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Canadian-born Fay Wray shot to fame in 1933 as the damsel in distress in King Kong, a role that made her Hollywood’s first scream queen. She began her career as a silent film extra in the 1920s and starred in horror classics like Doctor X 1932 and The Vampire Bat 1933. Despite her iconic scream, she struggled to find leading roles after Kong and retired in 1942, though she returned for character parts in the 1950s.
Names, aliases, and relatives of Fay Wray — birth name, kin, and personal ties.
Fay Wray by the numbers — life, work, and family.
Fay Wray — early life, career, personal life, and legacy.
Fay Wray’s family relocated from Cardston, Alberta, to Los Angeles when she was young. Born on September 15, 1907, to Elvira Marguerite Jones and Joseph Heber Wray, she attended Hollywood High School and began working as a film extra in her teens.
Fay Wray’s career took off when she was selected as a WAMPAS Baby Star in 1926 alongside Janet Gaynor and Mary Astor. Her first major lead came in Erich von Stroheim’s The Wedding March 1928. In the early 1930s, she signed with Paramount and appeared in horror films such as Doctor X 1932 and The Vampire Bat 1933. Her most famous role came in 1933 when producer Merian C. Cooper cast her in King Kong, opposite a giant gorilla. Her screaming performance became legendary and saved RKO Radio Pictures from bankruptcy. After Kong, her career declined, and she retired from the screen in 1942 after marrying Robert Riskin. She returned in 1953 for television roles, including Catherine on The Pride of the Family.
Fay Wray married three times. She wed writer John Monk Saunders from 1928 to 1939, screenwriter Robert Riskin from 1942 until his death in 1955, and neurosurgeon Dr. Sanford Fallows Rothenberg from 1971 until his death in 1991. She had three children: Susan Riskin with Saunders, and Robert Riskin Jr. and Victoria Riskin with Riskin. She drove a car into her 90s and was a vegetarian who woke before sunrise to write.
Fay Wray’s role in King Kong 1933 as the beauty who kills the beast defined her career. Her 1932-1933 horror films made her Hollywood’s first scream queen. Two days after her death in 2004, the Empire State Building dimmed its lights for 15 minutes in her memory. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 and a posthumous star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2005. Her scream appears in popular culture, including in The Rocky Horror Picture Show 1975 and Type O Negative’s song Fay Wray Come Out and Play.
Every award, honor, and recognition received by Fay Wray — Grammys, hall-of-fame inductions, civic honors, lifetime achievements.
A wall of memorable lines from Fay Wray — lyrics, interviews, and off-the-cuff remarks captured over a lifetime.
I Was Known as the Queen of the Bs. If Only I’d Been a Little More Selective.
Every Time I’m in New York, I Say a Little Prayer When Passing the Empire State Building. a Good Friend of Mine Died up There.
About Writer Edgar Wallace: He Was Very Pudgy and Very British. Always Eating Sweets. Very Rotund. Sweated Profusely in the California Warmth. at First, He Seemed to Think My Name Was Kay Fay! Which Gave Us All a Laugh. and Then, Ten Days Later, He Caught Pneumonia from All That Sweating and Was Soon Dead.
Little-known facts about Fay Wray — origins, oddities, and behind-the-scenes details from a public life.
Two days after Fay Wray’s death on August 10, 2004, the Empire State Building dimmed its lights for 15 minutes in her memory, honoring the climax of King Kong 1933.
Fay Wray was originally offered the role of elderly Rose DeWitt Bukater in Titanic 1997 but turned it down.
Fay Wray befriended director Peter Jackson while he was developing his King Kong remake, and she also met and approved Naomi Watts to play Ann Darrow, the role Wray originated.
For the 2005 King Kong remake, Peter Jackson wanted Fay Wray to speak the closing line. She was offered the part in spring 2004 but declined; she died a few months later, and the line went to Jack Black.
Fay Wray drove a car into her 90s.
Fay Wray turned down a cameo in the 1976 King Kong remake because she disliked the script.
Fay Wray earned the title of Hollywood’s first scream queen from her 1932-1933 horror films including Doctor X 1932, Mystery of the Wax Museum 1933, The Vampire Bat 1933, and King Kong 1933.
Fay Wray affectionately described King Kong as her little man.
Fay Wray is referenced twice in The Rocky Horror Picture Show 1975 in the lyrics and during the floorshow.
At the 70th Academy Awards in 1998, Billy Crystal introduced a King Kong clip and then surprised Fay Wray in the audience, calling her the Beauty who charmed the Beast. Startled, she rose to wave as the audience applauded.
Fay Wray was almost a vegetarian and never ate late at night. She woke before sunrise and spent hours writing.
King Kong 1933 saved RKO Radio Pictures from bankruptcy.
Fay Wray was the guest of honor at the Empire State Building’s 60th birthday celebration in 1991.
In January 2003, at age 95, Fay Wray received the Legend in Film Award at the Palm Beach International Film Festival during the screening of Broadway: The Golden Age.
Fay Wray was nominated as a WAMPAS Baby Star in 1926 alongside Mary Astor, Joan Crawford, and Janet Gaynor.
Fay Wray appeared on a 2006 Canadian postage stamp honoring Canadians in Hollywood, alongside John Candy, Lorne Greene, and Mary Pickford.
Fay Wray served as a bridesmaid at Jeanette MacDonald’s 1937 wedding to Gene Raymond, along with Ginger Rogers and Marie Blake.
Fay Wray saw King Kong only four times in her life.
A Fay Wray Fountain stands on the main street of Cardston, Alberta, her birthplace, which also houses Canada’s first Mormon Temple.
Fay Wray was interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, behind Paramount Studios near Hollywood and Vine.
Fay Wray’s third husband, Dr. Sanford Rothenberg, was a brain surgeon.
Fay Wray had a daughter, Susan Riskin, with first husband John Monk Saunders, and two children, Robert Riskin Jr. and Victoria Riskin, with second husband Robert Riskin.
Fay Wray received a posthumous star on Canada’s Walk of Fame on June 5, 2005.
Gothic metal band Type O Negative wrote a song about Fay Wray titled Fay Wray Come Out and Play.
Fay Wray received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 8, 1960.
Fay Wray is best remembered as the girl held in the hand of King Kong.
Though she left Canada young, Fay Wray frequently visited her hometown of Cardston, Alberta.
Fay Wray’s nose became slightly misaligned during the filming of an early Western.
Fay Wray also wrote plays, including Angela Is Twenty-Two and The Meadowlark.
Fay Wray is referenced in the 1998 song Are You Jimmy Ray? by Jimmy Ray.
Fay Wray’s image appears on the cover of the 2012 CD Electro Swing V.
Fay Wray’s biography appears in The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives, Volume 7.
In 2004, Fay Wray met Arthur L. Bernstein in Boca Raton and appeared in his documentary alongside Robert Evans.
Fay Wray inspired Irish singer Paul Murphy’s song Out From The Shadows, written after watching her 1934 film Woman in the Shadows.
Paul Murphy’s song Ray of Beauty is a playful number packed with Fay Wray movie titles and character references.
Quick answers to the questions readers ask most about Fay Wray.
Celebrities similar to Fay Wray — same craft, ranked by reach.
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