Fay Wray
| Fay Wray | |
|---|---|
Studio publicity photo
|
|
| Born |
Vina Fay Wray September 15, 1907 Cardston, Alberta, Canada |
| Died | August 8, 2004 (aged 96) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Resting place | Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, California |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1923–80 |
| Spouse(s) |
John Monk Saunders (m. 1928; div. 1939) Robert Riskin (m. 1942; d. 1955) Sanford Rothenberg (m. 1971; d. 1991) |
| Children | Susan Saunders (b. 1939) Victoria Riskin (b. 1946) Robert Riskin, Jr. (b. 1943) |
Vina Fay Wray (September 15, 1907 – August 8, 2004) was a Canadian/American actress most noted for playing the female lead in King Kong. Through an acting career that spanned 57 years, Wray attained international renown as an actress in horror movie roles. She was one of the first "scream queens".
After appearing in minor movie roles, Wray gained media attention being selected as one of the "WAMPAS Baby Stars". This led to her being contracted to Paramount Pictures as a teenager, where she made more than a dozen movies. After leaving Paramount, she signed deals with various film companies, being cast in her first horror film roles among many other types of roles, including in The Bowery (1933) and Viva Villa (1934), both huge productions starring Wallace Beery. For RKO Radio Pictures, Inc., she starred in the film with which she is most identified, King Kong (1933). After the success of King Kong, Wray made numerous appearances in both film and television before retiring in 1980.
Wray was born on a ranch near Cardston in the province of Alberta, Canada, to Mormon parents, Elvina Marguerite Jones, who was from Salt Lake City, Utah, and Joseph Heber Wray, who was from Kingston upon Hull, England. She was one of six children and was a granddaughter of Daniel Webster Jones. Wray was never a Mormon herself.
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 Fay attended Hollywood High School.
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