Fay Wray

This led to her contract with Paramount Pictures as a teenager, where she made more than a dozen feature films. After leaving Paramount, she signed deals with various film companies, got her first roles in horror films and many other types, including in The Bowery (1933) and Viva Villa! (1934), both of which star Wallace Beery. For RKO Radio Pictures, Inc., Wray starred in her most identifiable film, King Kong (1933). After its success, she had numerous roles in film and television, retiring in 1980.

Fay Wray studied at Hollywood High School. The recorded working language is English. The field of work recorded is film acting. Distinctions recorded are Crystal Award, Canada's Walk of Fame, star on Hollywood Walk of Fame and The George Pal Memorial Award.

• Name — Fay Wray • Birth Name — Vina Fay Wray • Born — 15 September 1907 • Birthplace — Cardston, Alberta, Canada • Died — 8 August 2004 • Place of death — New York City, U.S. • Occupation — Actress • Resting Place — Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California • Years Active — 1923–1980 • Children — 3, including Victoria Riskin • Relatives — Daniel Webster Jones (grandfather) Dan P. Jones (uncle)

• Illustration — Erich von Stroheim and Fay Wray on the set of the film The Wedding March. Wray was born on a ranch near Cardston, Alberta, to parents who were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: Elvina Marguerite Jones from Salt Lake City, Utah, and Joseph Heber Wray from Kingston upon Hull, England. They had six children and she was a granddaughter of LDS pioneer Daniel Webster Jones. Her ancestors came from England, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. Her family returned to the United States a few years after she was born; they moved to Salt Lake City in 1912 and moved to Lark, Utah, in 1914. In 1919, the Wray family returned to Salt Lake City, and then relocated to Hollywood, where she attended Hollywood High School.

• Illustration — Phillips Holmes, William Powell, and Fay Wray are in Pointed Heels (1929). • Illustration — Cesar Romero, Wray, director Richard Thorpe, and cinematographer George Robinson (in background) on the set of Cheating Cheaters (1934) In 1923, Wray appeared in her first film at the age of 16, when she landed a role in a short historical film sponsored by a local newspaper. In the 1920s, Wray appeared in the silent film The Coast Patrol (1925), and uncredited bit parts at the Hal Roach Studios. In 1926, the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers selected Wray as one of the "WAMPAS Baby Stars", a group of women whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. She was at the time under contract to Universal Studios, mostly co-starring in low-budget Westerns opposite Buck Jones. The following year, Wray was signed to a contract with Paramount Pictures. In 1926, director Erich von Stroheim cast her as the main female lead in his film The Wedding March, released by Paramount two years later. The film was noted for its high budget and production values, but was a financial failure. It also gave Wray her first lead role. Wray stayed with Paramount to make more than a dozen films and made the transition from silent films to "talkies".

• Illustration — 1930 publicity photograph • Illustration — The 1953 cast of Pride of the Family includes Bobby Hyatt, Wray, Paul Hartman, and Natalie Wood. • Illustration — Wray holds her autobiography titled On the Other Hand. • Illustration — Her star is on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6349 Hollywood Blvd. • Illustration — Fay Wray Fountain, Cardston, Alberta Wray continued starring in films, including The Richest Girl in the World, but by the early 1940s, her appearances became less frequent. She retired in 1942 after her second marriage but due to financial exigencies she soon resumed her acting career, and over the next three decades, she appeared in several films and appeared frequently on television. She portrayed Catherine Morrison in the 1953–54 sitcom The Pride of the Family with Natalie Wood as her daughter. Wray appeared in Queen Bee and The Cobweb, both released in 1955. Wray appeared in three episodes of Perry Mason: "The Case of the Prodigal Parent" (1958); "The Case of the Watery Witness" (1959), as murder victim Lorna Thomas; and "The Case of the Fatal Fetish" (1965), as voodoo practitioner Mignon Germaine. Wray also co-starred with Perry Mason star Raymond Burr in the 1957 noir film release Crime of Passion. In 1959, Wray was cast as Tula Marsh in the episode "The Second Happiest Day" of Playhouse 90. Other roles around this time were in the episodes "Dip in the Pool" (1958) and "The Morning After" of CBS's Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In 1960, she appeared as Clara in an episode of 77 Sunset Strip, "Who Killed Cock Robin?" Another 1960 role was that of Mrs. Staunton, with Gigi Perreau as her daughter, in the episode "Flight from Terror" of The Islanders. Wray appeared in a 1961 episode of The Real McCoys titled "Theatre in the Barn". In 1963, she played Mrs. Brubaker in The Eleventh Hour episode "You're So Smart, Why Can't You Be Good?" She ended her acting career with the 1980 made-for-television film Gideon's Trumpet. In 1989, her autobiography was released, On the Other Hand. In her later years, Wray continued to make public appearances. In 1991, she was crowned Queen of the Beaux Arts Ball, presiding with King Herbert Huncke. She was approached by James Cameron to play Rose Dawson Calvert for his blockbuster Titanic (1997) with Kate Winslet to play her younger self, but she turned down the role, which was subsequently portrayed by Gloria Stuart in an Oscar-nominated performance. She was a special guest at the 70th Academy Awards, where the show's host Billy Crystal introduced her as the "Beauty who charmed the Beast". She was the only 1920s Hollywood actress in attendance that evening. On October 3, 1998, she appeared at the Pine Bluff Film Festival, which showed The Wedding March with live orchestral accompaniment. In January 2003, at age 95, she appeared at the Palm Beach International Film Festival to celebrate the Rick McKay documentary film Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There, where she was honored with a "Legend in Film" award. In her later years, she visited the Empire State Building frequently; in 1991, she was a guest of honor at the building's 60th anniversary, and in May 2004, she made one of her last public appearances at the ESB. Her final public appearance was at the premiere of the documentary film Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There in June 2004.

Wray married three times – to writers John Monk Saunders and Robert Riskin and the neurosurgeon Sanford Rothenberg (January 28, 1919 – January 4, 1991). She had three children: Susan Saunders, Victoria Riskin, and Robert Riskin Jr. After returning to the US after finishing The Clairvoyant she became a naturalized citizen of the United States in May 1935.

Wray died in her sleep of natural causes at age 96 on the night of August 8, 2004, in her apartment on Fifth Avenue Manhattan. She is interred at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California. Two days after her death, the lights of the Empire State Building were lowered for 15 minutes in her memory.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1925 — data-sort-value="Coast Patrol, The" | The Coast Patrol — Beth Slocum • data-sort-value="Lover's Oath, A" | A Lover's Oath — Uncredited; lost film • Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ — Slave Girl — Unconfirmed, uncredited • 1926 — data-sort-value="Man in the Saddle, The" | The Man in the Saddle — Pauline Stewart — lost film • data-sort-value="Wild Horse Stampede, The" | The Wild Horse Stampede — Jessie Hayden • Lazy Lightning — Lila Rogers • 1927 — Loco Luck — Molly Vernon • data-sort-value="One Man Game, A" | A One Man Game — Roberta — lost film • Spurs and Saddles — Mildred Orth • 1928 — data-sort-value="Legion of the Condemned, The" | The Legion of the Condemned — Christine Charteris — lost film • data-sort-value="Street of Sin, The" | The Street of Sin — Elizabeth — lost film • data-sort-value="First Kiss, The" | The First Kiss — Anna Lee — lost film • data-sort-value="Wedding March, The" | The Wedding March — Mitzi / Mitzerl Schrammell • 1929 — data-sort-value="Four Feathers, The" | The Four Feathers — Ethne Eustace • Thunderbolt — Ritzie • Pointed Heels — Lora Nixon • 1930 — Behind the Make-Up — Marie Gardoni • Paramount on Parade — Sweetheart (Dream Girl) — Filmed partly in Technicolor • data-sort-value="Texan, The" | The Texan — Consuelo • data-sort-value="Border Legion, The" | The Border Legion — Joan Randall • data-sort-value="Sea God, The" | The Sea God — Daisy • data-sort-value="Honeymoon, The" | The Honeymoon — Mitzi — Unreleased • Captain Thunder — Ynez • 1931 — Stub Man • Dirigible — Helen Pierce • data-sort-value="Conquering Horde, The" | The Conquering Horde — Taisie Lockhart • Not Exactly Gentlemen — Lee Carleton • data-sort-value="Finger Points, The" | The Finger Points — Marcia Collins • data-sort-value="Lawyer's Secret, The" | The Lawyer's Secret — Kay Roberts • data-sort-value="Unholy Garden, The" | The Unholy Garden — Camille de Jonghe • 1932 — Stowaway — Mary Foster • Doctor X — Joanne Xavier — Filmed in Technicolor • data-sort-value="Most Dangerous Game, The" | The Most Dangerous Game — Eve Trowbridge • 1933 — data-sort-value="Vampire Bat, The" | The Vampire Bat — Ruth Bertin • Mystery of the Wax Museum — Charlotte Duncan — Filmed in Technicolor • King Kong — Ann Darrow • Below the Sea — Diana • Ann Carver's Profession — Ann Carver Graham • data-sort-value="Woman I Stole, The" | The Woman I Stole — Vida Carew • Shanghai Madness — Wildeth Christie • data-sort-value="Big Brain, The" | The Big Brain — Cynthia Glennon • One Sunday Afternoon — Virginia Brush • data-sort-value="Bowery, The" | The Bowery — Lucy Calhoun • Master of Men — Kay Walling • 1934 — Madame Spy — Marie Franck • data-sort-value="Countess of Monte Cristo, The" | The Countess of Monte Cristo — Janet Krueger • Once to Every Woman — Mary Fanshane • Viva Villa! — Teresa • Black Moon — Gail Hamilton • data-sort-value="Affairs of Cellini, The" | The Affairs of Cellini — Angela • data-sort-value="Richest Girl in the World, The" | The Richest Girl in the World — Sylvia Lockwood • Cheating Cheaters — Nan Brockton • Woman in the Dark — Louise Loring • Mills of the Gods — Jean Hastings • 1935 — data-sort-value="Clairvoyant, The" | The Clairvoyant — Rene — US title: The Evil Mind • Bulldog Jack — Ann Manders • Come Out of the Pantry — Hilda Beach-Howard • White Lies — Joan Mitchell • 1936 — When Knights Were Bold — Lady Rowena • Roaming Lady — Joyce Reid • They Met in a Taxi — Mary Trenton • 1937 — It Happened in Hollywood — Gloria Gay • Murder in Greenwich Village — Kay Cabot aka Lucky • 1938 — data-sort-value="Jury's Secret, The" | The Jury's Secret — Linda Ware • Smashing the Spy Ring — Eleanor Dunlap • 1939 — Navy Secrets — Carol Mathews – Posing as Carol Evans • 1940 — Wildcat Bus — Ted Dawson • 1941 — Adam Had Four Sons — Molly Stoddard • Melody for Three — Mary Stanley • 1942 — Not a Ladies' Man — Hester Hunter • 1944 — This Is the Life — Based on a play by Wray and Sinclair Lewis • 1953 — Treasure of the Golden Condor — Annette, Marquise de St. Malo • Small Town Girl — Mrs. Kimbell • 1955 — data-sort-value="Cobweb, The" | The Cobweb — Edna Devanal • Queen Bee — Sue McKinnon • 1956 — Hell on Frisco Bay — Kay Stanley • Rock, Pretty Baby — Beth Daley • 1957 — Crime of Passion — Alice Pope • Tammy and the Bachelor — Mrs. Brent • 1958 — Summer Love — Beth Daley • Dragstrip Riot — Norma Martin / Mrs. Martin • 1962 — Wagon Train — Mrs. Edward's, The Cole Crawford Story • 1980 — Gideon's Trumpet — Edna Curtis • 1997 — Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's — Herself — Documentary • 2003 — Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There — Herself — Documentary

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1923 — Gasoline Love • Speed Bugs • 1924 — Just A Good Guy — Girl Getting Into Car • 1925 — Sure-Mike — Salesgirl at Department Store • What Price Goofy — Concerned Girl with Perfume — Uncredited • Isn't Life Terrible? — Potential Pen-Buyer — Uncredited • Thundering Landlords — The Wife • Chasing the Chaser — Nursemaid • Madame Sans Jane • No Father to Guide Him — Beach House Cashier — Uncredited • Unfriendly Enemies — The Girl • Your Own Back Yard — Woman in Quarrelsome Couple • Moonlight and Noses — Miss Sniff, the Professor's Daughter • Should Sailors Marry? — Herself • 1926 — WAMPAS Baby Stars of 1926 — Herself • One Wild Time • Don Key (A Son of a Burro) • Don't Shoot — Nancy Burton • data-sort-value="Saddle Tramp, The" | The Saddle Tramp • data-sort-value="Show Cowpuncher, The" | The Show Cowpuncher • 1927 — data-sort-value="Trip Through the Paramount Studio, A" | A Trip Through the Paramount Studio — Herself • 1931 — data-sort-value="Slippery Pearls, The" | The Slippery Pearls — Herself • 1932 — Hollywood on Parade — Herself

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1953 — Cavalcade of America — Mrs. Jefferson Davis — Episode: "One Nation Indivisible" • 1953-1954 — data-sort-value="Pride of the Family, The" | The Pride of the Family — Catherine Morrison — 27 episodes • 1958 — Alfred Hitchcock Presents — Mrs. Renshaw — Episode: "Dip in the Pool" • 1959 — Playhouse 90 — Tula Marsh — Episode: "The Second Happiest Day" • Alfred Hitchcock Presents — Mrs. Nelson — Episode: "The Morning After" • 1962 — Wagon Train — Mrs. Edwards — Episode: "The Cole Crawford Story" • 1964 — data-sort-value="Eleventh Hour, The" | The Eleventh Hour — Mrs. Brubaker — Episode: "You're So Smart, Why Can't You Be Good?" • 1965 — Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre — Mrs. White — Episode: "Double Jeopardy" • Perry Mason — Mignon Germaine — Episode: "The Case of the Fatal Fetish"

Her recorded language was English. She was the child of Joseph Heber Wray and Elvira Marguerite Jones. She married Robert Riskin and John Monk Saunders.