Constance Vera Browne, Baroness Oranmore and Browne (née Stevens; 14 February 1915 – 24 September 2006), commonly known as Sally Gray, was an English film actress of the 1930s and 1940s. Her obituary in The Irish Times described her as "once seen as a British rival to Ginger Rogers." Her mother was a ballet dancer and her grandmother a "principal boy" in the 1870s. Her father died when Gray was young.
Theatre career
She trained as a child at Fay Compton's School of Dramatic Art, and began acting on stage at the age of 10. Gray made her professional stage debut at the age of twelve in All God's Chillun at the Globe Theatre in London, playing an African boy. When she was 14, Gray appeared in a minstrel show at the Gate Theatre in London. She made her film debut with a bit part in The School for Scandal (1930). during which time she performed in cabarets.
She appeared in The Gay Divorce (1933) on stage with Fred Astaire. The agent John Gliddon saw her in the musical Jill Darling (1934) and signed her.
Film career
Gray returned to films in 1935, with The Dictator (1935). She could also be seen in Cross Currents (1935), Radio Pirates (1935), Lucky Days (1935), and Checkmate (1935). Gray had support roles in Lightning Conductor (1937), a thriller; Over She Goes (1937) with Lupino; Mr. Reeder in Room 13 (1937), a non musical; and Hold My Hand (1938) with Lupino. Gray was the female lead in Sword of Honour (1938), The Saint in London (1939) with George Sanders, The Lambeth Walk (1939) with Lupino Lane, and A Window in London (1940), a non musical film with Michael Redgrave. Gray was in Olympic Honeymoon (1940) then had the female lead in The Saint's Vacation (1941). Gray had a nervous breakdown, resulting in her retirement for several years.
Comeback
Gray returned to the screen in 1946 and made her strongest bid for stardom in a series of melodramas. They include the hospital thriller Green for Danger (1946), Carnival (1946), They Made Me a Fugitive (1947) and The Mark of Cain (1948). Gray then made Silent Dust (1948) and Edward Dmytryk's film noir piece Obsession (1949), in which she plays Robert Newton's faithless wife.
In the early 1960s, they returned to England and settled in a flat in Eaton Place, Belgravia, London. The couple had no children.
Death
The Dowager Lady Oranmore and Browne died in London on 24 September 2006, at 91 years of age,
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
!
|-
| 1930
| The School for Scandal
| Bit part
| (uncredited)
|