Ruby Ray (born Blanche Arnold Hameen Nicol, 14 August 1881
– after 1973
) was an Argentine-born English stage actress, dancer and singer who performed mainly in
Edwardian musical comedy
Edwardian musical comedy was a form of British musical theatre that extended beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions, beginning in the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the A ...
.
Ray began her stage career in London in 1897 despite the misgivings of her late father's family. She played in both musical comedies and drama before travelling to Australia in 1900. There she starred in the play ''
A Message from Mars'' and the musical ''
Three Little Maids
''Three Little Maids'' is an English musical by Paul Rubens (composer), Paul Rubens with additional songs by Percy Greenbank and Howard Talbot. The story concerns three simple curate#Anglican Communion, curate's daughters who go to London to ea ...
'', among other pieces. She later appeared in London and New York, creating supporting roles in ''
The Catch of the Season
''The Catch of the Season'' is an Edwardian musical comedy by Seymour Hicks and Cosmo Hamilton, with music by Herbert Haines and Evelyn Baker and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor, based on the fairy tale Cinderella. A debutante is engaged to a young ...
'' (1904) and ''
The Belle of Mayfair
''The Belle of Mayfair'' is a musical comedy composed by Leslie Stuart with a book by Basil Hood, Charles Brookfield and Cosmo Hamilton and lyrics by George Arthurs. The story is inspired by the Shakespeare play ''Romeo and Juliet''.
The origin ...
'' (1906).
She married in 1909 and left the stage, living with her husband and children in
Ceylon
Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
, then Switzerland, and later
Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...
.
Early life
Ray was born in
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...
to a Scottish father, James Watson Nicol, and an English mother, Blanche Caunter.
Her paternal grandfather was the figure and genre painter
Erskine Nicol
Erskine Nicol (3 July 1825 – 1904) was a Scottish figure and genre painter.
Life
He was born in Leith on 3 July 1825 the eldest son of James Main Nicol and his wife Margaret Alexander. His father rented a property on Lochend Road and worked ...
, and her maternal grandfather was the writer and clergyman
John Hobart Caunter
John Hobart Caunter (21 June 1792 – 14 November 1851) was an English cleric and writer. Serving briefly in India as a cadet, he entered the Church and was for 19 years the Incumbent Minister of Portland Chapel in Marylebone, London. He wrote ...
. Her parents married at
Morro Velho
Morro Velho, also called AngloGold Ashanti Brasil Mineração, after its current owner AngloGold Ashanti, is a complex of gold mines located near the city of Nova Lima in the Minas Gerais state of Brazil.
It is one of two mining operations of th ...
, Brazil; her older brother Erskine was also born in Buenos Aires.
[ Her father, a planter who ran the ]estancia
An estancia is a large, private plot of land used for farming or raising cattle or sheep. Estancias in the southern South American grasslands, the ''pampas'', have historically been estates used to raise livestock, such as cattle or sheep. In Pu ...
La Aroma southeast of Buenos Aires, drowned at Altamirano just over two months after her birth.[ The family relocated to England, where they lived 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 ...
, London.[Ancestry.com. England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858–1995] Ray was often ill as a child and also experienced bouts of illness in adulthood. As a young woman, she enjoyed painting, needlework and punting on the Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
, and was fond of animals of all kinds.
Career
Ray first took the stage in London at the age of sixteen in late 1897, initially as a chorus dancer, and moved on quickly to solo dancing, singing and eventually acting. She studied dancing with John D'Auban
Frederick John D'Auban (1842 – 15 April 1922) was an English dancer, choreographer and actor of the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Famous during his lifetime as the ballet-master at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, he is best remembered as the c ...
. She adopted the stage name Ruby Ray to keep her real name out of the press, as her Scottish paternal family regarded the theatre "with a holy horror" and objected to her choosing the stage for a profession. Her ambition was to work up from musical comedy and pantomime
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...
to high comedy
High comedy or pure comedy is a type of comedy characterized by witty dialogue, satire, biting humor, wordplay, or criticism of life. The term High Comedy was coined in England in 1877 by George Meredith for his Essay on Comedy.
History
Comedy, ...
. She secured the dramatic role of Lucius in Herbert Beerbohm Tree
Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree (17 December 1852 – 2 July 1917) was an English actor and theatre manager.
Tree began performing in the 1870s. By 1887, he was managing the Haymarket Theatre in the West End, winning praise for adventurous progra ...
's revival of ''Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (; ; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC), was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in a civil war, and ...
'' (1900). After the run of this drama she was engaged by George Edwardes
George Joseph Edwardes (né Edwards; 8 October 1855 – 4 October 1915) was an English theatre manager and producer of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond.
Edwardes started out in theatre ma ...
, the father of Edwardian musical comedy
Edwardian musical comedy was a form of British musical theatre that extended beyond the reign of King Edward VII in both directions, beginning in the early 1890s, when the Gilbert and Sullivan operas' dominance had ended, until the rise of the A ...
. An early favourite part of hers was Iris, initially played by Letty Lind
Letitia Elizabeth Rudge (21 December 1861 – 27 August 1923), known professionally as Letty Lind, was an English actress, singer, dancer and acrobat, best known for her work in burlesque at the Gaiety Theatre, and in musical theatre at Daly's ...
, in Edwardes' Gaiety Comedy ''A Greek Slave
''A Greek Slave'' is a musical comedy in two acts, first performed on 8 June 1898 at Daly's Theatre in London, produced by George Edwardes and ran for 349 performances. The score was composed by Sidney Jones with additional songs by Lionel Monckto ...
''.[
She became interested in seeing Australia because "all England was talking of the Australians and their pluck in South Africa." She travelled to Australia in 1900 as leading lady of the Hawtrey Comedy Company, which was managed by William F. Hawtrey, the brother of actor-manager Charles Hawtrey. On her travels she was chaperoned by her mother, "a lady as pleasant and bright as her daughter", from whom she was inseparable, according to one interviewer. Mrs Nicol, however, took precautions not to be overbearing and left all business decisions to her daughter.][ After touring Australia, Ray went to New York, where she played in several successes.]
Her roles included Minnie Templar in '' A Message from Mars'' (1900), Lady Marjory Crichton and Ada Branscombe in ''Three Little Maids
''Three Little Maids'' is an English musical by Paul Rubens (composer), Paul Rubens with additional songs by Percy Greenbank and Howard Talbot. The story concerns three simple curate#Anglican Communion, curate's daughters who go to London to ea ...
'' (1902)[ – both comedies that met with great success in Australia,] Daisy Armitage in ''Tom, Dick and Harry'' (1901), Mrs Gillibrand in ''In the Soup'' (1901),[ Lady Violet in ''A Pantomime Rehearsal'',][ the Duchess of St. Jermyns in '']The Catch of the Season
''The Catch of the Season'' is an Edwardian musical comedy by Seymour Hicks and Cosmo Hamilton, with music by Herbert Haines and Evelyn Baker and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor, based on the fairy tale Cinderella. A debutante is engaged to a young ...
'' (1904),[ Lady Rosaline in '']The Belle of Mayfair
''The Belle of Mayfair'' is a musical comedy composed by Leslie Stuart with a book by Basil Hood, Charles Brookfield and Cosmo Hamilton and lyrics by George Arthurs. The story is inspired by the Shakespeare play ''Romeo and Juliet''.
The origin ...
'' (1906), Jill in ''Little Bo-Peep'' (1908) and Rosie Jocelyn in ''Saucy Sally''.[ Other plays in which she appeared include ''A Highland Legacy'' (1901), '']The School Girl
''The School Girl'' is an Edwardian musical comedy, in two acts, composed by Leslie Stuart (with additional songs by Paul Rubens) with a book by Henry Hamilton and Paul M. Potter, and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor and others. It concerns a Frenc ...
'' (1903) and ''Divorcons'' (1907). Among the plays in which she appeared in America were in the Charles Frohman
Charles Frohman (July 15, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American theater manager and producer, who discovered and promoted many stars of the American stage. Notably, he produced ''Peter Pan'', both in London and the US, the latter production ...
production of ''The Dairymaids'', composed by Paul A. Rubens (1907), in New York, in which she was Lady Brudenell,[ and ''Three Twins'' (1908) in New York and ]Detroit
Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...
, in which she played the leading part of Molly Somers. She played Mrs. Newlywed in ''The Newlyweds and Their Baby'' in Toronto in 1908 and on Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
the next year.[
Ray called acting "the only thing I have an ounce of talent for". Once, she played for six weeks with an injured toe: "It was not so bad while I was dancing, but when I walked I felt excruciating pains." Another time, a limelight burst near her, and her clothes were burned into holes, but she escaped without injury.][ In 1903–04 she was ill for seven months. After her marriage in 1909, she retired from acting. In 1917, however, she made a reappearance on a concert platform in Ceylon for patriotic purposes.
]
Reception
One interviewer noted that in private, Ray had "a specially winning manner" and appeared "to make friends with all who meet her."[ Another commented that she had a "girlish, unassuming manner, and a pair of beautiful soft brown eyes", as well as being "Tall and willowy, of slender, girlish proportions, graceful, undulating movements, and gentle, courteous manners". He noted that "Miss Ray's bright manner and personal attractions" might "have something to do with her rapid advancement. It is also well known that she is a beautiful dancer; has a sweet, singing voice, and a certain taking archness in using it."][ In 1901, ''The Otago Witness'' called her "undoubtedly the best lead that has visited Australia for many years",][ while '']The Bendigo Independent
''The Bendigo Independent'' was a newspaper published in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.
History
The ''Independent'' was founded in Bendigo (also named Sandhurst) in or before March 1862. E. A. Banks (1854–1920) was the editor for many years.
...
'' in that year wrote that she had "already made her name in London and America. She is described as a charming and graceful young actress, gifted with great histrionic abilities, and is credited by the English and American critics as being one of the best artistes of the day."
Marriage, family life and death
In 1906, Ray, who was living in Marylebone
Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary.
An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...
, and Frederic de Courcy Helbert from Slough, applied for a marriage license. It appears, however, that the marriage never took place. In 1909, she married the Ceylonese
Sri Lankan or Ceylonese may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Sri Lanka
* A person from Sri Lanka, see Demographics of Sri Lanka
** Sinhalese people, the ethnic majority
** Sri Lankan Tamils, an ethnic minority
** Sri L ...
merchant William Edward Mitchell whose father, Sir William Wilson Mitchell, had introduced the cotton industry into Ceylon. Their daughter, Hameen Mary Caunter, was born in 1911 and their son, William Hamish, in 1919. The family lived in Ceylon into the 1920s, when they moved to Montreux
Montreux (, , ; frp, Montrolx) is a Swiss municipality and town on the shoreline of Lake Geneva at the foot of the Alps. It belongs to the district of Riviera-Pays-d'Enhaut in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland, and has a population of approximat ...
, Switzerland, to have their children educated.[ They subsequently went to live in ]Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...
. Evacuated from Jersey during the Second World War, Ray and her husband returned there after the war. William died at their home, Broadlands, in Grouville
Grouville is one of the twelve parishes of Jersey in the Channel Islands. The parish is around east of St Helier. The parish covers a surface area of 4,354 vergées (7.8 km²). The parish includes the south-east portion of the main island o ...
in 1952, and Ray died after 1973.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ray, Ruby
English stage actresses
English musical theatre actresses
19th-century English actresses
20th-century English actresses
Actresses from London
1881 births
British expatriates in Argentina
British expatriates in Sri Lanka