Fay Wray

Lore & Background

Fay Wray was born on a ranch near Cardston, Alberta, to parents who were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her family moved to Salt Lake City in 1912, then to Lark, Utah, in 1914, and later to Hollywood, where she attended Hollywood High School. She appeared in her first film at age 16 in 1923, a short historical film sponsored by a local newspaper. In 1926, she was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars and signed a contract with Paramount Pictures as a teenager, making more than a dozen feature films there.

Reader's Guide

Fay Wray's significance lies in her iconic role as Ann Darrow in King Kong (1933), a film that saved RKO from bankruptcy and established her as a horror film legend. She was dubbed the first 'scream queen' for her performances in early horror films such as Doctor X (1932) and Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933). Her career included silent films, talkies, and television, with appearances on Perry Mason and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. She retired in 1980 after the made-for-television film Gideon's Trumpet. In later years, she received honors including a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a postage stamp from Canada Post. She turned down a role in James Cameron's Titanic (1997) and was a special guest at the 70th Academy Awards.

Did You Know?

• Wray was paid $10,000 for her role in King Kong (equivalent to about $200,000 in 2025).
• She was a granddaughter of LDS pioneer Daniel Webster Jones.
• Two days after her death, the lights of the Empire State Building were lowered for 15 minutes in her memory.
• She became a naturalized U.S. citizen in May 1935.