Ruby McCoy

Biography

Ruby McCoy was born Ruby Helen Mccoy in Superior, Wisconsin on August 29, 1907. Her father, Daniel Mcoy, was a train conductor. After her parents divorced her mother moved them to Los Angeles, California. At the age of fourteen Ruby made her film debut in the 1921 silent The Child Thou Gavest Me. When she didn't get any other roles she began competing in local beauty contests. The alluring redhead was five feet, three inches tall and weight 107 pounds. She spent four years working as a cigarette girl at a restaurant on Hollywood boulevard. In 1928 she was signed by Educational Comedies. Ruby appeared in several short films including When George Hops, The Campus Vamp and Chasing Husbands. She also had a small role in the 1929 musical Broadway. Frustrated with the way her career was going she decided to quit acting. Ruby married writer and director James Parrot in 1937. He was the brother of actor Charley Chase. Unfortunately he had a serious drinking problem and was addicted to pills. James died on May 10, 1939 at the age of forty-two. Soon after Ruby started working as a stenographer. She married Felix Hughes, a sixty-nine year old vocal teacher, in 1943. The couple lived with Felix's brother, novelist Rupert Hughes. They remained happily married until 1961 when Felix passed away. Ruby spent her remaining years living in Los Angeles. On April 16, 1992 she died at a the age of eighty-four. She was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California.