Ray Cox (performer)

Ray Cox (September 18, 1881 - November 7, 1957) was an early 20th century American actress and vaudeville performer.

Ray Cox (Ray Cox Flint)
Ray Cox circa 1909
Born(1881-09-18)September 18, 1881
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
DiedNovember 7, 1957(1957-11-07) (aged 76)
Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.
OccupationActress, comedian
Spouse(s)Henry Cox Fishel (divorced 1916)
Harvey J. Flint (1917-1957; her death)

Cox was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, attended South Division High School in Chicago, and went to Vassar College. Vaudeville performer Mabel Hite encouraged her stage aspirations, and Cox first appeared on stage in Peoria, Illinois in 1903.[1]

She debuted in New York at Tony Pastor's Theatre on October 25, 1903. She became a headliner in vaudeville,[2][3][4][5] with one popular sketch portraying an athletic girl at a baseball game, and which was made into an audio recording by Edison.[6]

She was often billed as the "Southern girl" or "girl from Dixie". Her play roles including the part of Signora Monti in the popular 1914 play Twin Beds. She also appeared in Lew Fields's The Never Homes (1911), and The Charity Girl (1912).[1][7][8][9][10]

Personal life

Cox's first husband was Henry Cox Fishel, whom she divorced for desertion in 1916. She married Harvey J. Flint, a manager at Goldwyn Pictures, in September 1917.[11][12] Thereafter known as Ray Cox Flint, she died in Providence, Rhode Island on November 7, 1957, and was buried at Swan Point Cemetery.

Madge Kennedy (left) and Cox in 1914 play, Twin Beds

References
  1. Who's who in Music and Drama, pp. 78-79 (1914)
  2. Ray Cox, Variety, p. 7 (May 1908)
  3. (November 28, 1913). Ray Cox Hurt by Fall on Stage, The New York Times
  4. (June 4, 1912). Miss Ray Cox, Who Has Comic Act at Oakland Orpheum, San Francisco Call
  5. (September 30, 1911). "Ray Cox on Long Tour", New York Clipper (describing Cox as "one of the most popular performers in the East"); accessed August 11, 2015.
  6. (October 15, 1917). "Athletic Actress to Wed 'Coach'", Milwaukee Journal; accessed August 11, 2015.
  7. (July 28, 1918). "'Billy Sunday of the Stage', Her Friends Have Dubbed Her", Milwaukee Journal; accessed August 11, 2015.
  8. Ray Cox (sketch), The Philistine, pp. 72-74 (July 1912)
  9. "Some Recent Hits", Theatre Magazine, November 1914, p. 234
  10. (December 8, 1912). "Ray Cox to Head Program of Merit at Chase Theater", Washington Times, December 8, 1912; accessed August 11, 2015.
  11. (September 26, 1917). "Ray Cox Gets License", The New York Times; accessed August 11, 2015.
  12. (September 30, 1917). "Ray Cox Marries Harvey J. Flint", The New York Times; accessed August 11, 2015.
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