Gilda Gray was an Austrian Ziegfeld Follies dancer known for popularizing the shimmy dance.
She was born in Austria in 1901 (some sources say she was born several years earlier). Tragically both her parents died when was a child. Her foster parents brought her to the United States in 1909. As a young teenager Gilda agreed to an arranged marriage with John Gorecki, a bartender. They had a son named Martin in 1913. A few years later she moved to New York City where singer Sophie Tucker became her mentor. She joined J.J. Shubert's show The Gaeties Of 1919. The voluptuous blonde quickly became known for doing a sexy "shimmy" dance created by Native Americans. Gilda made her film debut in the 1919 comedy A Virtuous Vamp. In 1922 Florenz Ziegfeld asked her to join the Ziegfeld Follies. Her shimmy dance had become a national craze and she was now being called "The Shimmy Queen". She divorced her husband and married nightclub owner Gilbert Boag in 1923. After leaving the Follies she became a popular performer in vaudeville. Producer Jesse Lasky signed her to a film contract in 1926. Gilda appeared in the films Aloha Of The South Seas, The Devil Dancer, and Cabaret. She filed for divorce from Gil in 1929 claiming he was cruel. He responded by accusing her of having an affair with her manager C.D. Krepps.
