Eva Gray

Eva Gray
Born 20 March 1970
Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England, UK
Nationality British
Other names Eva Grazyna Mikucka
Occupation Actress
Known for Sooty Heights on cITV

Eva Gray is a stage and screen actress, well known on British Television and the London stage, and achieved international recognition for her acclaimed performance as Marilyn Monroe. She has homes in both London and Devon. She is a voting Life Member of BAFTA and also a member of the British Actors Equity Union.

Youth

Gray’s grandfather, a landed Polish aristocrat, was arrested during World War II by Stalin's troops when they invaded and took possession of the family farm near Vilno. When Stalin and Hitler broke ties, her grandfather fought for the British Army and the family settled in Britain where her father met her mother. She was born in Kingston Hospital and grew up in Surrey. Her parents (now dead) retired to Teignmouth in Devon, where she now has a home to enable her to look after her older brother, who suffers from mental illness. She also has a home in London.

Gray read Politics, Literature and Drama at Kingston University, then went on to study Acting at RADA.[1]

Career

Eva Gray began her career working for The Artaud Company in London's West End, in the role of Lulu in 'Intimacy", based on the short story by Jean-Paul Sartre and "brilliantly theatricalized" (Times Literary Supplement) by Michael Almaz. Her performance as the irrepressible, flirtatious and vivacious Lulu, won her critical acclaim and many offers of other work in television, film and theatre.

Eva is in pre-production on several movies. 'Fork' in which she played the role of Jo was screened at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival [2]

In April 2012, Eva took to the catwalk as a Celebrity Model for 'Celebrity Fashion Rocks', a charity event in aid of children's charity Cloud 9 and animal charities Teckels and K9-Angels, organised by Willie Carson and Russell Nurding at the Sundial Theatre in Cirencester.

Eva recently played the role of Carla in ‘Brotherly Love’, a semi-autobiographical play written & directed by David Schaal, for the Real London Ensemble Company.[3]

Eva was critically acclaimed for her role as Cecilia Huddlestone, a central character in the period comedy play 'The Unrest Cure' by Plum Roll Productions.[4][5]

Gray is a familiar face on British television and the London stage. Casualty,[1] Goodnight Sweetheart, Dalziel and Pascoe, French and Saunders,[6] amongst many others, and played the leading role of Portia du Pont in Sooty Heights.[1] Her many leading theatrical performances include the title role in Strindberg's Miss Julie in 2007 (directed by Conrad Blakemore),[6] Pansy in John Symond's The Poison Maker (2006),[7] Branwen in J.B. Priestley's The Long Mirror (2006 and again in 2011),[8] several more productions of Jean-Paul Sartre's Intimacy[9] (adapted by Michael Almaz) in the West End, Hampstead and Brighton - at different times playing both the characters in this two-hander and also in productions to a sequel to the story by Michael Almaz entitled "After Intimacy".[10] Her award-winning performance as Marilyn Monroe in All That Loving Stuff received rave critical acclaim[11][12] and, following a successful run at the Gateway Theatre, Chester[11][13] transferred to London and the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, then toured nationally and internationally. In July and August 2011 she played the role of Eleanor Bryant in 'Mirror Mirror' by Robert Calvert (the former lead singer of Hawkwind).[14][15][16][17][18][19]

Gray has appeared in several independent and numerous short films. Feature films include the cult classic The 13th Sign (2000),[20] black comedy Dead Money (2004) and soon to be released Dead Crazy.[6] Shorts Man's Worst Friend, Long Gone, "My Favourite Kind of People" and "Unconditional 24/7" have been screened at BAFTA. Her performance of The Yellow Wallpaper has received over 40,000 views on YouTube.[21]

In January 2014 Eva appeared at The Cockpit Theatre in London playing the role of the sexually charged Margo in an extract from 'Someone's Lost the Plot', a new play by Peter Ramsey and Mary Dawson.

Gray is a Lifetime Member of BAFTA.[22]

Personal life

Eva is a dedicated vegan and animal activist, involved with several animal welfare charities including PETA, Viva!, The Vegan Society and The Dr Hadwen Trust.

She appeared with her partner ("The Vegans") in the first episodes of the reality TV series "Coach Trip" but they were the very first couple to be voted off the show by the other contestants.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Eva Gray – Actress and more" (PDF). Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  2. ↑ "Eva Gray - IMDb". imdb.com. Retrieved 2014-06-09.
  3. ↑ "Brotherly Love 4 Stars". Brotherly Love. 2012-02-23. Retrieved 2012-02-23.
  4. ↑ "The Unrest Cure". Retrieved 2014-04-03.
  5. ↑ "The Unrest Cure". Retrieved 2016-09-05.
  6. 1 2 3 "Eva Gray – Spotlight Actresses 2009/2010". Spotlight. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
  7. ↑ Zoe Green (2006-02-07). "The Poison Maker". The Stage. Retrieved 2011-03-04.
  8. ↑ Kevin Berry (2006-04-19). "The Long Mirror". The Stage. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  9. ↑ Jeremy Austin (2005-04-09). "After Intimacy". The Stage. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  10. ↑ "After Intimacy". Retrieved 2014-01-18.
  11. 1 2 "The off-screen melodrama that was Marilyn Monroe". Liverpool Daily Post. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  12. ↑ "The One Night Booking Company". Marc Sinden Productions. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
  13. ↑ "Eva stepping out to tackle one of the toughest acts to follow". Retrieved 2010-06-30.
  14. ↑ "Mirror, Mirror". Retrieved 2011-07-25.
  15. ↑ "Don't Look Away Now - Reflections of the Future". Retrieved 2011-09-02.
  16. ↑ "Reflections of a Bygone Future". Retrieved 2011-08-01.
  17. ↑ "Nostalgia for the Future". Retrieved 2011-07-28.
  18. ↑ "Film News". Retrieved 2011-07-27.
  19. ↑ "Mirror Mirror". Retrieved 2011-07-27.
  20. ↑ "The 13th Sign [2000] [DVD]". Amazon. Retrieved 2010-06-30.
  21. ↑ "The Yellow Wallpaper". YouTube. Retrieved 2010-06-29.
  22. ↑ "Current Members of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts" (PDF). BAFTA. 2009-08-18. Retrieved 2010-06-29.

External links

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