Mary Ellen Ray (3 January 1931 – 10 September 2004) was an American-born actress who had a career in the United Kingdom.

Early life

She was born as Mary Ellen McPherson in

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Springfield metropolitan area, which had an estimat ...

in 1931 to 17 year-old Hayzle McPherson and her husband Owen M. McPherson. Following her parents' divorce in 1937 and her mother's remarriage to Earl Ray, she assumed her stepfather's surname.

Career

Ray spent two years with the

ACT Theatre ACT Theatre (originally A Contemporary Theatre) is a regional, non-profit theatre organization in Seattle, in the US state of Washington. Gregory A. Falls (1922–1997) founded ACT in 1965 and served as its first Artistic director; at the time ACT ...

after which she went to the American Shakespeare Festival Theatre at Stratford, Connecticut where she appeared in such plays as ''

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony during 1692–93. Miller wrote the play as a ...

'', ''

Endgame Endgame, Endgames, End Game, End Games, or similar variations may refer to: Film * ''The End of the Game'' (1919 film) * ''The End of the Game'' (1975 film), short documentary U.S. film * ''Endgame'' (1983 film), 1983 Italian post-apocalyptic f ...

'' and ''

Under Milk Wood ''Under Milk Wood'' is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, commissioned by the BBC and later adapted for the stage. A film version, ''Under Milk Wood'' directed by Andrew Sinclair, was released in 1972, and another adaptation of ...

''. She made her début at the

Stratford Festival The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival ...

Stratford, Ontario Stratford is a city on the Avon River within Perth County in southwestern Ontario, Canada, with a 2016 population of 31,465 in a land area of . Stratford is the seat of Perth County, which was settled by English, Irish, Scottish and German im ...

in 1970 as Mariana in '' All's Well That Ends Well'' and Mrs William Dudgeon in '' The Devil's Disciple''. In September 1970 she opened in ''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

'' at the American Shakespeare Festival Theatre and appeared with repertory companies in the United States and Britain. The couple separated in 1972 and divorced in 1974.Edkins, Luc
Obituary for Anthony Edkins
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 26 November 2018 She made her first television appearance in Britain as Telephone Operator in ''Long Distance'' (1958) before acting in the 'Shadow of Heroes' episode of ''

BBC Sunday-Night Theatre ''Sunday Night Theatre'' was a long-running series of televised live television plays screened by BBC Television from early 1950 until 1959. The productions for the first five years or so of the run were re-staged live the following Thursday, p ...

'' (1959). Next she was Waitress in 'The Out-of-Towners' episode of ''

ITV Television Playhouse ''ITV Television Playhouse'', often simplified to ''Television Playhouse'', was a British anthology television series produced by and airing on the ITV television network from 1955 through 1963. The series premiered with the teleplay ''Midlevel ...

'' (1960). Ray progressed to the named role of Nora in 'The Closed Shop' episode of '' Somerset Maugham Hour'' (1962) and Miss Cleaver in 'The Night of the Horns' episode of ''

Detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

'' (1964). She was in ''

Theatre 625 ''Theatre 625'' is a British television drama anthology series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC2 from 1964 to 1968. It was one of the first regular programmes in the line-up of the channel, and the title referred to its production a ...

'' (1966), voiced Mrs Dilber in the Oscar-winning animated television special ''

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. ''A Christmas C ...

'' (1971) and was Mary Crane in the short ''Some Kind of Hero'' (1972). She was Sonia in the television film ''

Artemis 81 ''Artemis 81'' is a British television play which was written by David Rudkin and directed by Alastair Reid. Commissioned by BBC producer David Rose, it was broadcast by the BBC on 29 December 1981. It was one of the last TV performances from ...

'' (1981); Nursing Staff in the film ''

The Sender ''The Sender'' is a 1982 British psychological horror thriller film directed by Roger Christian and written by Thomas Baum. It stars Kathryn Harrold, Željko Ivanek (in his film debut), Shirley Knight, and Paul Freeman. Plot A young, dish ...

'' (1982); Mrs Bear in the film ''

The Lords of Discipline ''The Lords of Discipline'' is a 1980 novel by Pat Conroy that was later adapted in a 1983 film of the same name. The story centers on Will McLean, who is in his fourth year at the fictional Carolina Military Institute in Charleston, South C ...

'' (1983), and American Wife in the film ''

Invitation to the Wedding Invitation or The Invitation may refer to: Films * ''Invitation'' (1952 film), an MGM film starring Dorothy McGuire and Van Johnson * ''The Invitation'' (1973 film), a Swiss film * ''The Invitation'' (2003 film), an American film starring Lance H ...

'' (1983).Filmography of Mary Ellen Ray

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Database She was Mrs. Abrams in the television series ''Tender Is the Night'' (1985); Aunt Hannah in '' Back Home'' (1989); Lynn Nesbit in ''

Selling Hitler ''Selling Hitler'' is a 1991 ITV television comedy-drama mini-series about the Hitler Diaries hoax and was based on Robert Harris's 1986 book ''Selling Hitler: The Story of the Hitler Diaries''. Plot In 1981, Gerd Heidemann ( Jonathan Pryce) ...

'' (1991); Landlady in ''

Jeeves and Wooster ''Jeeves and Wooster'' is a British comedy-drama television series adapted by Clive Exton from P. G. Wodehouse's "Jeeves" stories. It aired on the ITV network from 22 April 1990 to 20 June 1993, with the last series nominated for a Britis ...

'' (1992); Teacher in the episode 'I Don't Do Cuddles' of ''

Unnatural Pursuits Unnatural or The Unnaturals or ''variant'', may refer to: Film * ''Alraune'' (1952 film), also known as ''Unnatural'', a West German science fiction horror film *'' The Unnaturals'', a 1969 Italian-West German gothic horror film directed and writt ...

'' (1992); Rose Whitfield in ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'' (1994); Marie in the episode 'First Impressions' of ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama ''Casualty'', and pr ...

'' (2000), and Eleanor Forsyth in ''

Doctors Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

'' (2004). In 1993 she played Mrs Pascal in ''

The House of Yes ''The House of Yes'' is a 1997 American dark comedy film adapted from the play of the same name by Wendy MacLeod. The film was written and directed by Mark Waters (in his directing debut), produced by Robert Berger, and stars Parker Posey, Josh ...

'' at the

Gate Theatre The Gate Theatre is a Theater (structure), theatre on Cavendish Row in Dublin, Ireland. It was founded in 1928. History Beginnings The Gate Theatre was founded in 1928 by Hilton Edwards and Micheál MacLiammóir with Daisy Bannard Cogley and Ge ...

in London.

Personal life

In 1952, as a 21-year-old secretary, Ray sailed on the RMS ''Queen Mary'' from New York to Spain with her two younger siblings and her mother, Hayzle Ray. There, she met the British poet Anthony Edkins (1927–2018) who was teaching English in

Ibiza Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...

in Spain. The two returned to England until her visa expired leading to their marriage in 1955 in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

; the couple had two daughters, Sarah Edkins and Lucy Edkins, a stage manager and actress. In 1966 she and Edkins moved to the United States for three years to allow Ray to pursue her acting career. Ray died in

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

in London in 2004 aged 73.Mary Ellen Ray in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1916-2007: Ancestry.com
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Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Mary Ellen 1931 births 2004 deaths People from Springfield, Missouri 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses American film actresses American Shakespearean actresses American stage actresses American television actresses American voice actresses