Shirley Grey

Shirley Grey (born Agnes Evangeline Zetterstrand;^[2] April 3, 1902 – August 12, 1981) was an American actress. She appeared in more than 40 films between 1930 and 1935.

Shirley Grey
Grey in 1933
Born	Agnes Evangeline Zetterstrand (1902-04-03)April 3, 1902 Naugatuck, Connecticut, U.S.
Died	August 12, 1981(1981-08-12) (aged 79) Jacksonville Beach, Florida, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1930–1935
Spouses	Foster Williams ​ ​ (m. 1921; div. 1925)​ Arthur Margetson ​ ​ (m. 1936; died 1951)​ [1]

Early years

Born in Naugatuck, Connecticut, Grey was the daughter of Ernst Adrian Zetterstrand, a minister,^[3] who died when she was eight years old. Thereafter, her mother raised Grey and her six siblings.^[4] She graduated from Waterbury High School, where she was active in the Dramatic Club.^[3]

Career

Grey began her acting career with the Poli Players.^[5] She went on to act with companies in New Orleans, Louisiana; Jacksonville, Florida; San Francisco, California, and Nova Scotia.^[3] She had her own acting troupe, the Shirley Grey Players, in the late 1920s.^[6] In 1931, she starred in the comedy-drama Chicago at the Fulton Theater in Oakland, California. It was the third play of Grey's "limited season".^[7]

Grey's work in stock theater led to her career in films. A talent scout who worked for film producer Samuel Goldwyn saw Grey performing in a stock production in Oakland and arranged for her to take a screen test, which led to her signing a contract with Goldwyn.^[8]

Personal life

On August 28, 1921, Grey married actor Foster Williams,^[9] known professionally as Frank McCarthy.^[10] They had one son. She filed for divorce from him on September 30, 1925.^[9] In 1936, Grey married English actor Arthur Margetson, who died in 1951.^[2]

In her later years, Grey was a semi-recluse, living with her sisters before moving to a Jacksonville Beach, Florida, convalescent home where she died.^[11]

Partial filmography

• The Golf Specialist (1930, Short) - House Detective's Wife (uncredited)
• The Public Defender (1931) - Barbara Gerry
• Secret Service (1931) - Miss Edith Varney
• Air Eagles (1931) - Eve
• One Man Law (1932) - Grace Duncan
• Texas Cyclone (1932) - Helen Rawlings
• The Riding Tornado (1932) - Patsy Olcott
• Get That Girl (1932) - Ruth Dale
• The Hurricane Express (1932) - Gloria Martin / Gloria Stratton
• Cornered (1932) - Jane Herrick
• Drifting Souls (1932) - Greta Janson
• Back Street (1932) - Francine
• Virtue (1932) - Gert
• Uptown New York (1932) - Patricia Smith
• Treason (1933) - Joan Randall
• From Hell to Heaven (1933) - Winnie Lloyd
• Private Jones (1933) - Helen Jones
• Out All Night (1933) - Kate
• Terror Aboard (1933) - Lili Kingston
• The Little Giant (1933) - Edith Merriam
• The Girl in 419 (1933) - Nurse Irene Blaine
• The Life of Jimmy Dolan (1933) - Goldie West
• Don't Bet on Love (1933) - Goldie Williams
• Too Much Harmony (1933) - Lilyan
• Hold the Press (1933) - Edith White
• Murder on the Campus (1933) - Lillian Voyne
• Twin Husbands (1933) - Chloe Werrenden
• Bombay Mail (1934) - Beatrice Jones aka Sonia Smeganoff
• I Like It That Way (1934) - Peggy
• Sisters Under the Skin (1934) - Gilda Gordon
• The Crime of Helen Stanley (1934) - Betty Lane
• One Is Guilty (1934) - Sally Grey
• Green Eyes (1934) - Jean Kester
• The Defense Rests (1934) - Mabel Wilson
• His Greatest Gamble (1934) - Bernice Solon
• Beyond the Law (1934) - Helen Glenn
• Girl in Danger (1934) - Gloria Gale
• Wednesday's Child (1934) - Louise
• Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round (1934) - Anya Rosson
• Public Opinion (1935) - Joan Nash
• Circumstantial Evidence (1935) - Adrienne Grey
• The People's Enemy (1935) - Ann Griffin
• The Girl Who Came Back (1935) - Gilda Gillespie aka Mary Brown
• The Public Menace (1935) - Mimi LaVerne
• The Mystery of the Mary Celeste (1935) - Sarah Briggs