Dolores Gray ~ The Actress Who Survived A Shooting

 

Dolores Gray was a popular singer and Broadway actress who survived a drive-by shooting when she was a teenager

She was born Sylvia Dolores Finkelstein on June 7, 1923 (some sources say 1924) in Los Angeles, California. Her parents, Harry Finkelstein and Barbara Gray, were both vaudeville entertainers. They divorced when she was a toddler. While attending Polytechnic High School she was discovered by Rudy Vallee who offered her a part on his radio show. She became a popular cabaret singer and performed in nightclubs all over the country. In 1942 she made her film debut in the musical Lady For A Night. On April 1, 1943 she was sitting in an outdoor cafe in Los Angeles when she was shot in a drive-by shooting. Dolores was shot in the leg and in the chest. Although she survived the shooting a bullet would remain lodged in her left lung for the rest of her life! She was given her own radio show and appeared on Broadway in the musical Are You With It? Then she spent three years in London starring in a hit stage production of Annie Get Your Gun. Dolores returned to Broadway in the 1953 musical Carnival In Flanders and won a Tony award for Best Actress in a musical.

The thirty-one year old actress was offered a contract at MGM in 1955. Dolores had supporting roles in the films It's Always Fair Weather and The Opposite Sex. Unfortunately her film career never took off and the studio dropped her contract. In 1957 also recorded an album titled Warm Brandy. The following year she went on a tour of Europe and performed at the London Palladium. She was nominated for another Tony award in 1960 for her performance in Destry Rides Again. Dolores was known for her extravagant wardrobe and often travelled with twelve full length mink coats! She announced her engagement to entrepreneur James B. Lofland in November of 1962. They broke up five months later after she accused him of assaulting her. On September 25, 1966 she married Andrew J. Crevolin, a businessman and race horse owner. The couple had a rocky relationship and separated in 1976. Dolores continued to work on the stage and starred in a 1973 revival of Gypsy. Her final acting role was in a 1988 episode of Doctor Who. On June 26, 2002 she died from a heart attack at the age of seventy-nine. She was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery in Culver City, California.