Sheila Terry (actress)

Terry first studied dramatics at Dickson-Kenwin academy, a school affiliated with London's Royal Academy. Later she moved to New York, where she continued her studies and appeared in a number of plays. While appearing on Broadway in The Little Racketeer, she was spotted by an alert film scout and given a test which led to a contract with Warner Bros.

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.[2] 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