Dulcie Gray

Sweet-faced, gentle-voiced veteran British actress Dulcie Gray's demure career is often linked with that of her late actor/husband Michael Denison, with whom she appeared frequently on stage, TV and in films in over a hundred projects for nearly four decades. She was born Dulcie Winifred Catherine Bailey in British Malaya (now Malaysia), on November 20, 1915, the daughter of a lawyer. She was sent off to boarding school in England at quite an early age. Originally interested in art and dance until the lure of the theatre, she worked at one time as a governess. Dulcie attended the Webber Douglas Drama School where she met future husband Denison, whom she married in 1939. Making her professional stage debut that same year in "Hay Fever," she gained repertory theatre experience between the years 1940 and 1941. Dulcie made an insignificant film debut in an uncredited part in the Welwyn Studio comedy Banana Ridge (1942), but stayed focused on theatre, particularly in Shakespeare's plays -- "Twelfth Night" (as Maria), "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (as Hermia) and "The Taming of the Shrew" (as Bianca). She won London stage stardom after making her West End debut as "Alexandra" in a production of "The Little Foxes" starring Richard Attenborough. Dulcie earned a great stage success as waitress "Rose" in "Brighton Rock" (1943), which led to a film contract with Gainsborough Studios. Although she lost out playing the waitress role when "Brighton Rock" was transferred to film, she went on to grace a host of lady-like melodramas for the studio. She began with small roles in both Two Thousand Women (1944) and Madonna of the Seven Moons (1945) supporting leading ladies Phyllis Calvert and Patricia Roc. She then went on to support Margaret Lockwood in A Place of One's Own (1945) before sharing the lead with Calvert and Anne Crawford in the meller They Were Sisters (1945) in which she played the passive sibling at the mercy of a cruel, sadistic husband James Mason. Dulcie continued to rise gracefully in the film ranks with features such as the crime drama Wanted for Murder (1946) opposite Eric Portman and Derek Farr; the social drama A Man About the House (1947) as a concerned sister to Margaret Johnston; and the psychological drama Mine Own Executioner (1947) opposite Burgess Meredith. She also shared the screen with husband Michael in such vehicles as My Brother Jonathan (1948), The Glass Mountain (1949), The Franchise Affair (1951), Angels One Five (1952) and There Was a Young Lady (1953), usually to generous reviews. In between times, the actress would remain royal to the stage, appearing in scores of plays, including "Dear Ruth" (title role), "Tea and Sympathy," "South Sea Bubble" and "The Seagull," With Michael she appeared in a host of theatre vehicles such as "Queen Elizabeth Slept Here," "The Four Poster," "Private Lives," "Alice Through the Looking Glass," "Let Them Eat Cake," "Candida," "Heartbreak House," "The Royal Gambit," "An Ideal Husband," "The Wild Duck," "The Clandestine Marriage," "The First Mrs. Fraser" and "The Clandestine Marriage." In the mid 1950's, Dulcie began to focus on TV with roles in such anthologies as "BBC Sunday Night Theatre," "Somerset Maugham Hour" and "London Theatre." Like her husband, the theatre was her first love and true calling and she would remain committed to the stage for most of her career, making relatively few films in her later life. Dulcie later turned to writing, authoring 24 mystery books, most of which involved intrepid sleuth Inspector Cardiff. She earned TV success back in England with Howards' Way (1985) (in which Michael had a recurring role) - a major hit in the late '80s. The couple was awarded Commander of the British Empire in 1983. Late in life, they made their Broadway debut together in "An Ideal Husband" in 1996. Following Michael's death from cancer two years later in 1998, Dulcie continued in the theatre playing delightfully sweet old ladies in such enjoyable fare as "The Ladykillers" (1999) and "The Lady Vanishes." Dulcie would be the subject of the TV tribute program This Is Your Life (1955) on two separate occasions, in 1973 and 1995. She was a guest for other subjects four other times. She passed away from bronchial pneumonia just a few days before her 96th birthday on November 15, 2011.