It would figure that one of my favorite MGM musicals is one of the least traditional of that studio’s output.  I absolutely love 1955′s It’s Always Fair Weather, and particularly the sly, larger-than-life, screen-busting performance of Dolores Gray as Madeline, the late-night television hostess.  Though she only co-starred in four major films, the iridescent Gray offered her formidable array of talents without reservation in all her roles, her effervescence cascading off the screen in roles that depended on her commanding presence.  Dolores was born on June 7, 1924, and passed away on June 26, 2002, her seventy-eight years filled with memorable performances that never failed to delight her fans and captivate the critics.

The Chicago-born Dolores moved to Los Angeles with her mother, after the tough streets of Chi-Town got too rough for comfort.  The young child Dolores was caught in gang crossfire and ended up with a bullet in her lung — never removed, by the way — and that clinched it.  Once safely settled on the West Coast, Dolores’ mother encouraged her daughter in her voice studies and at only fourteen Dolores made her nightclub singing debut.  The  singing prodigy attracted the attention of Rudy Vallee who gave her a spot on his radio show, and L.A. musicals revues followed, along with  unbilled movie appearances as a singer in 1942′s Lady for a Night and 1944′s Mrs. Skeffington.  In 1944 Dolores moved to New York, where she began a successful Broadway career which culminated in her winning the role of understudy to Ethel Merman’s title role in Irving Berlin’s hit musical Annie Get Your Gun.  When the producers brought the show to London in 1947, Dolores ascended to the starring role and the barely twenty-three year old became the toast of British theatre.  She stayed with the show for over one thousand performances, and got herself a Brit boyfriend in the form of actor and bon vivant Michael Wilding, too.  When the run ended in 1950 Dolores returned to the States, occupying the unusual status of being a huge stage star in London but back to nearly square one in terms of visiblity on her home soil entertainment scene. 

It was now Dolores’ task to re-establish her preeminence in America again.  She co-starred with veteran comic Bert Lahr in the Jules Styne-Betty Comden-Adolph Green-penned revue Two on the Aisle, which led to a cast album and soon singles of her own which were often chart-toppers.  Regular television appearances cemented her growing appeal, and in 1954 she won Broadway’s Tony Award for her lead performance in the musical Carnival in Flanders, a truly amazing achievement considering the show only lasted four performances.  Her recordings included several movie tunes, and because of contractual issues she replaced Marilyn Monroe on the 1954 movie soundtrack album for There’s No Business Like Show Business.  The time was obviously ripe for Gray to make another foray into Hollywood.  She signed with MGM, who promptly cast her in the Gene Kelly/Stanley Donen-directed, Betty Comden/Adolph Green-written, and Andre Previn-composed It’s Always Fair Weather.  Production commenced late in 1954, and though Gray later complained that she thought the role of Madeline was an unattractive caricature, she nearly steals the show from fellow stars Gene Kelly, Dan Dailey, Cyd Charisse and Michael Kidd.  Her out-sized, brassy exuberance as the melodramatic Madeline came through in two standout solos from the score, her opening salvo “Music Is Better Than Words” and the captivatingly and hilarious “Thanks a Lot But No Thanks” with a cadre of male dancers sliding into, out of, and down the stage in support of the domineering Madeline.  Doused with more than a little cynicism and lacking any innocence about the world it portrays, It’s Always Fair Weather wasn’t a hit but has aged very well in the ensuing decades, its slightly bitter flavor very appealing and appropriate these days. 

Dolores’ next role at MGM was in their ultra-lavish screen adaptation of the Robert Wright-George Forrest Broadway musical Kismet.  As the alluring Lalume, the wazir’s number one wife, Gray gets to belt out the rousing “Not Since Nineveh”, the torchy lament “Bored” and the seductive “Rahadlakum”.  She’s an ideal romantic foil for the lusty beggar-poet Haaj, played by a delightfully hammy and handsome Howard Keel, but the movie wasn’t a big success for the studio, despite Vincente Minnelli’s imaginative direction and the pre-sold fame of the musical.  Surely no one has filled out an Arabian Knights costume quite like the va-va-voomy Gray did, not even Marlene Dietrich in the 1944 non-musical version of the tale which inspired the Wright-Forrest take on it, their tunes based on classical themes from Borodin.  (Kismet plays July 2nd at 7am on TCM — don’t miss it!)

Gray’s next film assignment was in 1956′s The Opposite Sex, MGM’s sort-of musical remake of their 1939 hit The Women.  Dolores co-starred with June Allyson, British babe Joan Collins, Ann Sheridan, Ann Miller, Agnes Moorehead, Charlotte Greenwood and Joan Blondell.  Despite being one of Broadway’s leading lights and being able to hit any song out of the ballpark, the only thing Dolores Gray got to warble in The Opposite Sex was the title tune under the credits.  What a waste!  At least she got to participate in a catfight with fellow long-legged actress Anne Miller.   The final movie at MGM for Gray — and in fact her final big screen appearance — was the 1957 comedy Designing Woman, with Lauren Bacall and Gregory Peck.  It plays like a remake of a Tracy/Hepburn battle of the sexes comedy, and Gray gets to play the charismatic musical star who has eyes for sportswriter Peck, much to fashion designer Bacall’s consternation.

Though she never made another movie, Gray’s career continued to prosper.  More television shows, more nightclub dates, more successful records, and then a big 1959 triumph on Broadway in the musical Destry Rides Again, opposite Andy Griffith, complete with cast album and Tony nomination for Gray.  Dolores was a frequent guest on the many musical variety shows of the time, including several episodes of the Bell Telephone Hour (now available on DVD).  Here’s a number from one of the shows, Dolores singing “Mack the Black” from MGM’s 1949 movie The Pirate.

She made another big splash in 1967′s unsuccessful but much-revered Broadway musical Sherry, a musical remake of The Man Who Came to Dinner, and frequent television dates, theatre work and constant nightclub runs kept her in front of her loyal and enthusiastic fans.  On stage she returned to London stardom when she stepped into Angela Lansbury’s role in Gypsy across the pond, then traveled with the show back to the States to more acclaim.  One of her last huge triumphs was in the late 1980′s London production of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies, where she brought the house down with her definitive rendition of “I’m Still Here”.  Luckily somebody on YouTube has posted her televised appearance at the 1987 Royal Variety Performance show, doing that very number.

 Dolores Gray continued working in nightclubs and occasional television — she was even in an episode of Doctor Who in 1988 — and eventually ended up living very well on New York’s Upper East Side, surrounded by works of fine art and antique French furniture.   Twice married to the same man, and later widowed, Dolores Gray suffered  a heart attack on June 26, 2002, and died at the age of 78.  Though it’s been reported that she ultimately expressed a wish she had made more movies, because of their permanence as an artistic legacy as compared to the ephemeral nature of her great successes in live theatre, no one can argue that Dolores Gray didn’t leave an incredible impression on everyone who enjoyed her performances.  The magic of Dolores Gray is inescapable; her voice, her charisma and her bold beauty were rare assets, and we’re thrilled every time we can savor those amazing moments she left for us.  There will never be another Dolores Gray.