Fay Bainter

Bainter, Fay (1891–1968), actress. After performing as a child actress in stock in her hometown of Los Angeles, she made her New York debut in a musical, The Rose of Panama (1912), appeared in The Bridal Path (1913), and then toured with Mrs. Fiske in Mrs. Bumpstead‐Leigh (1914). Bainter first called attention to herself in New York as the patriotic Ruth Sherwood in Arms and the Girl (1916) and as Mary Temple, the name given a statue come to life, in The Willow Tree (1917). In 1918 she returned to musicals to play Aline in The Kiss Burglar, then essayed her most famous role, Ming Toy, the spunky young girl who would escape her strict Oriental past, in East Is West (1918). As one of the most sought‐after and busiest actresses of the 1920s, her notable appearances included Elspeth in Victor Herbert's The Dream Girl (1924), Pauli Arndt in the anti‐war play The Enemy (1925), Louise in a revival of The Two Orphans (1926), Julia Sterrol in Noel Coward's Fallen Angels (1927), Kate Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer (1928), and Mrs. Sullen in The Beaux' Stratagem (1928). In the early 1930s she played important roles in more revivals, among them Kalonika in Lysistrata (1930) and Lady Mary Lasenby in The Admirable Crichton (1931), then essayed Mimi in a road company of The Gay Divorce (1933). Bainter's last important Broadway assignment was Fran Dodsworth in Dodsworth (1934). After ten years in Hollywood, she returned to New York as Margaret Brennan in The Next Half Hour (1945), followed by summer stock and touring as Mary Tyrone in Long Day's Journey into Night. She has been characterized as a “charming, demure” actress whose performances displayed “technical perfection.”

• Born: Dec 07, 1891 in Los Angeles, California
• Died: Apr 16, 1968 in Beverly Hills, California
• Occupation: Actor
• Active: '30s-'40s
• Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
• Career Highlights: Jezebel, Dark Waters, Woman of the Year
• First Major Screen Credit: This Side of Heaven (1934)

Biography

American actress Fay Bainter was working in stock at age five, and by the time she was 19 was one of the privileged members of theatrical impresario David Belasco's company. First starring on Broadway in 1912, Bainter was cast in ingenue or romantic parts for the first portion of her career. When she finally decided to give movies a try, it was as a mature, somewhat plump character actress. Her first film was This Side of Heaven (1934), after which, according to many historians she was established in kindly, motherly roles - except for those in which she wasn't so kind and motherly, which constituted the more interesting moments of her film career. In 1938, Bainter made cinema history by being nominated for two Academy Awards in two different categories: As best actress for White Banners, a second-string Warners drama in which she played a "Mrs. Fixit", and as best supporting actress in Jezebel, where she had the somewhat harsher role of southern belle Bette Davis' remonstrative Aunt Belle. Academy members were confused by Bainter's dual nomination, the result being that the Academy was compelled to change its nominating and voting rules (P.S.: She won for Jezebel). Occasionally a star (The War Against Mrs. Hadley [1943]) and always near the top of the supporting-cast list, Bainter worked steadily in films until the early 1950s, shifting her attention at that time to television. In 1958, she appeared in the touring company of the Eugene O'Neill play Long Day's Journey Into Night in the role of Mary Tyrone -- a difficult and demanding assignment even for a woman half her age, but one that she pulled off brilliantly. Bainter returned to films as an unsympathetic wealthy dowager in The Children's Hour (1961), which earned her another Oscar nomination -- this time in one category only. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Children's Hour Buy this Movie	June Bride Buy this Movie	The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Buy this Movie	The Kid from Brooklyn Buy this Movie
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