Jamie Lee Curtis. Margot Kidder. Linda Blair. Linnea Quigley. These are all babes who have been labeled Scream Queens at one point in their careers, but they owe it all to one gorgeous Canadian cutie who had Hollywood by the balls with her role in King Kong. Today's Throwback Thursday is dedicated to Fay Wray!
The sexy Fay Wray was born Vina Fay Wray in Alberta in 1907. Despite her Canadian birth, she was actually raised in Los Angeles which brought her right at Hollywood's doorstep. She started working as an extra in her teen years and then was promoted to shorts and westerns.This lead to the 1926 Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers to choose her among 13 other actresses who were most likely to succeed in movies. She had her first break when she was cast as the leading lady in 1928's The Wedding March. We can see why she had success as a young lady. She had the looks!
In the 1930s, the sexy and petite Fay started to show up in horror films like The Vampire Bat, The Most Dangerous Game and Doctor X. These were nothing compared to the mega-hit that King Kong would be in 1933. She literally defined the term scream queen due to her infamously dramatic scream in the movie as she was taken by the ape up the Empire State Building. Fay's sex appeal added to what would become one of the most iconic moments in film history.
Hilariously, she was cast as a leading lady in the movie by producer Merian C. Cooper who didn't tell her that the "tall, dark leading man" she would be paired with was a gorilla. That was one lucky gorilla!
After King Kong, Fay Wray became known as The Queen of B's and that's not a reference to her perky breasts. She couldn't get another major hit and was often typecast in horror and B movies. Her marriage to prominent screenwriter John Monk Saunders also ended in divorce in 1939 which added insult to casting injury. Fay struggled to be taken seriously and briefly retired from acting in 1942.
In 1953 she made a comeback, starring as an older woman in TV shows and movies, proving that she had talent after all.Fay's final role was in the 1980 TV movie Gideon's Trumpet. She then retired from acting and passed away at the age of 96 in 2004.Before she died, she worked closely with Peter Jackson on his remake and Peter wanted to give Fay the final lines in the film. Sadly, she passed away before she could shoot those scenes. At least Naomi Watts did her justice by showing pokies in a white dress just like Fay did. RIP, Fay Wray.
Photo Credits: Getty Images
