Edith Day | ms

Edith Day (April 10, 1896 - May 1, 1971) was an American actress best known for her roles in musicals.

Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Day made her Broadway debut in Pom-pom in 1916. Day then appeared in three silent films, The Grain of Dust (1918), A Romance of the Air (1918), and Children Not Wanted (1920).

In 1919, she became a major star playing the title role in Irene. Five months into the run, she departed the cast to create the role in the London production. Embraced by the London critics, she decided to remain there after the show closed and went on to become the first lady of West End musicals, with triumphs in Rose-Marie, The Desert Song and Show Boat.

Day retired from acting in the 1930s. In 1960 she briefly returned to the stage in Noël Coward's Waiting in the Wings, later appearing in the London production of Coward's musical Sail Away at the Savoy Theatre in 1962.

Day was married three times, to theatre producer Carle Carleton, actor Pat Somerset and Henry Horne. Her only son died in World War II. She died in London at the age of 75.

A cocktail is named for her, made with dry gin, grapefruit juice, sugar, and an egg white. .