Lillian Lorray

Biography

Lillian Leavenworth aka Lillian Lorray was the youngest daughter of Lily Hoyting Leavenworth and Morse Leavenworth. Raised in New York, Lillian had a natural talent for dancing and singing and as a child was able to mimic other people's characters. She started going out for dance auditions and landed her first big show in New York in 1926. Her stage and screen credits over the next several years included: Schubert's "Artists & Models," 1926; "Merry World Review," 1927; Vaudeville duet nationwide tour with silent film star, Charles de Roche, doing the French Apache gangster dance, 1928; Vaudeville act, "Ferguson & Lorray," 1929; "Hold Everything," 1929; "Ripples," 1930; "Girl Crazy" (with Ginger Rodgers & Ethel Merman), 1930; "Tattletales," 1931; the Pulitzer prize-winning "Of Thee I Sing" (with William Gaxton, Victor Moore & Lois Moran), 1931 & 1933 (revival); the Fox movie "George White's Scandals" (with Rudy Vallee, Alice Faye & Robert Cummings), 1934; "Three Cheers for Love," Paramount film, 1934 (released in 1936); tour with Harpo Marx, 1935; tour with the Duncan sisters, 1936; "New Faces of 1936" (with Van Johnson), 1936-37; "Red, Hot & Blue" (Jimmy Durante, Bob Hope & Ethel Merman), 1938. For many years after that she was an exclusive clothes model for Bergdoff-Goodman in New York City. She was in a long-term relationship with Jack Potter, who was theatrical manager for British performers Gertrude Lawrence and Walter Pidgeon, handled appearances of MGM performers and traveled the country with Louis B. Mayer on company business, V.P of the Phillies and was instrumental in getting Yankee Stadium built.