A little known fact is that legendary King Kong actress Fay Wray is from Cardston, Alberta. Wray came to prominence playing Ann Darrow, the object of King Kong’s affections, in 1933. She was born Vina Fay Wray on September 15th, 1907, to parents from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, although she was never baptized in the faith. The family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1912 and Hollywood in 1919, when Wray was 12.
In 1923, Wray appeared in her first film at the age of 16, when she landed a role in a short historical film sponsored by a local newspaper. After a few minor roles in the early 1920s, Wray was selected as one of the “WAMPAS Baby Stars,” a group of women whom they believed to be on the threshold of movie stardom. The following year, she signed a contract with Paramount Pictures and was cast in the leading role in The Wedding March, a silent romance film. Although the film was a financial failure, she continued working with Paramount and survived the transition from silent film to “talkies,” or movies with sound.
After years with Paramount, Wray began working with a number of other studios and made the move into early horror movies such as Doctor X (1932) and Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933). During this period, she filmed RKO productions The Most Dangerous Game (1932) and King Kong (1933), both co-starring Robert Armstrong and shot in the same jungle. She was paid $10,000 ($200,000 with inflation) for King Kong, which was a huge success that saved RKO from bankruptcy and made Wray a star.
While she continued to star in films in the 1930s, notably in the 1934 romantic comedy The Richest Girl in the World, she retired in 1942, but she returned to acting shortly thereafter for financial reasons. She mostly made the move to television, appearing on The Pride of the Family, Perry Mason, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and 77 Sunset Strip.
Due to her role in King Kong, she became associated with New York City’s Empire State Building and made several appearances to celebrate various anniversaries for the building.
Wray died in her sleep of natural causes on August 8th, 2004 in her apartment in Manhattan, five weeks before her 97th birthday. Wray is interred at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood. Two days after her death, the lights of the Empire State Building were lowered for fifteen minutes in her memory.
Those wishing to learn more about Fay Wray and her experiences can read her autobiography, On the Other Hand, published in 1989.
