Grace Hayes

Grace Hayes (August 3, 1895 – February 1, 1989) was an American actress, singer, vaudeville entertainer, and nightclub owner born in Springfield, Missouri, who relocated to California at the age of ten. She performed on Broadway between 1922 and 1932 and built a parallel career in vaudeville, nightclubs, and film.

Hayes began singing in nightclubs at the age of fourteen. She partnered with Neville Fleeson and performed at The Palace in New York, eventually expanding the act to include her son, Peter Lind Hayes. Her personal life included a first marriage to Joseph Lind Sr. in 1912, when she was seventeen. Their son, Joseph Conrad Lind, was born in 1915 and later took the stage name Peter Lind Hayes. Following Joseph Lind Sr.'s death in 1917, Hayes went on to marry Charlie Foy and subsequently Robert Evans Hopkins.

Her Broadway career spanned a decade and encompassed both musicals and revues. Her credits include the musical The Bunch and Judy, the revue A Night in Spain, the revue The Merry World, and the musicals A Little Racketeer and Ballyhoo of 1932. In 1941, Hayes appeared in the film Zis Boom Bah, playing herself; her son Peter Lind Hayes and his wife, actress Mary Healy, also appeared in the production. Hayes was the mother of Peter Lind Hayes and mother-in-law to Mary Healy.

Beyond the stage and screen, Hayes established herself as a nightclub entrepreneur. She opened the Grace Hayes Lodge in the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, California. In 1947 she moved to Las Vegas, Nevada, where she purchased a venue called the Red Rooster and later renamed it the Grace Hayes Lodge. The Las Vegas club attracted notable patrons including Howard Hughes and Bugsy Siegel.