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
