Grimes, Tammy (b. 1934), actress. The petite blonde, with a voice that has been compared to a buzz saw, was born in Lynn, Massachusetts, and studied at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre before making her professional debut by replacing Kim Stanley as Cherie in Bus Stop (1955). She later appeared in The Littlest Revue (1956) before starring in the title role of The Unsinkable Molly Brown (1960). Long runs also followed as the prostitute Cyrenne in Rattle of a Simple Man (1963), the blithe spirit Elvira in High Spirits (1964), Amanda Prynne in Private Lives (1969), Elmire in Tartuffe (1977), Russian aristocrat Natalya in A Month in the Country (1979), and Broadway diva Dorothy Brock in 42nd Street (1980).

The Oxford Companion to American Theatre. Copyright © 2004 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.