Mildred Helen Shay (September 26, 1911 – October 15, 2005) was an American film actress of the 1930s whose affairs, marriages and glamorous social life became a popular subject for gossip columnists. At five-feet tall, Shay was dubbed the "Pocket Venus" by Hollywood gossip columnists.

Early life

Shay was born in Cedarhurst, New York, the eldest daughter of a wealthy lawyer, Joseph A. Shay, and his wife, Lillian. She attended New York schools and a Swiss finishing school in France until age 14, when her father moved her and her younger sister, Adeline, to London. The family also lived in a house in

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and a French chateau in

Nice Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

because of her father's work on behalf of various movie studios. She lived with her mother and sister at the Garden of Allah apartments which was populated by film stars. The family's friends and neighbors included

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and

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

whom Shay said was her spa and skinny-dipping partner.

Career

When Shay decided she wanted to be an actress, her father contacted the heads of Fox and Paramount movies studio for their help. Quickly, she was given her first screen test with

Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Douglas Elton Fairbanks Jr. (December 9, 1909 – May 7, 2000) was an American actor, producer, and decorated naval officer of World War II. He is best-known for starring in such films as '' The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937), '' Gunga Din'' (1939), ...

and then studied acting with

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's wife, Josephine Dillon. Her first screen roles were small uncredited parts in such films as '' The Age of Consent'' (1932), '' A Bill of Divorcement'' (1932) starring

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and Billie Burke, and '' Roman Scandals'' (1933) with

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. Shay also dubbed the voice of

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in '' Grand Hotel''. Shay took a break from acting during her first marriages. After the second ended, she acted on Broadway in ''The Sap Runs High''. She then returned to Hollywood in 1939 to play

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's scene-stealing French maid in '' The Women''. According to Shay, her friend

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thought she had a gift for comedy and offered to write material for her, but Shay refused because she wanted to be known as a "serious" actress. After moving to England during World War II, and except for the 1948 film '' I Killed the Count'', Shay gave up acting for the next two decades. In 1968 she returned to acting with a small role in the

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film '' Star!''. She appeared in the 1974 remake of ''

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''. In 1976, director

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asked her to play an "aged American desperate for attention" in '' Valentino'', his biography of

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, in which she got to dance with the film's star,

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. Shay continued to act and make small appearances over the next 30 years including appearances in '' Candleshoe'' (1977), ''

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'' (1983), '' Death Wish 3'' (1985), ''

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'' (1986) and '' Bullseye!'' (1990). Her last film was 1999's '' Parting Shots''.

Social life

Although mostly an ingenue screen actress, Shay became well-publicized for her social life and romances. She was chauffeured around Hollywood in a

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limousine, to the studios as well as parties and events. Although of diminutive stature, her beauty attracted many admirers, and

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dubbed her "Hollywood's Pocket Venus". Shay's dates included

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, Johnny Weissmuller,

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and

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. Shay married Thomas Francis Murphy in 1934. Murphy has been described as an attractive Irishman as well as a drunken philanderer who accumulated large debts. The marriage ended within the year. Shay remarried in 1936 to Winthrop Gardiner, a member of a prominent New York family descended from Lord Lion Gardiner.Obituary: "Winthrop Gardiner, Jr."
''New York Times.'' October 18, 1980. After only six months, Shay filed for divorce because of Gardiner's much-publicized affair with ice skater

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whom he later married. In 1940, Shay met British army captain Geoffrey Steele and fell in love. The couple married in 1941 amid speculation and bets by the tabloid magazines about how long the union would last. Shay said, "Most gave it 3 to 6 months. Nobody gave us forty years." The couple remained married until Steel died in 1987. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Shay moved to England with Steele where she gave birth to a daughter, Georgiana. Over the next few decades she frequented

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and became a prominent figure in London society circles.

Final years

Shay suffered a stroke in 2004. Her final public appearance was the

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's 2004 tribute to her favorite director,

George Cukor George Dewey Cukor ( ; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer, producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO Pictures, RKO when David O. Selzn ...

. Shay died at the age of 94 in California while visiting her daughter, Georgiana Waller, the former wife of musician Gordon Waller.

Partial filmography

*'' In Old Missouri'' (1940) - Mme. Chee-Chee *'' Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride'' (1940) - Stewardess *'' Valentino'' (1977) - Old Lady at Maxim's *'' Candleshoe'' (1977) - Mrs. McCress *'' Funny Money'' (1983) - Mrs. Keller *'' Death Wish 3'' (1985) - Magda, Emil's Wife *''

'' (1986) - Second Customer *'' Bullseye!'' (1990) - Jolene, Tourist Wife

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shay, Mildred 1911 births 2005 deaths American film actresses People from Cedarhurst, New York 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American women