Gwen Davies

Radio and stage actress, voice actor, and big band singer of Romanian descent, best know as a cast member of "Let's Pretend", a CBS radio series for children. She started her career as a child in 1929 under the name Estelle Levy in "The Adventures of Helen and Mary". In March 1934, after 229 broadcasts, Nila Mack took over as director and changed the title to "Let's Pretend". Around 1940, Levy took the name Gwen Davies to become a big band singer, "Gwen" according to a character she had played in "Second Hurricane" (1937), and "Davies" derived from her mother's maiden name Davidescu. She performed at least with Lyn Murray and Walter Gross, toured with Bobby Sherwood, and recorded with Artie Shaw. In the late 1930s Levy appeared as Dorothy in radio adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, a role she reprised for a children's recording in 1963 for MGM's Leo The Lion Records label. She was also the voice of Casper the Friendly Ghost in several 1950s cartoon shorts. Davies stayed with Let's Pretend until its cancellation in 1954. Born: circa 1923 in New York, USA Died: 10 January 2022 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, USA (age 99)