Fay Wray: The Famous Scream - Page: 2
Vina Fay Wray was born September 15, 1907. Her family lived in Alberta, Canada, at the family ranch, called "Wrayland". Her father was the founder of a successful sawmill. Her mother, a former schoolteacher, stayed home to raise Fay and her three older siblings Vivien, Vaida and Willow.
Life was peaceful at Wrayland until an unfortunate winter accident. Four-year-old Fay had been sledding across an icy pond with her brother Vivien. The ice broke, and while Fay didn't fall in, her brother struggled for a while in the water. The accident drove their mother to a nervous breakdown.
The Wray siblings were sent to live with friends while their father sold the ranch. Then the entire family crossed the border and traveled to Arizona. There her father struggled in vain to run a farm. It was not long before they moved to Salt Lake City in search of better opportunities.
Five-year-old Fay's family was suddenly poor. Her father found work as a night watchman. They rented a house and barely got by on his salary. Fay's mother had another baby boy in 1914.
They moved to Lark for a job that did not satisfy the family's needs much better. When financial stress finally pushed her parents marriage to the breaking point, Fay's mother moved the children back to Salt Lake City and lived on financial assistance from her family.
The influenza epidemic of 1918 changed the course of Fay's life forever. Her sister, Vaida, died and as Fay was a delicate child, her mother worried that a cold winter would also kill her. At age fourteen, she was sent to live the warmer climate of Los Angeles, California.
Fay's chaperone was William Mortenson, a suitor of her older sister Willow. On the train to California, William admitted that he was more attracted to Fay than her sister. Innocent Fay was flattered, but unsure how to react to his confession. He eventually became more guardian than admirer.
When the aunt who was to follow Fay to the coast changed her mind, Mortenson found a series of friends who were willing to take her in. Fay started junior high. She loved school; she was popular and made good grades.
Fay would spend her weekends with Mortenson. He worked in a photography studio and he often took pictures of her.
One day, in a mischievous mood, Fay jokingly posed in a sultry Theda Bara style. She neglected to mention that she had been kidding when she sent the picture to her mother. Certain that her daughter was being compromised, Fay's mother soon arrived in California. She made Mortenson give her all of his prints and plates of Fay and destroyed them.
While not in school, Fay had done a few bit parts for Century comedy studios. One day, as she and her mother walked by the studio, a pair of producers recognized her and invited her to appear in their new movie. Fay's mother agreed to the proposal and the two were soon on the set. Her dream of being the next Mabel Normand was crushed when the director told her to stop making faces and "look pretty."
Soon Fay decided that as much as she liked school, she really wanted to act in the movies. She marched into Hal Roach studios and asked for work. The amused studio head granted her a six month contract. She appeared in a series of comedy shorts for the famous comedy studio.
When her contract at Hal Roach was finished, Fay moved to Universal. There she appeared in many western shorts. In 1926, along with Mary Astor, Joan Crawford and her dressing roommate Janet Gaynor, Fay was voted a WAMPAS (Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers) Baby Star, an honor that meant she was thought to have a promising career ahead of her.
One day at the studio, a writer agent friend of Fay's told her that she had suggested her to star opposite Erich Von Stroheim in his newest production. Fay went to meet Von Stroheim and was instantly fascinated with his intensity and intelligence. She was so overcome that she burst into tears, and this assured Von Stroheim that she had the right personality for the role of Mitzi in The Wedding March(1928).
After devising a way to get out of her Universal contract, Fay reported to Selig studios. There she learned about a new sort of filmmaking, where she didn't have to slather greasepaint on her face, the sets were elaborate and meticulously conceived and every detail was important.
Playing star-crossed lovers with Von Stroheim was powerful for Fay. She developed a crush on her director and co-star. However, when she confessed her feelings to Von Stroheim, she was unable to handle the intensity of his advances. Eighteen-year-old Fay was still quite innocent.
After six hours of film had been completed, Selig declared the production over budget. The film and Wray's services were sold to Paramount. Though The Wedding March and its lesser-known sequel The Honeymoon were released with numerous cuts, they were still masterpieces.
At Paramount, Fay was mostly cast in 'B' pictures, many times opposite rising star Gary Cooper. Without a mentor like Von Stroheim to win great parts for her, Fay's career did not flourish as Greta Garbo's and Marlene Dietrich's did. When times got rough in 1929, Paramount cancelled Fay's contract.
Though her career didn't take off at Paramount, Fay did meet a handsome screenwriter named John Monk Saunders there. In June 1928, they were married in a small ceremony. From the beginning, John was unfaithful. He had been having an affair with mogul wife Bessie Lasky, and he had no intention of breaking it off after the wedding.
Saunders was deeply mentally disturbed. Fay soon found that his sexual appetite was insatiable. He chased maids, secretaries, and actresses, sometimes right in front of Fay and the women's husbands. He also struggled with a drug problem (which was supported by a shady doctor) and drank heavily. Fay puzzled over his actions, but was often more curious than angry about his affairs. Still, she was hurt by the way he behaved.
In 1931, Fay traveled with her husband to New York to appear onstage in a play he had written called, Nikki. It was based on a woman in Paris with whom he'd had an affair early in his marriage with Fay. One of her co-stars was the young and handsome Cary Grant. The two would deeply admire each other for years, though they resisted a full-blown romance.
Fay's New York experience gave her the opportunity to meet new and fascinating people. One of those people was an enthusiastic movie producer named Merian Cooper. He convinced Fay to star in his new movie. She was disappointed to find that her "tall, dark and handsome" leading male would not be Cary Grant, but an animatronic ape.
Thank you to Silent-movies.com (one of my favorite sites!) for permission to use the pictures of Fay.
Here are some reviews of Wray's movies from the extensive TV Guide movie database.
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