[2] Raye was born in Rotherhithe, south east, London, England, the daughter of Royal Navy commander Reuben B. Corkrey and Ethel McGlashan, an accomplished pianist.
[5] Carpenter suggested her for a tour of musical comedy Bobby Get Your Gun and was also instrumental in creating her stage name, which he depicted as being to Difficult for Marquee Purposes, the press to spell and audience to remember.
Raye began her career in her native United Kingdom with starring roles in films including Song of Romance, which was the first British musical film shot in technicolor,[6] Strawberry Roan by Maurice Elvey, However it was the musical romance Waltz Time by Paul Stein, as Empress Maria that launched her international screen career, that year in April, publicity lead her to the United States and a stage production in the role lead role in Bonanza Bound!, after which she turned down a multi year Hollywood contract, deciding return to London, where she subsequently appeared in features including Spring Song directed by Montgomery Tully and two films directed by John Harlow, Green Fingers and While I Live and several telemovies for the BBC.
[4] Her theatre roles included Tough at the Top, Fun and Games, and [5] The Merry Widow,[7] Dear Miss Phoebe[8][better source needed] and The Ticket-of-Leave Man.
Raye having remarried in 1951, and with her husband being offered by the British Government, the opportunity to run a 1000-acre farm in the overseas Kenya Colony, the family settled in Navaisha Town, in the West of Mombasa.
Starting in November 1964, the network gave the green light for the now iconic The Mavis Bramston Show, in which Raye would also star as one of 3 originals along with Gordon Chater and Barry Creyton.
[12] She appeared in many Australian theatre productions, including California Suite, Pleasure of His Company, Travelling North, The Merry Wives of Windsor, You Can't Take It With You, Noises Off, and Hay Fever.