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Carol Raye
Carol Raye AM (17 January 1923 – 18 June 2022 as Kathleen Mary Corkrey and also billed as Carole Raye) was a British-born actress and comedian of film, television, radio, theatre and revue. She was also a singer, dancer, producer, director and media personality.
Her career spanned some seven decades, firstly as a film star and stage performer in the United Kingdom, in such movies as Song of Romance, Strawberry Roan and Waltz Time, after which she briefly worked in Kenya. She then immigrated to Australia, where she became notable for her small-screen roles, and as the first female television executive at a time when the industry was dominated by men.
Raye was best known as the creator, producer and original star of the iconic TV satire The Mavis Bramston Show, alongside Gordon Chater and Barry Creyton, as well as a semi-regular star of soap opera Number 96, as Baroness Amanda von Pappenburg.
Raye was born in Rotherhithe, south east, London Docklands, Middlesex England, the daughter of Royal Navy commander Reuben B. Corkrey and Ethel McGlashan, an accomplished pianist. The family travelled extensively, including stays in Bermuda and Malta, until her father was stationed at the Portsmouth Navy Base.
Raye's early ambition was to become a dance teacher, and she trained in ballet and ballroom at the Southsea School of Dance.
Raye won her first stage role in No, No, Nanette in 1938, and was discovered the following year by Australian-born choreographer and producer Freddie Carpenter, then operating a dance academy in Soho, who further trained her in dance. Carpenter suggested her for a tour of the musical comedy Bobby Get Your Gun and was also instrumental in creating her stage name.She made her professional debut opposite Bobby Howes and Bertha Bellmore at the Manchester Opera House in 1939. Her breakthrough stage role came only months later, in Funny Side Up at His Majesty's Theatre, which marked her London debut.
Raye began her screen career with starring roles in films including Song of Romance, which was the first British musical film shot in technicolor, and Strawberry Roan (1945) by Maurice Elvey. However it was 1945 musical romance Waltz Time by Paul Stein, as Empress Maria that launched her international screen career. That year in April, she toured the United States with the lead role in a stage production of Bonanza Bound!. She turned down a multi-year Hollywood contract, deciding return to London, where she subsequently appeared in features including Spring Song (1946) directed by Montgomery Tully and two films directed by John Harlow, Green Fingers (1947) and While I Live (1947) as well as several telemovies for the BBC.
Raye also played lead roles in many musicals and television productions in her native Britain. Her theatre roles included Tough at the Top, Fun and Games and The Merry Widow, Dear Miss Phoebe and The Ticket-of-Leave Man.
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Carol Raye
Carol Raye AM (17 January 1923 – 18 June 2022 as Kathleen Mary Corkrey and also billed as Carole Raye) was a British-born actress and comedian of film, television, radio, theatre and revue. She was also a singer, dancer, producer, director and media personality.
Her career spanned some seven decades, firstly as a film star and stage performer in the United Kingdom, in such movies as Song of Romance, Strawberry Roan and Waltz Time, after which she briefly worked in Kenya. She then immigrated to Australia, where she became notable for her small-screen roles, and as the first female television executive at a time when the industry was dominated by men.
Raye was best known as the creator, producer and original star of the iconic TV satire The Mavis Bramston Show, alongside Gordon Chater and Barry Creyton, as well as a semi-regular star of soap opera Number 96, as Baroness Amanda von Pappenburg.
Raye was born in Rotherhithe, south east, London Docklands, Middlesex England, the daughter of Royal Navy commander Reuben B. Corkrey and Ethel McGlashan, an accomplished pianist. The family travelled extensively, including stays in Bermuda and Malta, until her father was stationed at the Portsmouth Navy Base.
Raye's early ambition was to become a dance teacher, and she trained in ballet and ballroom at the Southsea School of Dance.
Raye won her first stage role in No, No, Nanette in 1938, and was discovered the following year by Australian-born choreographer and producer Freddie Carpenter, then operating a dance academy in Soho, who further trained her in dance. Carpenter suggested her for a tour of the musical comedy Bobby Get Your Gun and was also instrumental in creating her stage name.She made her professional debut opposite Bobby Howes and Bertha Bellmore at the Manchester Opera House in 1939. Her breakthrough stage role came only months later, in Funny Side Up at His Majesty's Theatre, which marked her London debut.
Raye began her screen career with starring roles in films including Song of Romance, which was the first British musical film shot in technicolor, and Strawberry Roan (1945) by Maurice Elvey. However it was 1945 musical romance Waltz Time by Paul Stein, as Empress Maria that launched her international screen career. That year in April, she toured the United States with the lead role in a stage production of Bonanza Bound!. She turned down a multi-year Hollywood contract, deciding return to London, where she subsequently appeared in features including Spring Song (1946) directed by Montgomery Tully and two films directed by John Harlow, Green Fingers (1947) and While I Live (1947) as well as several telemovies for the BBC.
Raye also played lead roles in many musicals and television productions in her native Britain. Her theatre roles included Tough at the Top, Fun and Games and The Merry Widow, Dear Miss Phoebe and The Ticket-of-Leave Man.