Sheila Terry (actress)

Although she wanted to be an actress, Terry studied to be a teacher in accordance with the desires of a rich uncle. After being trained as an educator, from 1927 to 1929 she taught in a country school to meet the requirement for receiving her inheritance from that uncle. The inheritance was in stocks, however, and its value vanished in the 1929 crash of the stock market.[2]

Terry first studied dramatics at Dickson-Kenwin academy, a Toronto school affiliated with London's Royal Academy.[3] For approximately seven months, she acted in stock theater in Toronto. Later she moved to New York,[2] where she continued her studies and appeared in a number of plays. A film scout saw her on Broadway in The Little Racketeer and offered her a test that resulted in a contract with Warner Bros.[3]

She acted in the 1930s for Warner Bros. She appeared with John Wayne in the Western films Haunted Gold (1932); Neath the Arizona Skies and The Lawless Frontier (1934). She appeared with Bette Davis, Louis Calhern and Spencer Tracy in 20,000 Years in Sing Sing (1932). She appeared with Cary Grant and Sylvia Sidney in Marion Gering's film Madame Butterfly (1932). In 1933 she left Hollywood briefly for the New York stage.

She married Major Laurence B. Clark, a wealthy Toronto socialite on August 16, 1928. They separated on August 15, 1930, and she divorced him on February 15, 1934.[4] In 1937, she married William Magee of San Francisco, and retired from show business. After his death, Terry wanted to return to show business, but couldn't find a job.

In 1947, she said in a newspaper-interview: "I'm going back into show business and I need an act, I can't sing, I can't dance and I can't play the piano. I should be terrific in night clubs". She worked as a press agent for 15 years.

In January 1957, her body was discovered in the third floor apartment, which was both her home and office. A friend and neighbour, Jerry Keating, went to the apartment when he failed to reach her on the telephone. The door was locked, and Terry did not answer the bell. Keating called the police; they broke in and found Terry's body on the bedroom floor, her back leaning against the bed, with five empty capsules on the floor beside her.

Friends told the police that she returned from a trip to Mexico a few days before her death and that she was ill when she came home. It was later discovered that she died broke, leaving only a scant wardrobe. She was buried in Potter's Field in New York City.

• Border Cities Star,February 16, 1934:"Sheila Terry divorces hubby"
• The Milwaukee Sentinel,April 11, 1936:"Sheila Terry turns unwanted role into personal triumph".
• Chicago Daily Tribune "Tower Ticket", December 27, 1948.
• Los Angeles Times, January 20, 1957:"Sheila Terry,Starlet and playgirl of the 1920s, dies".

• Sheila Terry on IMDb
• Sheila Terry at Find a Grave