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Elizabeth Ray

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Mistress

The Resume

    (May 14, 1943- )
    Born in Marshall, North Carolina
    Secretary and mistress to Congressman Wayne Hays
    Wrote the novel 'The Washington Fringe Benefit' (1976)

Why she might be annoying:

    She earned $14,000 a year for sleeping with Hays.
    She said of her secretarial abilities, 'I can't type, I can't file, I can't even answer the phone.'
    She decided to go public about the affair when she was the only member of Hays' staff not invited to his second wedding: 'It's not that I care so much about him getting married, but it looks bad that I'm not invited. I was good enough to be his mistress, but not good enough to be invited to his wedding.'
    She tried to shave six years off her age, claiming to be 27 when the scandal broke in 1976.
    She claimed, without any evidence, to have had affairs with several other politicians, including Hubert Humphrey, Ted Kennedy and Mike Gravel.
    She tried, without much success, to cash in on her notoriety as an actress and a stand-up comedian.

Why she might not be annoying:

    She won the Miss Virginia beauty contest (1975).
    She said one of the reasons she was attracted to Hays was that he was 'the sharpest dresser I ever saw.'
    She said she never intended to cause Hays' political downfall and shortly before his resignation told reporters, 'He's suffered enough. He's gone through enough torture.'
    She posed several times for Playboy and Hustler.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 7 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 90.91% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 84 Votes: 48.81% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 22 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 18 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 33 Votes: 51.52% Annoying