Evelyn Laye, OBE (July 10, 1900 - February 17, 1996) was an English theatre actress. July 10 is the 191st day (192nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 174 days remaining. ... 1900 (MCM) was an exceptional common year starting on Monday. ... February 17 is the 48th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq... Serge Sudeikins poster for the Bat Theatre (1922). ... Actors in period costume sharing a joke whilst waiting between takes during location filming. ...

Life and career

Born Elsie Evelyn Lay in Bloomsbury, London, England, Laye made her first stage appearance in 1915, and for the first few years of her career played mainly in musical comedy and operetta, including Going Up in 1918. Among her successes during the 1920s were Madame Pompadour (1923), The Dollar Princess and Lilac Time. She made her Broadway debut in 1929 in Noel Coward's Bitter Sweet. Bloomsbury may refer to: Bloomsbury, London, an area in the centre of the city the Bloomsbury group, an English literary group active around from around 1905 to the start of World War II. the Bloomsbury Gang, a political grouping centred on the local landowner, John Russell, 4th Duke of Bedford... London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... Motto: (French for God and my right) Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital London Largest city London Official language(s) English (de facto) Government Constitutional monarchy  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - Prime Minister Tony Blair MP Unification    - by Athelstan AD 927  Area    - Total 130,395 km² (1st in UK)   50,346 sq... Musical theater (or theatre) is a form of theater combining music, songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. ... Operetta (literally, little opera) is a performance art-form similar to opera, though it generally deals with less serious topics. ... Going Up is a musical comedy in three acts with music by Louis Hirsch and James Montgomery and book and lyrics by Otto Harbach. ... ... Madame Pompadour is an operetta in three acts, composed by Leo Fall with a libretto by Rudolf Schanzer and Ernst Welisch. ... The Dollar Princess is a musical in three acts by A.M. Willner and Fritz Grünbaum (after a comedy by Gatti-Trotha), adapted into English by Basil Hood (from Die Dollarprinzessin), with music by Leo Fall and lyrics by Adrian Ross. ... See Evelyn Laye for information about the album Lilac Time, and Wolfe Gilbert and Nathaniel Shilkret for the 1928 song Jeannine, I Dream Of Lilac Time The Lilac Time is a British band formed by Stephen Duffy and his brother Nick in 1986. ... Broadway theatre[1] is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ... Sir Noel Peirce Coward (spelling his forename Noël with the diaeresis was an affectation of later life) (16 December 1899 – 26 March 1973) was an English actor, playwright, and composer of popular music. ... Bitter Sweet was an operetta written by Noel Coward and first produced in 1929. ...

Married to the actor Sonnie Hale in 1926, Laye received widespread public sympathy when Hale left her for the actress Jessie Matthews in 1930. She continued acting in such productions as The Sleeping Beauty and Cinderella. Jessie Matthews, OBE (March 11, 1907 - August 19, 1981) was a popular British actress and singer of the 1930s, whose career continued into the post-war period. ... Sir Edward Burne-Jones painted The Sleeping Beauty. ... Gustave Dorés illustration for Cendrillon For other uses, see Cinderella (disambiguation). ...

She acted several times opposite her second husband, the actor Frank Lawton. Her other stage successes included Silver Wedding (1957) with Lawton, and The Amorous Prawn (1959) and Phil the Fluter (1969).

Awarded an OBE in 1973, Laye continued acting well into her nineties. It was reported after Laye's death that the Elizabeth, the Queen Mother had planned to try to get her knighted (created a DBE) even though Laye was already in her 90s. Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by King George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions; in decreasing order of seniority, these are... HM Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother (née Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon) Queen Elizabeth (Elizabeth Angela Marguerite) (4 August 1900 - 30 March 2002) was the Queen consort of George VI of the United Kingdom from 1936 to 1952. ... Commanders Badge of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V. The Order includes five classes in civil and military divisions, in order of seniority: Knight or Dame Grand Cross...

Her acting career ranks as one of the longest in British theatre. During a tribute in 1992 at the London Palladium the actor Sir John Mills described her as "the fairest prima donna this side of heaven". The London Palladium in 2004 The London Palladium is one of the most famous of Londons West End theatres. ... John Mills as Professor Bernard Quatermass in the Thames Television science-fiction serial Quatermass (1979). ...

She died in London from respiratory failure at the age of 95. London (pronounced ) is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... Respiratory failure is a medical term for inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system. ...