Dulcie Gray’s six-decade span of Grand Theatre roles in Blackpool

That was the date, 40 years ago, when the Grand Theatre reopened after a nine-year closure.

In the next few weeks this page will trace the story of the 1960s decline, the closure, the rescue campaign and the reopening.

But first let’s remember the actors whose Grand Theatre visits bridged the nine years (1972 to 1981) from the closure to the reopening. One of those stars had a span of 58 years of Grand appearances.

Combing through the research for my 1990s Grand centenary histories, and a recent update, we also find three other stars with a Grand span of more than 50 years and two others with 45 years.

At the top of our list and getting sole billing this week is Dulcie Gray (1915-2011) with her 58-year record.

Dulcie was born in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, where her father was a solicitor. After a spell of teaching she returned to Britain and began her acting career with regional repertory companies.

Her breakthrough role was in Brighton Rock, Graham Greene’s crime drama, which was premiered at the Grand in February, 1943, prior to opening at London’s Garrick Theatre.

A Gazette reviewer thought it was rather sordid. Dulcie Gray was the adoring Rose, girl friend of the young gangster Pinkie, played by Richard Attenborough.

The play made them both stars, rave notices in London putting their names “above the title.”

Dulcie’s husband, Michael Denison, was at the London opening night, but his military service delayed their famous film and stage partnership.

It began with My Brother Jonathan in 1947 and when their second movie success, The Glass Mountain, was released in 1949 the couple were on a provincial tour in a comedy called Queen Elizabeth Slept Here.

The play came to the Grand for the week of October 10 and opened at London’s Strand Theatre on November 3

It was a British adaptation by Talbot Rothwell (of later Carry On fame) of an American play, George Washington Slept Here, by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart.

Dulcie Gray was also a novelist with 20 titles to her name. One of them, Love Affair, brought Gray and Denison back to the Grand for a week in March, 1956.

Together, they were in three plays touring to the Grand, the third being An Ideal Husband, by Oscar Wilde, in October, 1965, before opening at the Strand Theatre. They played Sir Robert and Lady Chiltern.

The Denisons bridged the nine year closure of the Grand to return for a week in November, 1981, in William Douglas Home’s The Kingfisher.

On Sunday, April 22, 1990, they talked about their careers to a Grand Theatre audience.

After Michael Denison’s death in 1998, Dulcie Gray came to the Grand in stage versions of three films.

In June, 1999, she was Mrs Wilberforce in The Ladykillers. In April, 2000, she was in the cast of Les Liaisons Dangereuses. And her final visit was in May, 2001, as Miss Froy in The Lady Vanishes.

It gave Dulcie her record 58-year span of Grand visits.

Who else had Grand Theatre appearances spanning more than 50 years? See next week’s article.