Coleen Gray, Star of ‘The Killing’ and ‘Kiss of Death,’ Dies at 92
She was not on the list.
Coleen Gray, best known for her role in Stanley Kubrick’s heist thriller “The Killing,” died of natural causes on Monday at her home in Bel Air, Calif. She was 92.
“My last dame is gone. Always had the feeling she’d be the last to go,” Eddie Muller, founder and president of the Film Noir Foundation, wrote on Facebook. He became friends with Gray while collaborating on his 2001 book “Dark City Dames: The Wicked Women of Film Noir.”
Gray played the accomplice of Sterling Hayden, the leader of a gang of thieves, in Kubrick’s “Killing.” She famously uttered the line, “I may not be pretty and I may not be smart …”
Gray appeared in a slew of films in the late 1940s and ’50s, primarily noir thrillers, including Henry Hathaway’s “Kiss of Death” (1947), as the film’s narrator and ex-con Victor Mature’s love interest; Tyrone Power’s aide in Edmund Goulding’s “Nightmare Alley” (1947); opposite John Wayne in Howard Hawks’ classic Western “Red River” (1948); as the mastermind behind a bank heist in Phil Karlson’s noir “Kansas City Confidential” (1952); and in Sidney Salkow’s “Las Vegas Shakedown” (1953).
She also starred on Broadway in 1949 alongside Charlton Heston in “Leaf and Bough.”
Her final film role came in 1985, with James F. Collier’s action drama “Cry From the Mountain.”
Gray had several TV guest-starring roles in the 1960s, including stints on the shows “Rawhide,” “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “77 Sunset Strip” and “Family Affair.” She had leading roles in the Los Angeles stage productions Letters to Lucerne and Brief Music, which won her a 20th Century Fox contract in 1944.
After playing a bit part in State Fair (1945), she became pregnant and briefly stopped working, only to return a year later as the love interest of the character played by John Wayne in Red River (1948), which was shot in 1946 but held for release until 1948. Gray appeared in two 1947 films noir: in Kiss of Death as Victor Mature's ex-con character's wife and Richard Widmark's character's target; and in Nightmare Alley as Tyrone Power's character's carnival performer wife, "Electra." In 1947, Gray used her musical abilities as she sang her part (rather than having her voice dubbed) opposite Bing Crosby in Riding High, directed by Frank Capra. Riding High was not a success and Fox ended her contract in 1950.
Gray worked steadily in the 1950s, but mostly in smaller movies. She played a crooked nurse in The Sleeping City (1950) and appeared in Kansas City Confidential (1952) and in the Stanley Kubrick film noir The Killing (1956), in which she plays the loyal girlfriend of criminal Sterling Hayden. In the 1953 Western The Vanquished, she played a woman who attacks Jan Sterling's character with a pair of scissors in a crazed attempt to exonerate the man she loves (John Payne). Other films included Father Is a Bachelor (1950), The Leech Woman (1960), The Phantom Planet (1961), and P.J. (1968).
Gray appeared in The Late Liz (1971), and acted in the films Forgotten Lady (1977), and Mother (1978) with Patsy Ruth Miller. Mother had a premiere at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Both Mother and Forgotten Lady were written for Gray by Brian Pinette, who also served as director and producer. She appeared in the religious film Cry From the Mountain (1986, in the USA), directed by James F. Collier.
From the 1950s, Gray guest-starred in episodes of television series such as Four Star Playhouse, Maverick, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Perry Mason, Mr. Ed, Tales of Wells Fargo in 1960 in the episode "The Journey" as Sandra Morton, Rawhide in 1962 in the episode "The Devil and the Deep Blue" as Helen Wade, 77 Sunset Strip, Bonanza, The Deputy, Have Gun Will Travel, The Dakotas, Family Affair, Ironside, Lawman, The Name of the Game, Branded, and Tales from the Darkside. On May 23, 1962, she was cast as Miss Wycliffe in the series finale, "A Job for Summer", of the CBS comedy/drama series, Window on Main Street, starring Robert Young as a widowed author in his hometown. She made four guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the title role of defendant Lorraine Kendall in the 1960 episode, "The Case of the Wandering Widow." Gray was a regular on the daytime dramas Bright Promise and Days of Our Lives.
Gray married three times. Her last husband, Joseph “Fritz” Zeiser, died in 2012 after more than 30 years of marriage. She is survived by her daughter, Susan; son, Bruce; stepsons, Rick and Steve; and grandchildren.
Born to Danish parents in Staplehurst, Nebraska, Gray moved with her family to Hutchinson, Minnesota when she was seven. She grew up on a farm. After graduating from Hutchinson high school in 1943 as Doris Jensen, she studied drama at Hamline University, and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts. She travelled to California, and worked as a waitress in a restaurant in La Jolla. After several weeks there, she moved to Los Angeles and enrolled at UCLA. She also worked in the school's library and at a YWCA while a student.
Gray married Rod Amateau, a screenwriter, on August 10, 1945; they divorced on February 11, 1949, and had one daughter, Susan. Gray's second husband was William Clymer Bidlack, an aviation executive. They were married from July 14, 1953, until his death in 1978. The union produced a son, Bruce Robin Bidlack.
In 1979, Gray married widowed Biblical scholar Joseph Fritz Zeiser; they remained together until his death in March 2012. They worked together in Presbyterian causes and the non-profit organization, Prison Fellowship, founded in 1976 by Chuck Colson.
Gray was a Republican and supported Barry Goldwater in the 1964 United States presidential election. That same year, along with actors Victor Jory and Susan Seaforth, she testified before the United States Congress as part of "Project Prayer", arguing in favor of a constitutional amendment allowing school prayer.
Gray, at age 92, died of natural causes in her Bel Air home in Los Angeles on August 3, 2015
A memorial service will be held in her honor at Bel Air Presbyterian Church.
Complete filmography
State Fair (1945) - Girl with Pappy (uncredited)
Three Little Girls in Blue (1946) - Girl at the Beach (uncredited)
The Shocking Miss Pilgrim (1947) (scenes cut)
Kiss of Death (1947) - Nettie
Nightmare Alley (1947) - Molly
Fury at Furnace Creek (1948) - Molly Baxter
Red River (1948) - Fen
Sand (1949) - Joan Hartley
Father Is a Bachelor (1950) - Prudence Millett
Riding High (1950) - Alice Higgins
The Sleeping City (1950) - Ann Sebastian
I'll Get You for This (1951) - Kay Wonderly
Apache Drums (1951) - Sally
Models Inc. (1952) - Rusty Faraday
Kansas City Confidential (1952) - Helen Foster
The Vanquished (1953) - Jane Colfax
Sabre Jet (1953) - Mrs. Gil Manton, aka Jane Carter
The Fake (1953) - Mary Mason
Arrow In the Dust (1954) - Christella Burke
Las Vegas Shakedown (1955) - Julie Rae
Tennessee's Partner (1955) - Goldie Slater, w/Ronald Reagan
The Twinkle in God's Eye (1955) - Laura
The Wild Dakotas (1956) - Sue "Lucky" Duneen
Star in the Dust (1956) - Nellie Mason
The Killing (1956) - Fay
Frontier Gambler (1956) - Sylvia "The Princess" Melbourne
Death of a Scoundrel (1956) - Mrs. Edith Van Renasslear
The Black Whip (1956) - Jeannie
Destination 60,000 (1957) - Mary Ellen
The Vampire (1957) - Carol Butler
Copper Sky (1957) - Nora Hayes
Hell's Five Hours (1958) - Nancy Brand
Johnny Rocco (1958) - Lois Mayfield
The Leech Woman (1960) - June Talbot
The Phantom Planet (1961) - Liara
Town Tamer (1965) - Carol Rosser
P.J. (1968) - Betty Orbison
The Late Liz (1971) - Sue Webb
Ellery Queen: Don't Look Behind You (1971, TV Movie) - Mrs. Cazalis
Mother (1978) - Angela Harding
The Best Place to Be (1979, TV Movie) - Dottie Parker
Cry From the Mountain (1985) - Marian Rissman
Radio appearances
Year Program Episode/source
1952 Theatre Guild on the Air The Meanest Man in the World
1953 Lux Radio Theatre Appointment with Danger
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