. August 23, 1931. p. 31. Retrieved March 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ ^a ^b "Wife Sues Stock Actor for Divorce". Hartford Courant. Connecticut, Hartford. October 1, 1925. p. 5. Retrieved March 6, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Shirley Grey". Films of the Golden Age (94): 38, 45. Fall 2018.
^ Begg, Paul (2014). Mary Celeste: The Greatest Mystery of the Sea. Routledge. ISBN 9781317865308. Retrieved March 6, 2019.