Fay Wray Biography, Spouse, Children, Death, Family, Net Worth

Long before Naomi Watts played the role of Ann Darrow in King Kong (2005), a certain beauty named Fay Wray made the role her most significant work as she played the same character in the original 1933 version of the film. The Canadian-American actress was also known for being one of the first actresses to be named the Scream Queen, due to her recurring appearances in horror films during her career. Read on to learn more about his career, love life, and the circumstances of his death.

Biography of Fay Wray

On September 15, 1907, on a ranch near Cardston, Alberta, Canada, Vina Fay Wray was born one of six children born to Elvina Marguerite Jones and Joseph Heber Wray. Her father was from Kingston upon Hull, England, while her mother was from Salt Lake City, Utah. She is the granddaughter of Mormon pioneer, Daniel Webster Jones. However, she would never have been identified as a Mormon.

In 1912, the Wray family moved to Utah, residing in Salt Lake City, then Lark, before moving and settling in Los Angeles, California in 1919. Faywray then went to school Hollywood High School to pursue an acting career. She made her first appearance at the age of 16 in a historical short film in 1923. She then signed for Universal Studios and two years later landed a major role in the silent film. The Coastal Patrol (1925). Her performances in this film, among others, earned her a spot on the 1926 WAMPAS Baby Stars list, which listed a group of women who the Western Association of Motion Picture Advertisers believed were destined for stardom.

In 1926 Fay Wray signed a contract with Paramount Pictures. The same year, she was cast as the female lead in La Marche des noces. She appeared in more than a dozen films, moving from silence to cinema. After her contract with Paramount ended, she collaborated with several other film companies, including RKO Radio Pictures, Inc., which produced films like The Most Dangerous Game (1932) and King Kong (1933).

In 1942, Fay Wray decided to quit acting,However, after some financial problems, she resumed her career. She devoted herself mainly to television series, appearing in the ABC sitcom Family Pride (1953-1954) and then in the CBS courtroom drama Perry Mason (1958, 1959 and 1965). Other works include Adam Had Four Sons (1941), The Treasure of the Golden Condor (1953), Small Town Girl (1953) and Crime of Passion (1957) before his further retirement in 1980.

Fay Wray net worth

Details about Fay Wray’s earnings and net worth are not known. The only number about what she earned in her job is what she was paid to appear in her most popular role. Wray is reported to have received $10,000, equivalent to $200,000 in 2018, to play the role of Ann Darrow in King Kong (1933).

Family – Spouse, Children

Fay Wray was married three times; his firsthis marriage to John Monk Saunders, Oscar-winning author and director. The two men exchanged vows in 1928 and were married for eleven years before divorcing in 1939, a year before Saunders committed suicide by hanging himself. Together, the couple had a daughter named Susan Cary Saunders, born in 1936.

In 1942 Wray married Robert Riskin, who was also an Academy Award-winning writer. Riskin adopted Wray’s child from his first marriage, and then they had two more children; Robert Jr., born in 1943 and Victoria, born in 1945. The couple remained happily ever after Riskin’s death in September 1955. Wray remained single for over 15 years before marrying a third time, this time to the neurosurgeon Sanford Rothenberg.. The two were married until his death in 1991.

Dead

Fay Wray died on August 8, 2004, in her apartment in Manhattan, New York. The cause of death was reportedly a natural cause as it was noted that the actress died in her sleep. His death came just before filming began on director Peter Jackson’s 2005 King Kong remake. It was reported that Jackson approached Wray to make an appearance in the film but the actress politely declined.

The Empire State Building, synonymous with the film King Kong, turned off its lights for 15 minutes in memory of Wray, two days after his death, while his remains were later interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, California.

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