Ruby Ray (born Blanche Arnold Hameen Nicol, 14 August 1881[1] – after 1973[2]) was an Argentine-born English actress, dancer and singer who performed mainly in Edwardian musical comedy.

Ray was born in Buenos Aires to a Scottish father, James Watson Nicol, and an English mother, Blanche Caunter.

Her parents married at Morro Velho, Brazil;[4][5] her older brother Erskine was also born in Buenos Aires.

[1] Her father, a planter who ran the estancia La Aroma southeast of Buenos Aires, drowned at Altamirano just over two months after her birth.

[8][9] Ray first appeared in London at the age of sixteen in late 1897,[10] initially as a chorus dancer, and moved on quickly to solo dancing, singing and eventually acting.

An early favourite part of hers was Iris, initially played by Letty Lind, in Edwardes' Gaiety Comedy A Greek Slave.

[12] Her roles included Minnie Templar in A Message from Mars (1900),[13] Lady Marjory Crichton and Ada Branscombe in Three Little Maids (1902)[14][11] – both comedies that met with great success in Australia,[15] Daisy Armitage in Tom, Dick and Harry (1901),[16][17] Mrs Gillibrand in In the Soup (1901),[17] Lady Violet in A Pantomime Rehearsal,[17] the Duchess of St. Jermyns in The Catch of the Season (1904),[8] Lady Rosaline in The Belle of Mayfair (1906),[18] Jill in Little Bo-Peep (1908)[19] and Rosie Jocelyn in Saucy Sally.

[29] One interviewer noted that in private, Ray had "a specially winning manner" and appeared "to make friends with all who meet her.

She is described as a charming and graceful young actress, gifted with great histrionic abilities, and is credited by the English and American critics as being one of the best artistes of the day.

"[30] In 1906, Ray, who was living in Marylebone, and Frederic de Courcy Helbert from Slough, applied for a marriage license.