Gilda Gray (October 24, 1901 - December 22, 1959) was a Polish-American actress/dancer who became famous in the US for making the dance called the "shimmy" famous in the 1920's in movies and theater productions in the 1920s in the US. October 24 is the 297th day of the year (298th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 68 days remaining. ... 1901 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... December 22 is the 356th day of the year (357th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Gilda Gray was born Marianna Winchalaska (or Michalski) in Warsaw, Poland, 24 October 1901. Her parents immigrated to the United States in 1909 and settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. When Marianna was fourteen or fifteen, a marriage was arranged for her with a saloonkeeper's son, John Gorecki. To increase their income, Marianna began singing in saloons owned by her father-in-law. Although the shimmy is said to have been introduced to white audiences by Gilda (after she had changed her name) in New York, other sources say that her shimmy was born one night when she was singing the Star Spangled Banner and forgot some of the words. She covered up her embarrassment by shaking her shoulders and hips. Although the shimmy was already a well-known dance, Marianna appropriated it as her own when she was asked what she was doing, and she replied, "I'm shaking my shimmy," her version of the word "chemise." Warsaw (Polish: Warszawa, see also other names, in full The Capital City of Warsaw, Polish: Miasto Stołeczne Warszawa) is the capital of Poland and its largest city. ... 1909 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... Milwaukee is the largest city in the state of Wisconsin, United States and the county of Milwaukee. ... A shimmy is a dance in which the body is held still, except for the shoulders, which are alternated back and forth. ... State nickname: Empire State Other U.S. States Capital Albany Largest city New York Governor George Pataki Official languages None Area 141,205 km² (27th)  - Land 122,409 km²  - Water 18,795 km² (13. ... Nicholson took the copy Key gave him to a printer, where it was published as a broadside on September 17 under the title The Defence of Fort McHenry, with an explanatory note explaining the circumstances of its writing. ...

The blatant sexuality of her dancing and her success soon led her to desert her husband and son and go to Chicago where an agent saw her and took her to New York. The agent, Frank Westphal, introduced her to his wife, Sophie Tucker. It was Sophie who changed her name to Gilda. As noted, Sophie claimed to have performed the shimmy first, but it was soon appropriated by Gilda. By 1919, she was appearing in a J. J. Shubert show, The Gaieties of 1919. By now, Gilda had found a new manager, Gallaird T. 'Gil' Boag. After being seen by Florenz Ziegfeld, she appeared in the 1922 Ziegfeld Follies where she was a sensation. Sophie Tucker, 1917 Sophie Tucker (13 January 1884 - 9 February 1966) was a singer and comedian, one of the most popular United States entertainers of the first third of the 20th century. ... 1919 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1922 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. ...

After her divorce from her first husband, in 1923 she married her new manager, Gil Boag. It was also in 1923 that she took her vaudeville show, which was rumored to be making $47,000 a week, to Hollywood. She abandoned vaudeville to become a film star, and between 1919 and 1936 Gilda made several movies, in all of which she performed her famous shimmy. Her second part was a small one in Girl with the Jazz Heart, but Jesse Lasky who owned Famous Players saw her and wanted her to be part of his company. With him she made Aloma of the South Seas, which grossed $3,000,000 in its first three months. The success of this film was enhanced by Gilda's personal appearances doing the shimmy as a promotion. In 1927, she made two more films, The Devil Dancer and Cabaret. 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1919 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1927 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue - a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting around the tables (often dining or drinking) watching the performance. ...

When the stock market crashed in 1929, so did Gilda, but she managed to get a job dancing at the Palace Theater in New York. By now, her second marriage had failed, she had recovered from a heart attack in 1931, and she had married a Venezuelan diplomat several years her junior, named Hector B. Riceno de Saa. This marriage also failed. 1929 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... A myocardial infarction occurs when an atherosclerotic plaque slowly builds up in the inner lining of a coronary artery and then suddenly ruptures, totally occluding the artery and preventing blood flow downstream. ... 1931 is a common year starting on Thursday. ...

She was signed to play herself in the movie, The Great Ziegfeld, in 1936, but unfortunately her scenes were cut from the picture. Categories: Movie stubs | 1936 films | Drama films | Musical films | Biographical films | Best Picture Oscar | Best Actress Oscar (film) ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

After escaping from Poland after a 1939 visit, she was again down on her luck in 1940, despite having financed Polish causes, which earned her the Polish Legion of Honor Cross. 1939 was a common year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1940 was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In yet another comeback, she performed her famous shimmy, now less scandalous than at the beginning, at the Diamond Horseshoe Show for Billy Rose. In 1946, she again became newsworthy when she sued Columbia Pictures for using her name in their movie, Gilda. Although the title role, played by Rita Hayworth, had no resemblance to the real Gilda's life, Gilda reportedly received an out of court settlement, which enabled her to establish a ranch in Colorado. Billy Rose (September 6, 1899–February 10, 1966) was an American theatrical showman. ... 1946 was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... Columbia Pictures logo, used only from 1981-1993 Columbia Pictures, now Columbia TriStar Pictures after their merger with the former TriStar Entertainment in 1998, is a film production company, and part of Sony Pictures Entertainment. ... Gilda (1946) is a black-and-white film noir directed by Charles Vidor. ... Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (real name Margarita Carmen Cansino) (October 17, 1918 – May 14, 1987) was a famous American film star of Latin descent during the 1940s who was sometimes called The Love Goddess or The Great American Love Goddess. ... This is the article on the state. ...

However, by the time of her death 22 December 1959, Gilda Gray, penniless yet again, died of a heart attack. The Motion Picture Relief Fund paid for her funeral. December 22 is the 356th day of the year (357th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... 1959 was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Filmography

• Virtuous Vamp (1919)
• Girl with the Jazz Heart (1923)
• Lawful Larceny (1925)
• Aloma of the South Seas (1927)
• Cabaret (1927)
• The Devil Dancer (1929)
• Piccadilly (1936)
• The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
• Rose-Marie (1936)

1919 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1925 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1927 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue - a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting around the tables (often dining or drinking) watching the performance. ... 1927 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1929 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Piccadilly (1929) was a British film directed by Ewald André Dupont, written by Arnold Bennett and starring Anna May Wong, Gilda Gray and Jameson Thomas. ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Categories: Movie stubs | 1936 films | Drama films | Musical films | Biographical films | Best Picture Oscar | Best Actress Oscar (film) ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Rose Marie (born August 15, 1923) is an actress who had a career as a child star under the name Baby Rose Marie but is best known for her adult role as Sally Rogers in the The Dick Van Dyke Show. ... 1936 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Plays

• Music Box Revue (1921)
• Ziegfeld Follies (1922)
• Devil Dancer Play (1927)

1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. ... 1922 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1927 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ...

External links

• Gilda Gray (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0336660/) at the Internet Movie Database