Nan Grey

Biography

Born as Eschal Loleet Grey Miller in 1918, Nan Grey was an actress who worked for Universal and other studios in the 1930s. She is probably best remembered for her work in the two Deanna Durbin movies, Three Smart Girls (1936) and Three Smart Girls Grow Up (1939). Other than the Durbin vehicles, Grey was relegated to mostly "B" movies. She worked in an early John Wayne movie, The Sea Spoilers (1936), two early Gloria Jean movies, The Under-Pup (1939) and A Little Bit of Heaven (1940), as well as The Invisible Man Returns (1940), with Vincent Price, and The House of the Seven Gables (1940). Grey's last film was in 1941, although she continued to work on the radio soap opera, "Those We Love", until 1945 and in the theatre until 1950. Grey's first marriage to jockey Jackie Westrope ended in divorce. Upon marrying singer Frankie Laine in 1950 (to whom she remained married for the rest of her life), she retired from acting, except for a guest appearance on the TV Western series, Rawhide (1959), with Laine (who sang the theme song for the series). During the 1960s, Grey dabbled in inventing, and she developed a cosmetic mirror for nearsighted people. One of her customers was Princess Grace of Monaco (Grace Kelly). Grey died in 1993, on her 75th birthday.