Gloria Foy

Gloria Foy (October 25, 1901 – February 27, 1977) was a dancer, singer, vaudeville performer, and star of musical revues. She was a slim and energetic blonde from Lima, Ohio. Her family were theatrical people. Her father was Harry Foy, but she was no relation to the more famous Eddie Foy.

Theater dancer

Foy came to prominence in the John Murray Anderson Revue in March 1920. Foy once claimed she gained an inch of height simply by dancing during performances of Up She Goes (1922). She was twenty-one years old at the time. Her instructor explained that this happened because muscles stretch during vigorous dancing. By June 1923 she was dancing two hours per night during performances, appearing in two matinée shows per week, and also practising two hours daily. Another hour of her day was devoted to a dancing lesson. She obtained the role of "Sally" in Up She Goes when Marilyn Miller wed Jack Pickford and fell out with Florenz Ziegfeld.[1]

In November 1924 Foy played the title character in Betty Lee, a musical comedy which had an all-star cast. Lou Holt and Foy were the principal players in Patsy which debuted at the Mason Operahouse in Los Angeles, California on March 8, 1926. 100 showgirls participated in the production which was conceived and produced in southern California. Among the song divertissements was a rendition of Tiger Eyes which showcased Foy and five dancers. Patsy concluded its Los Angeles run in mid-May and was put on the road to San Francisco, California and then other American cities.[1]

Foy was Hal Skelly were signed by the Shubert Theater owners in March 1927. The two were engaged to present The Circus Princess for theater audiences. During the fall and winter season of 1930 Foy toured on the RKO vaudeville circuit. George Jessel, Viola Dana, Aunt Jemima (Tess Gardella), Georgia Price, and Anna Seymour also toured. During her vaudeville shows Foy entertained with "imitations, gags and satire".[1]

Inheritance

Aged 22, Foy inherited a fortune estimated to be in excess of $1,500,000, in November 1923. The money came from the will of an uncle, Richard Foy. He was a wealthy coffee planter in Rio de Janeiro. She obtained access to one third of this amount immediately. According to its terms, the inheritance specified that she would be entitled to another third, providing that she married within three years time. The final instalment would come to Foy if she lived with her husband for ten years. By the end of December, she had received more than 5,000 proposals from suitors worldwide.

Sole film

Her sole screen credit is a small role in Dancing Lady (1933). The MGM motion picture reunited Clark Gable and Joan Crawford for the fourth time on film, this time in a musical comedy in which Crawford replaces Foy as the star of a Broadway show.[2] Sometime in 1934, Foy returned to New York and resumed work as a star of musical comedy. She returned to Los Angeles and was the guest of Kay Kyser at the Miramar Theater in September. While Kyser entertained with music, Foy and Edwards danced together with Sidney Blackmer and Suzanne Kaaren.

Personal life

Death

Gloria Foy died in Hollywood, California from kidney disease in 1977. She was 75 years old.[2]

Sources

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gloria Foy at the Internet Broadway Database
  2. 1 2 Gloria Foy at the Internet Movie Database
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