Elizabeth Ray (born Betty Lou Ray on May 14, 1943, in
Marshall, North Carolina
Marshall is a town in Madison County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 872 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Madison County.
Marshall is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area.
History
The Bank of Fren ...
) was the central figure in a much-publicized sex scandal in 1976 that ended the career of
U.S. Rep.
The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...
Wayne Hays
Wayne Levere Hays (May 13, 1911 – February 10, 1989) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative of Ohio, in the Democratic Party, from 1949 to 1976. He resigned from Congress after a much-publicized sex scandal.
Early year ...
(D-Ohio).
''
The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...
'' reported that Ray had been on the payroll of a committee run by Hays for two years as a clerk-secretary. During that time, she admitted, her actual job duties were providing Congressman Hays sexual favors: "I can't type, I can't file, I can't even answer the phone." Ray, who had won the title of Miss Virginia 1975 in a beauty contest, says she worked briefly as a stewardess, waitress and car rental clerk before beginning work on Capitol Hill in the summer of 1972. Ray also admitted having sex with married
Sen. Mike Gravel
Maurice Robert "Mike" Gravel ( ; May 13, 1930 – June 26, 2021) was an American politician and writer who served as a United States Senator from Alaska from 1969 to 1981 as a member of the Democratic Party, and who later in life twice ran for ...
(D-Alaska) at his houseboat in August 1972. According to Ray, the meeting was arranged by Rep.
Kenneth J. Gray (D-Illinois), her boss at the time, in exchange for Gravel's support of a bill Gray was pushing.
Both Gravel and Gray denied the accusations and a federal investigation ended with no charges being filed. Decades later, Gravel admitted having sex with Ray, but continued to maintain that it was not in exchange for his vote.
After the Hays scandal broke, a book appeared in her name, titled ''The Washington Fringe Benefit''. She later posed for ''
Playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...
'' several times and tried acting and stand-up comedy. However, these efforts did not develop into a career and she faded back into obscurity.
IMDB
/ref>
See also
* Fanne Foxe
* Rita Jenrette
*Blaze Starr
Blaze Starr (born Fannie Belle Fleming; April 10, 1932 – June 15, 2015) was an American stripper and burlesque star. Her vivacious presence and inventive use of stage props earned her the nickname "The Hottest Blaze in Burlesque". She ...
References
1943 births
Living people
Employees of the United States House of Representatives
Mistresses
People from Marshall, North Carolina
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