- published: 06 Sep 2013
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Gilda Gray (October 24, 1901 – December 22, 1959) was an American actress and dancer who popularizing a dance called the "shimmy" which became fashionable in 1920s films and theater productions.
Gilda Gray was born as Marianna Michalska in Kraków (then part of Galicia-Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary, now part of Poland) on 24 October 1901, to Max and Wanda Michalski, who emigrated to the United States in 1909 and settled in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She had one sibling, Josephine.
When Marianna was 14 or 15 years old she married John Gorecki, a concert violinist (son of Socialist and union leader Martin Gorecki). The couple, who divorced in 1923, had one son, Martin Gorecki, who became a bandleader under the name Martin Gray. An obituary published in Time magazine reported that Gilda Gray was reportedly married at 11 and became a mother at 12.
Although the shimmy is said to have been introduced to American audiences by Gray in New York in 1919, the term was widely used before. Some stories said that her shimmy was born one night when she was singing the Star Spangled Banner and forgot some of the lyrics. She covered up her embarrassment by shaking her shoulders and hips. Although the shimmy was already a well-known dance move, Marianna appropriated it as her own: when she was asked about her dancing style, she replied in a heavy Polish accent; "I'm shaking my chemise," which sounded to the English-speaking audience like shimmy.
Warner Leroy Baxter (March 29, 1889 – May 7, 1951) was an American actor, known for his role as The Cisco Kid in In Old Arizona (1929), for which he won the second Academy Award for Best Actor in the 1928–1929 Academy Awards. He frequently played womanizing, charismatic Latin bandit types in westerns, and played The Cisco Kid or a similar character throughout the 1930s, but had a range of other roles throughout his career. Warner Baxter started his movie career in silent film. Baxter's most notable silent films are The Great Gatsby (1926) and The Awful Truth (1925). When talkies came out, Baxter became even more famous. Baxter's most notable talkies are In Old Arizona (1929) 42nd Street (1932), Slave Ship (1937), Kidnapped (1938), and the 1931 20 minute all-star ensemble short film, The Stolen Jools. In the 1940s he was well known for his recurring role as Dr. Robert Ordway in the Crime Doctor series of 10 films.
Baxter was born in Columbus, Ohio to Edwin F. Baxter (October 1, 1867 – September 16, 1889) and Jane Barrett (December 29, 1869 Columbus, Ohio – March 29, 1962 Beverly Hills, California), and moved to San Francisco, California with his widowed mother Jane in 1898, when he was nine. Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, he and his family lived in a tent for two weeks. By 1910 Baxter was in vaudeville, and from there began acting on the stage.
Lights-lights-lights back-back-back on
Lights-lights-light o-o-o-on
I'm tangled up, no strings attached
You gave your heart, but now I think you want it back
You are my ocean and the tide
It's little wonder why, I'm drownin' in your eyes
The powers out, we lost it all
I'm fallin' hard, you pulled the rug and watched me fall
Now you're dropping coals, I think we're breakin' up
Got my love on stand-by
Why'd you hit the killswitch on my hear-ar-art
Circuit break the love we had to star-ar-art
Why'd you click the killswitch on my hear-ar-art
Can you turn my lights back on?
Turn my lights-lights back-back o-o-on o-o-on
Lights-lights-lights back-back on
Lights-lights-lights o-o-on o-o-on
You've blown a fuse, I see the smoke
Your love, my life, I think you made a mess of both
Electricity is what we know
I chase the life that you just never show
Why'd you hit the killswitch on my hear-ar-art
Circuit break the love we had to star-ar-art
Why'd you click the killswitch on my hear-ar-art
Can you turn my lights back on?
Turn my lights-lights back-back o-o-on o-o-on
Lights-lights-lights back-back on
Lights-lights-lights o-o-on o-o-on
Lights-lights-lights back-back on
Lights-lights-lights o-o-on o-o-on
Click the- click the killswitch on my hear-ar-art
Click the- click the killswitch
Click the- click the killswitch
Shut me down, let the power go out
Shut me down, let the power go out
Shut me down, let the power go out
Power go out, power go out
Shut me down, let the power go out
Shut me down, let the power go out
Out, out, out
Why'd you hit the killswitch on my hear-ar-art
Circuit break the love we had to star-ar-art
Why'd you click the killswitch on my hear-ar-art
Can you turn my lights back on?
Turn my lights-lights back-back o-o-on o-o-on
Lights-lights-lights back-back
Why'd you click the killswitch on- click the killswitch on