| Frank Fay | |
|---|---|
in The Stolen Jools (1931) |
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| Born | Francis Anthony Donner November 17, 1891 San Francisco, California, U.S. |
| Died | September 25, 1961 (aged 69) Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Years active | 1929–1955 |
| Spouse | Barbara Stanwyck (m. 1928–1935) (divorced) Frances White (?-?) Lee Buchanan (?-?; divorced) |
Frank Fay (November 17, 1891 – September 25, 1961) was an American film and stage actor, emcee, comedian, best known as an actor for having played "Elwood P. Dowd" in the play Harvey by the American playwright Mary Coyle Chase on Broadway. James Stewart played the role in the film version.
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Born as Francis Anthony Donner in San Francisco, California to Irish Catholic parents. He took the professional name of Frank Fay after concluding that his birth name was not suitable for the stage. He enjoyed considerable success as a variety artist starting around 1918, telling jokes and stories in a carefully planned "off the cuff" manner that was very original for the time. Jack Benny stated that he modeled his early stage character on Fay. During the 1920s Fay was vaudeville's highest-paid headliner, earning $17,500 a week.
When talkies arrived, Warner Brothers studio was eager to put him under contract along with a host of other famous stage personalities. Fay was cast as master of ceremonies in Warners Brothers most expensive production of 1929, the all-star color all-talking revue The Show of Shows (1929). Based on the success of that film, Fay was quickly signed up for an all-Technicolor musical comedy entitled Under A Texas Moon (1930) in which he also displayed his singing abilities. The movie was a box office success and produced a song hit of the theme song which was also titled "Under a Texas Moon".
Fay sang the theme song several times throughout the picture. Another expensive picture, Bright Lights (1930), an extravagant all-Technicolor musical, quickly followed. Frank Fay also starred in The Matrimonial Bed (1930), a Pre-Code comedy in which he sang the theme song twice. Frank Fay quickly found himself associated with musical films and this led to a decline in his popularity when the public became sick of musicals late in 1930.
In his next film, God's Gift to Women (1931), which was originally planned as a musical, was cut partially before release in order to remove the musical sequences. In this film, Frank Fay failed to get the rave reviews he had previously enjoyed. He attempted to produce his own picture in 1932 and struck a deal with Warner Bros. to have them release his film. This film was titled A Fool's Advice (1932) and proved to be only moderately successful.
Frank Fay married Barbara Stanwyck when she was relatively unknown. Fay helped Stanwyck jump-start her career in films and she was given a contract by Warner Brothers late in 1930. They married in 1928 (1928–1935) and adopted a son, Dion, on December 5, 1932. The marriage reportedly soured when Fay's career was eclipsed by Stanwyck's success. Some film historians have claimed that the Fay-Stanwyck marriage was the basis for A Star is Born, but this has not been confirmed. Their only film appearance together was a brief skit in the short film The Stolen Jools (1931).
Fay's Broadway talent and early success in talkies with his Pre-Code humor did not bode well with the rising conservative movement ushered by the Great Depression. Fay played in a series of films casting him as a debonair lover, irresistible to women, that frequently threw in suggestive Pre-Code jokes (e.g. homosexuality, sex). He was successful as a revue and night club comedian and Master of Ceremonies and appeared frequently on radio shows. (He was cast in a bit part as master of ceremonies in the night club sequence of Nothing Sacred.)
As late as the 1950s one of his most enduring routines was taking a popular song and analysing the "senseless" lyrics, for example "Tea for Two":—
Fay made a brief screen comeback in 1943 for the low-budget Monogram Pictures. He was teamed with comedian Billy Gilbert for a series of wartime comedies, but walked out after the opener, Spotlight Scandals. Fay was replaced by another comedian more congenial to Gilbert, Shemp Howard. After the end of WWII he had third billing in a movie called Love Nest.
Frank Fay died in Santa Monica, California, aged 69.