Clifford Grey
For 35 years after 1979 it was widely believed that Grey secretly competed as an American bobsleigher, under the name Clifford "Tippy" Gray, in two Winter Olympics, in 1928 and 1932, winning gold medals, but it was finally shown that the sportsman was a different person.[3] Grey remained in the US for most of the decade, with occasional sorties back to London for Phi-Phi with Henri Christiné (1922), The Smith Family with Ayer (1922), and The Rainbow with George Gershwin (1923).His collaborators included Sigmund Romberg and Melville Gideon on some of the less-remembered shows, Ivan Caryll and Guy Bolton on The Hotel Mouse (1922),[5] Vincent Youmans on Hit the Deck (1927), and Rudolph Friml and Wodehouse on The Three Musketeers (1928) and Ups-A-Daisy with Robert A. Simon for the Shubert Theatre (1928).In 1929, he returned temporarily to London, where he collaborated with Vivian Ellis on the musical Mr Cinders, which had a long West End run and featured one of Grey's best-remembered songs, "Spread a Little Happiness".[1] He wrote more than twenty screenplays for British films, usually for the popular comedians of the day, but also including My Song Goes Round the World (1934), Mimi (1935), an adaptation of La Bohème, for Gertrude Lawrence and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. and Yes, Madam?[8] When the Second World War began, Grey joined the Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA), which took shows round the country and overseas to provide relief for serving members of the armed forces.The evidence also persuaded Grey's daughters that their late father was not only the peripatetic writer that they remembered, but also a secret world-class sportsman who had been too modest to boast of his Olympic success.With considerable skill, Grey had invented an American persona, Tippi Gray, and it was under this name that he joined three bobsleighing friends and won gold medals in both the 1928 and the 1932 winter Olympic games.[2][12] Finally, around 2013, Andy Bull, a sportswriter for The Guardian, was writing a book about the 1932 gold medal-winning bobsleigh team that was published in 2015 under the title Speed Kings.
Clifford GrayWest EndBroadwayIvor NovelloJerome KernHoward TalbotIvan CaryllGeorge GershwinIf You Were the Only Girl (In the World)Spread a Little HappinessClifford "Tippy" GrayWinter OlympicsBirminghamKing Edward VI Schoolpierrotconcert partyNat AyerThe Bing Boys Are HereYes, Uncle!Herman FinckTheodore & CoArletteKissing TimeP.G. WodehouseFlorenz ZiegfeldPhi-PhiHenri ChristinéSigmund RombergMelville GideonGuy BoltonThe Hotel MouseVincent YoumansHit the DeckRudolph FrimlRobert A. SimonWilliam Cary DuncanSunny DaysImperial TheatreHollywoodVictor SchertzingerMaurice ChevalierJeanette MacDonaldThe Love ParadeOscar StrausRamon NovarroLawrence TibbettMarion DaviesThe Vagabond LoverIn Gay MadridThe Smiling LieutenantLilacs in the SpringThe Bridge on the River KwaiThe Cat's MeowVivian EllisMr CindersRome ExpressMy Song Goes Round the WorldLa BohèmeGertrude LawrenceDouglas Fairbanks Jr.Yes, Madam?Oscar LevantJohnny GreenNoel GaySecond World WarEntertainments National Service AssociationIpswichSuffolkasthmaIpswich Old CemeteryOld Ipswich CemeteryYankee MagazineClifford "Tippy" (or "Tippi") Gray1928 Winter OlympicsSt. MoritzLake Placid, New York1937 FIBT World ChampionshipsOxford Dictionary of National BiographyDavid WallechinskyBowdoin CollegeThe GuardianSarasota Herald-TribuneThe Girl Behind the GunA Night OutThe Co-OptimistsAlbert WillemetzDevil-May-CareCall of the FleshMadam SatanThe Florodora GirlAfter the BallFor the Love of MikeLord BabsThe MidshipmaidThere Goes the BrideFacing the MusicKing of the RitzNo Funny BusinessSleeping CarSoldiers of the KingThe Song You Gave MeThis Is the LifeYou Made Me Love YouDoctor's OrdersGirls Will Be BoysGive Her a RingThe Luck of a SailorBrewster's MillionsCharing Cross RoadDandy DickDrake of EnglandHeart's DesireInvitation to the WaltzMe and MarlboroughThe Student's RomanceThings Are Looking UpAccusedQueen of HeartsSouthern RosesBoys Will Be GirlsPearls Bring TearsSing as You SwingThe Lilac DominoLuck of the NavyPremiereLucky to Me