Fay Wray

From Alfred Hitchcock Wiki

born: 15/Sep/1907 (Cardston, Alberta, Canada)
died: 08/Aug/2004 (New York, New York, USA) - natural causes

[edit] Biography

Vina Fay Wray was a Canadian–American actress.

Wray was born on a ranch near Cardston, Alberta, Canada to Elvina Marguerite Jones, who was from Salt Lake City, Utah, and Joseph Heber Wray, who was from Kingston upon Hull, UK. Her family moved to the United States when she was three. 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.

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

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 financial failure, but it gave Wray her first lead role.

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). She wore a blonde wig over her naturally dark hair for the role.

She continued in films but by the early 1940s her appearances grew sporadic. She appeared frequently on television making her final appearance in 1980.

In the later years of her life, Wray continued to make public appearances, and was a guest at the 70th Academy Awards, where the show's host, Billy Crystal introduced her and paid tribute to her film legacy.

Wray was approached to appear in a small cameo for the film "King Kong" (2005), and also met with Naomi Watts who was to play the Ann Darrow role. Before filming commmenced, Wray died in her sleep in her Manhattan home, and was interred at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California. After her death was announced the lights on the Empire State Building were extinguished for 15 minutes in her memory.

(Wikipedia)