Urey Kevil Rice was born on this day in 1895, in Kentucky, to Mr. and Mrs. James Thomas Rice.
Urey attended Paducah High School and the Cleveland, Ohio, School of Art. He served as a chief petty officer in the Navy during World War I.
When Urey was 12-years-old, he worked in a theatre in Peducah, changing reels and phonograph records.
Urey came to Winston-Salem in 1921 to open the Robert E. Lee Hotel and to hire the first manager. He was formerly the manager and assistant manager of hotels in Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. He planned the first banquet for the Robert E. Lee, a nine-course meal, for 565 people.
In 1922, he had the opportunity to return to his first love, the theatre. He joined the Piedmont Amusement Company, operated by Sams and Moses. The Piedmont Amusement Company operated the State, Broadway, Elmont, and Pilot Theatres. When Mr. Moses rebuilt the Broadway Theatre and named it the Forsyth Theatre, Urey became the manager.
Urey’s face is familiar to many people who attended local theatres from 1922 to 1958. He managed the Carolina Theatre, as well as other local movie theatres, during those years. He knew many of the entertainers who performed on the local stages, and could speak about them and their eccentricities.
If Urey ever thought about moving to another city or to another profession, a decision he made kept him in Winston-Salem. He married Elsie Moses, daughter of his boss, in 1923.
Urey passed away in 1965.
Photo courtesy of Forsyth County Public Library Photograph Collection.
