Beatrice Gray (March 3, 1911 – November 25, 2009) was an American

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

and

dancer Dance is an The arts, art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often Symbol, symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

best known for her appearances in a series of

western films The Western is a film genre defined by the American Film Institute as films which are "set in the American West that mbodythe spirit, the struggle, and the demise of the Frontier Thesis, new frontier." Generally set in the American frontier b ...

during the 1940s and 1950s. Gray was born Bertrice Alice Kimbrough on a farm near

Carthage, Illinois Carthage is a city in and the county seat of Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Its population was 2,490 as of the 2020 census. Carthage is best known for being the site of the 1844 murder of Joseph Smith, who founded the Latter Day Saint ...

. She began working in the

entertainment industry Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...

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 Stre ...

productions, as well as a performer in

nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighti ...

s. She earned her first acting role in the musical, ''New Faces of 1935''. After moving to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

in 1937, she appeared in the ''

New Faces of 1937 ''New Faces of 1937'' is a 1937 American musical film directed by Leigh Jason and starring Joe Penner, Milton Berle and Harriet Hilliard. Its plot is similar to '' The Producers'' (1968). Intended as the first film of an annual RKO Pictures r ...

'' by

RKO Pictures RKO Radio Pictures Inc., commonly known as RKO Pictures or simply RKO, is an American film production and distribution company, historically one of the major film studios, "Big Five" film studios of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood's Clas ...

. She worked as a dancer for

Busby Berkeley Berkeley William Enos, (November 29, 1895 – March 14, 1976) known professionally as Busby Berkeley, was an American film director and musical choreographer. Berkeley devised elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geo ...

. Gray appeared in a number of

westerns The Western is a genre of fiction typically set in the American frontier (commonly referred to as the "Old West" or the "Wild West") between the California Gold Rush of 1849 and the closing of the frontier in 1890, and commonly associated wit ...

throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, many of which were produced by

Monogram Pictures Monogram Pictures Corporation was an American film studio that produced mostly low-budget films between 1931 and 1953, when the firm completed a transition to the name Allied Artists Pictures Corporation. Monogram was among the smaller studios i ...

. Her other films were with Universal Pictures, including the 1958 movie, '' Wild Heritage''. She ultimately appeared in three films starring

Hoot Gibson Edmund Richard "Hoot" Gibson (August 6, 1892 – August 23, 1962) was an American rodeo champion, film actor, film director, and producer. While acting and stunt work began as a sideline to Gibson's focus on rodeo, he successfully transitioned ...

and Bob Steele - '' The Utah Kid'', '' Marked Trails'' and '' Trigger Law'' (all 1944).

Personal life

She and husband William H. Gray were parents of actor Billy Gray, best known for his role as Bud Anderson in the

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

, ''

Father Knows Best ''Father Knows Best'' is an American sitcom starring Robert Young (actor), Robert Young, Jane Wyatt, Elinor Donahue, Billy Gray (actor), Billy Gray and Lauren Chapin. The series, which began on radio in 1949, aired as a television show for six ...

''.

Death

Beatrice Gray died of natural causes in

Canoga Park, California Canoga Park is a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California. Before the Mexican–American War, the district was part of a Ranchos of California, rancho, and after the American victory it was converted ...

, on November 25, 2009, at the age of 98.

Selected filmography

*'' The Kansan'' (1943) *'' The Utah Kid'' (1944) * '' Trigger Law'' (1944) *'' Marked Trails'' (1944) *''

Trail of Vengeance ''Trail of Vengeance'' is a 1937 American Western film directed by Sam Newfield, written by Fred Myton and George H. Plympton, and starring Johnny Mack Brown, Iris Meredith, Warner Richmond, Karl Hackett, Earle Hodgins and Frank LaRue. ...

'' (1945) *''

Stranger from Santa Fe ''Stranger from Santa Fe'' is a 1945 American Western film directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by Adele Buffington. This is the sixteenth film in the "Marshal Nevada Jack McKenzie" series, and stars Johnny Mack Brown as Jack McKenzie an ...

'' (1945) *''

Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff ''Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff'' is a 1949 horror comedy film directed by Charles Barton and starring Abbott and Costello and Boris Karloff. In 1956, the film was re-released by Realart Pictures as a double feature wit ...

'' (1949) *''

The Yellow Cab Man ''The Yellow Cab Man'' is a 1950 American comedy film directed by Jack Donohue and starring Red Skelton, Gloria DeHaven and Edward Arnold. A brief sequence of distorted visual effects in the film is the work of the photographer Weegee, who a ...

'' (1950) *''

The Gene Autry Show ''The Gene Autry Show'' is an American western/cowboy television series which aired for 91 episodes on CBS from July 23, 1950 until August 7, 1956, originally sponsored by Wrigley's Doublemint chewing gum. Overview Series star Gene Autry h ...

'' (TV, 1950) *''

Callaway Went Thataway ''Callaway Went Thataway'' is a 1951 American comedy western film starring Fred MacMurray, Dorothy McGuire, and Howard Keel. It was written, directed, and produced by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama. Also known as ''The Star Said No'', it is ...

'' (1951) *'' Untamed Frontier'' (1952) *'' I've Lived Before'' (1956) *'' Wild Heritage'' (1958)

References

External links

*
Interview with Beatrice Gray
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Beatrice American film actresses American television actresses Western (genre) film actresses 1911 births 2009 deaths Actresses from Illinois Actresses from Los Angeles County, California People from Carthage, Illinois Entertainers from Topanga, California 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American women