Kay Medford

Medford was born in 1916. Her mother had been an actress with a Shakespearean stock group in Connecticut. Orphaned in her teens, she adopted the name Kay Medford professionally, and began her career after graduating from high school and working as a nightclub waitress.

A multi-page portrait in the March 10, 1942, issue of Look magazine first brought her to national attention. While living a spartan existence in New York, looking for acting roles, she came to the attention of columnist Whitney Bolton (New York Morning Telegraph) and then his friend, MGM producer Mervyn LeRoy. After auditioning for LeRoy, he signed her to a personal contract and began her star-grooming, fitness, and weight-loss regimen in New York before she headed to Los Angeles.

Eventually adopting the name "Kay Medford", she began entertaining professionally by performing at summer resorts in the Catskill Mountains. In 1949, she toured with a nightclub routine in which she did impersonations of Hollywood celebrities. She was the original Mae Peterson (Albert's mother) in Bye Bye Birdie on Broadway, garnering excellent reviews. Medford appeared in the Warner Bros. rock and roll film, Jamboree (1957). She made her Broadway debut in 1951 in the musical Paint Your Wagon. She was cast in Carousel, then appeared onstage in Funny Girl as the mother of Fanny Brice (played by Barbra Streisand); for this performance she was nominated for a 1964 Tony Award for Featured Actress (Musical), and when she repeated the role in the 1968 film adaptation, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In the summer of 1970, she appeared at Denver's Elitch Theatre in Light Up the Sky, alongside Kitty Carlisle. Her other film credits included roles in A Face in the Crowd (1957), The Rat Race (1960), BUtterfield 8 (1960), Girl of the Night (1960), Ensign Pulver (1964), A Fine Madness (1966), The Busy Body (1967), Angel in My Pocket (1969), Twinky (1969), But I Don't Want to Get Married! (1970), Fire Sale (1977), and Windows (1980). On television, Medford portrayed Harriet Endicott on To Rome with Love, Gloria's mother on That's Life, and Maria's mother on On Our Own, and was a member of the cast of The Dean Martin Show. She also guest-starred on series, including Decoy, Marcus Welby, M.D.,The Partridge Family, and Barney Miller in her last screen performance in the episode 'Dietrich's Arrest' which originally aired March 6, 1980, one month before her death.

Medford never married and had no children. She died of cancer in New York City on April 10, 1980, at age 63.

* * * * • Genealogy profile #2, familysearch.org; accessed November 20, 2014.