Fay Wray

Actress best known as Ann Darrow in King Kong.

Fay Wray was born on a ranch near Cardston, Alberta, to Elvina Marguerite Jones and Joseph Heber Wray, who were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and she was a granddaughter of LDS pioneer Daniel Webster Jones.^[1] At age 96, on the night of August 8, 2004, Wray died of natural causes while asleep in her Fifth Avenue Manhattan apartment.^[2]

Quick Facts

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

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Wray appeared in her first film at age 16 in 1923, a short historical film sponsored by a local newspaper.^[3] She retired in 1942 after her second marriage but soon resumed acting, appearing in films and television for three more decades.^[4] Wray married three times and had three children: Susan Saunders, Victoria Riskin, and Robert Riskin Jr.^[5]

What the cited sources add

The Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2011) records that Wray portrayed Catherine Morrison in the 1953–54 sitcom The Pride of the Family.^[6][7] The book The Hollywood Beauties (1978) confirms that King Kong was Wray's best-remembered film.^[8][9] According to the same source, that production was shot at night on the identical jungle sets used during the day for King Kong.^[10][11]

References

Wikipedia, "Fay Wray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Ancestry of Fay Wray", Wargs.com; "Fay Wray", Northern Stars (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Fay Wray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Luther, "From the Archives: Fay Wray, 96; Actress, Object of Ape's Desire in 'King Kong'", Los Angeles Times, August 10, 2004; "Fay Wray, Beauty to Kong's Beast, Dies at 96", The New York Times, August 9, 2004; "A Visit to FAY WRAY's Gravesite (at Hollywood Forever Cemetery) King Kong", September 28, 2010 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Fay Wray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: SL Tribune, January 26, 2009 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Fay Wray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Fay Wray", Emol.org (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Fay Wray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Social Security Death Index", Ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com, July 15, 2010; "The Films of Fay Wray", McFarland, October 25, 2005, p. 14; "'King Kong' damsel Fay Wray dies at 96", TODAY.com, August 9, 2004 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Open Library record, ISBN 9780786464777 ("Encyclopedia of television shows, 1925 through 2010"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
Wikipedia, "Fay Wray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Terrace, "Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010", McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2011, p. 853 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Open Library record, ISBN 0870004123 ("The Hollywood beauties"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
Wikipedia, "Fay Wray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Parish, "The Hollywood Beauties", Arlington House Publishers, 1978, p. 203; "Fay Wray", Emol.org; "Fay Wray by Kendahl Cruver", Things-and-other-stuff.com, September 15, 1907 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Open Library record, ISBN 9780826429773 ("America's film legacy"). CC0 (metadata); book content not read. openlibrary.org
Wikipedia, "Fay Wray" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Eagan, "America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry", A&C Black, 2010-01-01, p. 206 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Fay Wray (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.