Theater Dancer
Her build was strong and husky, yet piquant. One reviewer described her dancing style as rampageous. Foy came to prominence in the John Murray Anderson Revue in March 1920. This assemblage was the successor to the theater director's Greenwich Village Follies. Aside from Foy the production showcased an attractive singer named Rosalind Fuller and a dancer, Allyn Kearns.
Foy claimed that she gained an inch of height simply by dancing during performances of Up She Goes (1922). She was twenty-one years old at the time. Her instructor explained that this happened because muscles stretch during vigorous dancing. By June 1923 she was dancing two hours per night during performances, appearing in two matinée shows per week, and also practising two hours daily. Another hour of her day was devoted to a dancing lesson.
She obtained the role of Sally in Up She Goes when Marilyn Miller wed Jack Pickford and fell out with Florenz Ziegfeld. Percy Hammond of the New York Tribune considered Foy a better dancer, a better actress, and a better looker than Miss Miller.
In November 1924 Foy played the title character in Betty Lee, a musical comedy which had an all-star cast. The show gave her the opportunity to demonstrate her ample singing and dancing talent. Joe E. Brown brought humorous life to his character, a valet-trainer. William Gaxton, formerly of the Music Box Theatre Revue, had the part of the bluffing college cheerleader.
Lou Holt and Foy were the principal players in Patsy which debuted at the Mason Operahouse in Los Angeles, California on March 8, 1926. 100 showgirls participated in the production which was conceived and produced in southern California. Among the song divertissements was a rendition of Tiger Eyes which showcased Foy and five dancers. Patsy concluded its Los Angeles run in mid-May and was put on the road to San Francisco, California and then other American cities.
Foy was Hal Skelly were signed by the Shubert Theater owners in March 1927. The two were engaged to present The Circus Princess for theater audiences. During the fall and winter season of 1930 Foy toured on the RKO vaudeville circuit. George Jessel, Viola Dana, Aunt Jemima (Tess Gardella), Georgia Price, and Anna Seymour also toured. During her vaudeville shows Foy entertained with imitations, gags and satire. Sometimes she was assisted in her skits by Alan David and Sam Critcherson.
Read more about this topic: Gloria Foy
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