fay wray
The daughter of a Canadian rancher, Fay Wray was raised in California. [1]
As Wray tells the story, she was offered a role opposite “the tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood”, and she hoped it was Clark Gable, but instead it was King Kong (1933). [2]
The film was Gasoline Love (1923) in 1923. [3]
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. [4]
While King Kong is the film for which Wray will always be remembered (as late as 1996, she was still making annual pilgrimages to the Empire State Building to commemorate the anniversary of the film’s premiere), it must be noted that she was certainly capable of playing roles with more depth and dimension than Ann Darrow. [...] In Doctor X (1932), Vampire Bat (1933) and Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933), she was cast opposite the satanic-featured Lionel Atwill, playing his daughter in the first-named film and his intended victim in the remaining two. [1]
She is best remembered for her role as Ann Darrow, the blonde seductress of the gigantic gorilla in the classic horror /adventure film King Kong (1933). [4]
The movie wound up being named one of the 100 greatest films of all time by the American Film Institute in 1998. [3]
Beginning in 1932, Wray developed into the talkie era’s first “scream queen,” playing the imperiled heroine in five back-to-back horror/fantasy classics. [1]
After her death was announced the lights on the Empire State Building were extinguished for 15 minutes in her memory. [4]
Billy Crystal introduced a clip of her in King Kong (1933) and then came offstage and stood next to Miss Wray in the audience, and introduced her as the “Beauty who charmed the Beast, the Legendary Fay Wray”. [...] Perhaps no one in the history of pictures could scream more dramatically than Fay, and she really put on a show in “Kong”. [3]
A small park near Lee’s Creek on Main Street in Cardston, Alberta, is named “Fay Wray Park” in her honor. [4]
Husband: John Monk Saunders (writer, m. [2]
She was born Vina Fay Wray near Cardston, Alberta, Canada, on September 15, 1907. [3]
Sources:
[1] allmovie ((( Fay Wray > Overview )))
[2] Fay Wray
[3] Fay Wray - Biography
[4] Fay Wray - Wikipedia