Gabrielle Ray

Gabrielle Ray (born Gabrielle Elizabeth Clifford Cook, 28 April 1883 – 21 May 1973) was an English stage actress, dancer and singer, best known for her roles in Edwardian musical comedies.

Ray was considered one of the most beautiful actresses on the London stage and became one of the most photographed women in the world. In the first decade of the 20th century, she had a good career in musical theatre. After an unsuccessful marriage, she returned to the stage, but she never recovered the fame that she had enjoyed. She later struggled with depression and spent her last 37 years in a mental hospital. Ray was born in Cheadle, Stockport, England. She was the fourth child of William Austin Cook, a prosperous iron merchant and a Justice of the Peace for Cheshire, and his wife Anne Maria Elizabeth née Holden.