You know the image: a woman, a giant ape, a very big building. Now here is the part that should make you grin. The woman in that picture started out in southern Alberta.
Fay Wray was born Vina Fay Wray in Cardston on September 15, 1907, and both the Canadian Encyclopedia and Canada’s Walk of Fame agree on that.
How long she actually lived here
Not long, and we think that is what makes it so good. The Canadian Encyclopedia says she spent her early childhood on the family ranch before the family moved on to Arizona, then Utah, then California. She went to Hollywood High School, and the rest of the story plays out far from the foothills.
But a short Alberta chapter still counts. It makes that 1933 scream feel like it came from somewhere specific. It did.
Her life beyond King Kong
Plenty. The Canadian Encyclopedia says she started acting at 16 in Hal Roach comedies and went on to make 75 films over 35 years, ending with Dragstrip Riot in 1958. Walk of Fame says her role in Erich von Stroheim’s The Wedding March (1928) was her own favourite.
She also moved into television, with the 1953 sitcom Pride of the Family, and worked on stage. Not bad for a ranch kid.
King Kong is still the one that stuck, of course. Walk of Fame notes the American Film Institute named it one of the 100 greatest films of all time in 1998, and says the production helped save RKO Studios. One scream, one studio rescued.
How Canada has said thanks
She died in Manhattan on August 8, 2004, at 96. Walk of Fame says the Empire State Building’s lights were dimmed for fifteen minutes in her honour. She was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2005, and Canada Post put her on a stamp in 2006, according to the Canadian Encyclopedia.
The same source mentions a fountain named for her on Cardston’s main street, while the regional tourism site Alberta Southwest lists a statue among the town’s highlights.
So here is our suggestion. Drive south and check the monument yourself, since the two sources describe it differently. Either way, Cardston has a better claim on her than most places that put her on a postcard, and you get to say you went to see where the scream began.
There’s more where this came from. Start with A Calgary short film landed two CIFF slots, or jump to A Calgary optometrist film made the Regina lineup. Or try The Allen family gave Calgary a movie palace for a change of pace.
If this one hooked you, we think Interstellar Alberta Filming Put Nanton and Okotoks on Screen and Monique Barrie joins the next Alberta Producer Accelerator are a good next read.
Quick answers
Yes. Fay Wray was born Vina Fay Wray in Cardston, Alberta, on September 15, 1907, according to both the Canadian Encyclopedia and Canada’s Walk of Fame. She spent her early childhood on the family ranch before the family moved on to Arizona, then Utah, then California.
The Canadian Encyclopedia says Fay Wray started acting at 16 in Hal Roach comedies and went on to make 75 films over 35 years, ending with Dragstrip Riot in 1958. She also worked in television, with the 1953 sitcom Pride of the Family, and on stage.
She was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2005, and Canada Post put her on a stamp in 2006. The Canadian Encyclopedia also mentions a fountain named for her on Cardston’s main street, and Alberta Southwest lists a statue among the town’s highlights.
