Evelyn Laye, who had her greatest stage success in Noel Coward's "Bittersweet" on Broadway in 1929 and was still working in her 90s, died Saturday after a brief illness.
Laye, 95, died at St. George's Nursing Home in London, said a friend, Michael Thornton."The last three years have been a sort of gentle sunset on a glorious career stretching over 80 years as a great entertainer," Thornton said.
Laye, known by her nickname "Boo," made her stage debut in 1915. She was still at work in 1992, touring as the star of "Glamorous Nights at Drury Lane."
Her signature tune was Coward's "I'll See You Again," which was also a favorite of King George VI. His widow, Queen Mother Elizabeth, reportedly had recommended in 1994 that she be made a dame - the female equivalent of a knight - but the honor was not granted.
After seeing "Bittersweet," she wrote in her autobiography, "I could have kicked myself all the way down Piccadilly." So she asked Coward if she could do the show in New York, and he agreed.