1. Eunice Fay McKenzie was an American actress and singer.
21 Facts About Fay McKenzie
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Fay McKenzie starred in silent films as a child, and then sound films as an adult, but perhaps she is best known for her leading roles opposite Gene Autry in the early 1940s in five horse opera features.
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Fay McKenzie was known for her collaborations with director Blake Edwards on five occasions.
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Fay McKenzie appeared on Broadway, radio, and television, having appeared on screen at ten weeks old in 1918.
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Fay McKenzie was still appearing on screen at the time of her death, with her latest project opposite her son Tom Waldman Jr.
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Fay McKenzie's father had a stock company called the McKenzie Merry Makers, and was both an actor and director in stage productions and films.
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Fay McKenzie's company included such actors as Broncho Billy Anderson, Ben Turpin, and Victor Potel.
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Fay McKenzie appeared in four other silent films as a child: A Knight of the West as Fray Murten, When Love Comes as Ruth, The Judgment of the Storm as a Heath Twin, and The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln as a young Sarah Lincoln.
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Fay McKenzie returned to films in 1934 in Student Tour as Mary Lou.
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Fay McKenzie appeared in numerous uncredited roles throughout the 1930s, with occasional credited roles in films such as The Boss Cowboy as Sally Nolan, and the anti-cannabis propaganda film Assassin of Youth as Linda Clayton.
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Fay McKenzie had a small part in the 1939 film Gunga Din, which was inducted by the United States Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry in 1999 with the motivation of being "culturally significant".
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In 1940, Fay McKenzie appeared in the stage show Meet the People, which premiered in Los Angeles and ended up on Broadway.
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Fay McKenzie went on to appear in four additional Autry films as his leading lady: Sierra Sue as Sue Larrabee, Cowboy Serenade as Stephanie Lock, Heart of the Rio Grande as Alice Bennett, and Home in Wyomin' as Clementine Benson.
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Fay McKenzie sang duets with Autry in each of these films.
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Fay McKenzie appeared in A Midsummer Night's Dream and later appeared in Broadway in Burlesque with Bert Lahr.
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Fay McKenzie toured extensively entertaining the troops alongside Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Cary Grant, James Cagney, and old family friends Laurel and Hardy.
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Fay McKenzie entertained the troops with her former screen partner, Gene Autry.
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Fay McKenzie appeared in the television series The Millionaire as Ruth Spencer, Mr Lucky as Sheila Wells, The Tom Ewell Show as Emma Franklin, and Bonanza as Victoria Gates.
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In 2018, Fay McKenzie had a cameo appearance in the film "Kill A Better Mousetrap," which resulted in her film appearances spanning 100 years.
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Fay McKenzie's brother-in-law was the actor and comedian Billy Gilbert.
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Fay McKenzie died peacefully of natural causes in her sleep in Highland Park, Los Angeles on April 16,2019.