Vina Fay Wray (September 15, 1907 – August 8, 2004) was a Canadian-American actress. Over a career that spanned nearly six decades, she attained international recognition for her roles in horror films, which has led to her being dubbed one of Hollywood's first "scream queens".
After appearing in minor film roles, Wray gained media attention after being selected as one of the "WAMPAS Baby Stars" in 1926. This led to her landing a contract with Paramount, where she made more than a dozen feature films, most notably Erich von Stroheim's silent classic The Wedding March (1928). After leaving Paramount, she signed deals with various film companies, being cast in her first horror film roles, in addition to many other types of roles, including in The Bowery (1933) and Viva Villa! (1934), both of which paired her with Wallace Beery. For RKO Pictures, she starred as Ann Darrow in the film for which she is most identified, King Kong (1933). After the success of King Kong, Wray made numerous appearances in both film and television, before retiring in 1980. Her final role was opposite Henry Fonda in the Made-for-TV Movie Gideon's Trumpet.
In addition to acting, Wray collaborated with Sinclair Lewis to write the 1938 play Angela Is Twenty-Two, which was adapted into the 1944 film This Is the Life.
Two days after her death in 2004, the lights of the Empire State Building were lowered for 15 minutes in her memory.
Her films on TV Tropes:
- The Wedding March (1925) as Mitzi / Mitzerl Schrammell
- The Finger Points (1931) as Marcia
- Doctor X (1932) as Joanne Xavier
- The Most Dangerous Game (1932) as Eve Trowbridge
- The Vampire Bat (1933) as Ruth Bertin
- Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) as Charlotte Duncan
- King Kong (1933) as Ann Darrow
- The Bowery (1933) as Lucy Calhoun
- Viva Villa! (1934) as Teresa
- It Happened in Hollywood (1937) as Gloria Gay
- The Cobweb (1955) as Edna Devanal
Tropes associated with her work:
- Approval of God:invoked She befriended Peter Jackson while he was developing King Kong (2005) and gave her approval to the film. She also did likewise to Naomi Watts, who was playing Ann in the remake.
- Creator Backlash:invoked She disliked how King Kong (1933) essentially pigeonholed her as a screamer in horror films, and had to move to the UK to try and get more varied roles. However, as the years went by she came to appreciate King Kong for its technical innovations.
- Fake American:invoked Despite being Canadian, she played mostly Americans.
- Hostility on the Set:invoked She didn't like working with Michael Curtiz on Doctor X and Mystery of the Wax Museum, as he would try to intimidate the actors by pacing in front of them during their lunch hour.
- I Am Not Spock:invoked As far as the world is concerned, King Kong (1933) may as well have been the only film she ever made.
- Magnum Opus Dissonance:invoked She felt The Wedding March was her best, or at least most challenging role."I still love that film, Erich von Stroheim was a wonderful human being, and he took a chance on me. I was only 19 when I did the screen test, but he saw something in me. After 75 years, it's still one of the happiest experiences of my life. And it was a nice part, wasn't it?"
- Non-Singing Voice:invoked A variation. She was once required to scream into a microphone uninterrupted for eight hours, and her scream was then used to dub actresses such as Katharine Hepburn or Ginger Rogers.
- Playing Against Type:invoked She got to go against type by playing a housewife in a sitcom The Pride of the Family.
- Playing with Character Type:invoked Although The Most Dangerous Game is a jungle-themed horror film, and she is something of a Damsel in Distress, Eve isn't actually the one in danger, and she's a slightly more active presence who helps the male lead survive the jungle.
- Real Life Writes the Hairstyle:invoked She was a natural brunette, so she had to wear a blonde wig to play Ann Darrow. According to her, this is because Jean Harlow was the producers' first choice for the part, but MGM refused to loan her out.
- Screaming Woman: She played this role so often that her particular scream was nicknamed 'the aria of the agony', and after a while, whenever she walked into an audition, casting directors expected her to scream.
- Star-Making Role:invoked Starring alongside Gary Cooper in The Four Feathers and Ronald Coleman in The Unholy Garden made her a recognisable leading lady, and showed that she could make the transition to sound.
- 10-Minute Retirement: She retired in 1942 when she got married, but quickly resumed acting due to financial issues.
- Trope Codifier: She is considered the first Scream Queen.
- Typecasting:invoked For years, she was typecast as a screaming Damsel in Distress thanks to King Kong (1933).
- What Could Have Been:invoked
- There was talk of her having a Remake Cameo in King Kong (2005) to deliver the "it was beauty that killed the beast" line. She initially turned it down but then hinted that she was warming to the idea. Unfortunately, she passed away during pre-production, and the line was given back to Carl Denham.
- She'd also been offered a cameo in King Kong (1976), that she turned down because she didn't like the script.
- James Cameron offered her the role of Rose in Titanic (1997), playing the Time-Shifted Actor to Kate Winslet, but she turned it down and it was played by Gloria Stuart.
"I think to have done Titanic would have been a torturous experience altogether."