Theatre Register

Evelyn Laye

Shows · Evelyn Laye

Actor 1900–1996 On stage 1929–1937

Evelyn Laye (née Elsie Evelyn Lay; 10 July 1900 – 17 February 1996) was an English actress and singer known for her performances in operettas and musicals. Born into a theatrical family, she made her professional début in 1915 aged fifteen and quickly established herself in musical comedy. By 1920 she was starring in leading roles in the West End at Daly's and other theatres, becoming London's highest-paid star. Her first marriage, in 1926, to the performer Sonnie Hale was brief and ended in divorce after he abandoned her for the singer Jessie Matthews. Laye made her American debut in 1929 starring in Noël Coward's musical Bitter Sweet. In the 1930s she divided her time between the West End…

On stage 2 productions, 8 years

1929 Bitter Sweet Ziegfeld Theatre · Original · directed by Noël Coward 159 perf.
1937 Between the Devil Imperial Theatre · Original · directed by Hassard Short 93 perf.

Each row is a staging this name appears in the cast list of, read from the production record rather than from the person record. The person record names works instead, and a work cannot say which run somebody was in — that is how Elaine Stritch ends up filed under Show Boat 1927 when she was in the 1994 revival. No row here says what part was played, because no cast list records it.

In the literature7 passages

  • The revue and screen writer Diana Morgan had completed a libretto based on Coward’s play The Marquise , presumably the project in which Evelyn Laye hoped to make a return to the stage. In January 1955, Vida Hope fought back tears as she informed the press that Sandy Wilson was busy on his new musical about Henry VIII. Jessie Matthews told…ebooks/Wright, Adrian/Tanner's Worth of Tune_ Rediscovering the post-war British Musical, A - Adrian Wright.txt
  • Phil the Fluter Music and lyrics by David Heneker and Percy French; book by Beverley Cross and Donal Giltinan. Palace Theatre, 15 November 1969. PC: Evelyn Laye, Stanley Baxter, Mark Wynter, Sarah Atkinson, Caryl Little. MN [all Heneker except where otherwise stated]: If I Had a Chance; Abdul Abulbul Amir [French / Cross]; Mama; A Favour…ebooks/Wright, Adrian/Tanner's Worth of Tune_ Rediscovering the post-war British Musical, A - Adrian Wright.txt
  • Wedding in Paris Music by Hans May; lyrics by Sonny Miller; book by Vera Caspary. London Hippodrome, 3 April 1954. PC: Anton Walbrook, Evelyn Laye, Susan Swinford, Jeff Warren. MN: A Wedding in Paris; Angy’s Farewell; It’s News; The French Lesson; In a Cosy Corner on the Upper Deck; Ship Ballet; The Young in Heart; Fairy Tales; Lovely Lad…ebooks/Wright, Adrian/Tanner's Worth of Tune_ Rediscovering the post-war British Musical, A - Adrian Wright.txt
  • One of the audition hopefuls was the leading lady of earlier decades, Evelyn Laye. Hammerstein had built up Laye’s hopes by asking her to apply, but she was rejected in favour of the British actress Valerie Hobson. By this time Hammerstein and Rodgers were more personally involved in casting the London productions overseen by Jerome Whyte…ebooks/Wright, Adrian/West End Broadway_ The Golden Age of the American Musical in London - Adrian Wright.txt
  • PC: Lolita/Marie Sauvinet : Evelyn Laye; Jean Gervais : Dennis Noble; Cecilie Marshall : Ena Burrill; Madeleine Caresse : Edna Proud; Daniel Marshall : Don Avory; Emma : Marion Wilsonebooks/Wright, Adrian/West End Broadway_ The Golden Age of the American Musical in London - Adrian Wright.txt
  • 1 Walbrook’s dalliance with musical theatre included his playing the lead in the British Wedding in Paris in London opposite Evelyn Laye in 1954.ebooks/Wright, Adrian/West End Broadway_ The Golden Age of the American Musical in London - Adrian Wright.txt

Passages naming this person, found by keyword across 178 books. A keyword match is not a biography, and a common name will pull in the wrong one.

What this page does not know

  • What this person played. No cast list we hold records a character against a performer.
  • Which of the credits above the roles on this record — actor — apply to. The roles sit on the person and never on a credit, so a director who also acted looks the same here as one who did not.

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