Mildred Shay
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mildred Helen Shay (b. September 26, 1911 in Cedarhurst, Long Island, New York; d. October 15, 2005 in London, England, UK) was an American film actress, most famous for her 1930s off-camera exploits. The five-foot-two actress was dubbed "Pocket Venus" by gossip columnist Walter Winchell.
The daughter of wealthy lawyer Joseph A. Shay and his socialite wife Lillian, Mildred dealt with tragedy from an early age, as her older brother was killed by a drunken chaffeur a year after she was born. She would attribute her later desire to "dance, dance, dance and have fun" to her unhappy early years.
Mildred attended schools in New York and France until age 14, when her father sent her and her younger sister Adeline to London, England. They also had homes in Nice, France and Florence, Italy, the latter being stocked with servants who had once been Russian aristocrats but had to flee the revolution.
Eventually, due to Joseph's work on behalf of various movie studios, the family settled down in Hollywood, and mother and sisters moved into a two-story apartment at Alla Nazimova's former home. While there Mildred mingled with Laurence Olivier and Harpo Marx and went skinny dipping with Ginger Rogers. Shay was soon bit by the acting bug and asked her father for help. He contacted the head of Fox Studios; she had her first screen test with Douglas Fairbanks Jr..
Shay became close friends with Norma Shearer and Irving Thalberg (the head of MGM), and studied acting with Clark Gable's then-wife, Josephine Dillon, who filled her in on all the gossip. Her first screen roles were small parts in 1932's The Age of Consent and A Bill of Divorcement (the latter starred John Barrymore, Billie Burke, and in her film debut, Katharine Hepburn).
Mildred was tied to a chariot in 1933's Roman Scandals and was a voice double for Greta Garbo in the 1932 epic Grand Hotel.
Shay would go to the studios every day in a Mercedes-Benz then leave to attend various parties. Her great beauty ensured her many male admirers, and she was often known more for her romantic life than any onscreen performances (costume designer Adrian made a dress and false bust for her). She was pursued by, among others, Errol Flynn, who cornered her in his apartment ("It was a good job I had strong legs. I kept them crossed, not daring to move. He was a big man."), Howard Hughes, and Johnny Weismuller. Director Cecil B. DeMille invited her to his private ranch, feeding her oysters with the pearls still attached.
In spite of this constant activity, Shay said she was "the last virgin in captivity". Her first husband was one Thomas Francis Murphy, who "woke up drunk" and was jealous of her Hollywood friends. He ran up huge debts she could not pay, and would often send them to her studio or her father's office. Finally one night when she returned from a party, Murphy stubbed a cigarette into her leg. She went into shock and got pneumonia, needless to say, their marriage was over. Her second husband was Winthrop Gardiner Junior, a descendant of Lord Lion Gardiner. He gave her a huge diamond ring (Walter Winchell told her she could "house Manhattan on that rock") and many other jewels and furs, but the marriage was not a happy one. He began sleeping with ice skater/film star Sonja Henie and within 6 months Shay was with her sister in Reno, Nevada, getting a divorce. The split made huge headlines. She complained to Winchell about the publicity; when he told her that her crossing the street would make news, she asked him to make her "un-news".
Her family shunned her due to the negative publicity, and after a short attempt at Broadway she returned to Hollywood. In 1939 she played Joan Crawford's scene-stealing French maid in The Women, and was one of the few actresses to get along with the difficult star. Around this time she had relationships with Roy Rogers and Victor Mature, among others, the latter making headlines.
In 1940 Shay met tall, dark and handsome British officer Geoffrey Steele, and fell in love instantly. They quickly married - while on their honeymoon, the gossip magazines placed bets on how long the union would last. Shay said, "Most gave it 3 to 6 months. Nobody gave us forty years" (he died in 1987).
Steele formed a Hollywood cricket club which included fellow British expatriates such as David Niven, and to Shay's discomfort, Errol Flynn. Around this time Groucho Marx told Shay she was one of the funniest people he had ever met and offered to write material for her in nightclubs - she refused, claiming she was a dramatic actress. She later said that was the biggest mistake of her career.
Geoffrey Steele returned to England for World War II and Shay went with him. She had a daughter, Georgiana (who went on to marry Gordon Waller of Peter and Gordon), and chose to limit her film activities. 1948's I Killed the Count was her last acting work for some time. Over the next few decades she frequently visited Buckingham Palace and was a prominent figure in London society circles.
In 1968 she returned to acting with a small role in the Julie Andrews film Star (based on Gertrude Lawrence). She appeared in 1974's remake of The Great Gatsby (with Mia Farrow) and soon after, avant garde director Ken Russell asked her to play an "aged American desperate for attention" in his biography of Rudolph Valentino, in which she got to dance with the film's star, Rudolph Nureyev. Shay continued to act and make appearances over the next 30 years. Her last film was in 1999's Parting Shots; her last Hollywood appearance was at the 2003 Academy Awards telecast.
She had a serious stroke in her final years, but still managed to attend some functions and was at National Film Theatre's 2004 tribute to her favorite director, George Cukor. One of her final outings was a friend's wedding - she danced and drank, and when she saw her reflection in a mirror, joked, "Vanity got me in the end."
Shay died in London while visiting her daughter, Georgiana Waller, at the age of 94 from natural causes.
