Biography
Born on 7 January 1883 in London, England, and passing away in the same city on 13 September 1945, Gay launched her professional career as a chorus girl in 1903. Her innate flair for comedy soon established her as a favorite on the West End stage and during touring productions. One notable engagement came with the 1919 revue The Whirligig, written by Albert de Courville, Wal Pink and Edgar Wallace, featuring music by Frederick Chappelle; the production completed 441 performances at the Palace Theatre, where Morris Harvey, Billy Leonard and Jack Morrison also appeared alongside her. In 1925 she joined the cast of Charlot’s Review together with Jessie Matthews, Peter Haddon, Henry Lytton Jnr., Dorothy Dickson and Edmund Gwenn, who later achieved success in Hollywood. She further appeared in Noël Coward’s London Calling!, taking on the introduction of the song ‘There’s Life In The Old Girl Yet’.
Gay’s screen work began with the 1915 silent film The Siren’s Song. During the early 1930s she accepted minor roles in To Oblige A Lady and The Shaming Of The True (both 1930), the latter a short subject, followed by The Old Man (1932). In 1934 she withdrew from both stage and film to assume management of the Northey Arms, a country public house located in Box, Wiltshire. Among the theatrical acquaintances who visited her there was Coward, who occasionally took a turn serving at the bar.
Gay’s screen work began with the 1915 silent film The Siren’s Song. During the early 1930s she accepted minor roles in To Oblige A Lady and The Shaming Of The True (both 1930), the latter a short subject, followed by The Old Man (1932). In 1934 she withdrew from both stage and film to assume management of the Northey Arms, a country public house located in Box, Wiltshire. Among the theatrical acquaintances who visited her there was Coward, who occasionally took a turn serving at the bar.