13 Facts About Gilda Gray

Gilda Gray claimed herself to have been born on 24 October 1901 in Krakow and she was an adopted child of Maksymilian and Wanda Michalski.

Gilda Gray had one sister, Josephine, who was born in 1904 in Bayonne, New Jersey.

At the age of only 14 or 15, Gray entered into an arranged marriage with John Gorecki, a concert violinist, who was the son of Socialist, Wisconsin State Assembly member, and union leader Martin Gorecki.

Gilda Gray appropriated it as her own, saying that she had accidentally invented the shimmy while dancing at her father-in-law's Cudahy saloon and "shaking her chemise".

Gilda Gray attributed the origin of the shimmy to the American Indian in an interview published in the July 8,1919 issue of Variety.

Gilda Gray was hired by Florenz Ziegfeld to perform in the 1922 Ziegfeld Follies, and her shimmy became a national craze.

Gilda Gray quickly abandoned vaudeville to become a film star, and between 1919 and 1936, Gray made several movies, in all of which she performed her famous shimmy.

Gilda Gray's second role was a small part in Girl with the Jazz Heart.

Gilda Gray appeared on stage in Cleveland, and became the subject for two popular ceramic sculptures by Waylande Gregory: "The Nautch Dancer" and "The Burlesque Dancer".

Gilda Gray attempted comebacks but was hindered by poor health from regaining her status as a star.

In 1932, Gilda Gray announced her engagement to singer Art Jarrett, but abandoned their marriage plans when it became clear that the five-day waiting period between filing a marriage license and the actual ceremony could not be waived.

Gilda Gray portrayed her courage in bringing six Polish citizens to America during the Cold War era.

Gilda Gray was decorated by Poland "for her interest and help to her countrymen and her country".