Fay Wray

Fay Wray (September 15, 1907 – August 8, 2004) was a Canadian-American actress, who was born Vina Fay Wray on a ranch near Cardston, Alberta, Canada. Her family moved to the United States when she was three. Although Wray's autobiography discusses her Mormon parentage and makes it clear that she was an ethnic Mormon, she was apparently never baptized as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Wray's family lived in predominantly Mormon communities in Alberta, Arizona and Salt Lake City, Utah before settling in Los Angeles, California, where she got her first film work in Hal Roach comedy shorts and in low-budget westerns in the early 1920s.

Related Topics:
September 15 - 1907 - August 8 - 2004 - Canadian-American - Cardston - Alberta, Canada - United States - Alberta - Arizona - Salt Lake City, Utah - Los Angeles, California - Hal Roach

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Wray gained media attention when she was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars in 1926, which landed her a contract at Paramount Pictures.

Related Topics:
WAMPAS Baby Stars - 1926 - Paramount Pictures

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In 1928, director Erich Von Stroheim cast Wray as the main female lead in his troubled production of The Wedding March, which sent Hollywood in a buzz for its high budget and production values. It was a massive failure (due to the fact that it was silent in a world of new talking pictures), but it gave Wray her first lead role. He also was romantically interested in the lovely Wray, and arranged a rendezvous in Hollywood, but she changed her mind and never showed.

Related Topics:
Erich Von Stroheim - The Wedding March

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She is best remembered for her role as Ann Darrow, the blonde seductress of a gigantic, prehistoric gorilla in the classic horror/adventure film King Kong (1933), although she never produced the piercing scream for which she was famous. That scream emanated from actress Julie Haydon, and it was dubbed to Wray.

Related Topics:
Ann Darrow - Horror - King Kong - 1933 - Julie Haydon

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Wray also appeared in over a hundred other films, mostly in the 1930s, including The Four Feathers (1929), Doctor X (1932), The Most Dangerous Game (1932), The Vampire Bat (1933), and Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933). She also appeared in Viva Villa, The Texan, The Conquering Horde, and One Sunday Afternoon. Later in her career, Wray appeared in Small Town Girl, Tammy and the Bachelor, and Summer Love.

Related Topics:
1930s - The Four Feathers - 1929 - Doctor X - 1932 - The Most Dangerous Game - The Vampire Bat - 1933 - Mystery of the Wax Museum

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Wray was married to John Monk Saunders, Robert Riskin, and Dr. Sanford Rothenberg. She is the mother of Susan Saunders, Victoria Riskin and Robert Riskin Jr.

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Her autobiography, On the Other Hand (ISBN 0312022654), was published in 1988.

Related Topics:
On the Other Hand - 1988

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Wray has a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. She received a posthumous star on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto on June 5, 2005.

Related Topics:
Walk of Fame - Canada's Walk of Fame - Toronto

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Wray died at her apartment in Manhattan, New York at the age of 96 of natural causes on August 8, 2004, and was interred at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

Related Topics:
Manhattan - New York - August 8 - 2004 - Hollywood Forever Cemetery - Hollywood, California

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