Fay Baker
| Fay Baker | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born |
Fay Schwager January 31, 1917 New York City, U.S. |
| Died |
December 8, 1987 (aged 70) Sleepy Hollow, New York, U.S. |
| Other names | Beth Holmes |
| Years active | 1938–1963 |
| Spouse(s) |
Arthur Weiss (1940–1965; divorced); 2 children |
Fay Baker (born Fay Schwager; January 31, 1917 – December 8, 1987) was an American stage, film and television actress, and a successful author under the pen name Beth Holmes. Her novel, The Whipping Boy, made the Los Angeles Times bestseller list in 1978. She also published, under her own name, My Darling, Darling Doctors.
Career
Fay Schwager's career began in New York with roles on Broadway in the early 1940s.[1] She changed her name to Baker (from her mother's family) in 1944 in Another Love Story at New York's Fulton Theatre. She was "discovered" by Alfred Hitchcock in 1946 and given the role of Ethel in Notorious. While the part was minor, she told her daughter that Hitchcock made her stay on the set for the entire film shoot. The director felt that since he was paying her salary, she should be standing by at all times. She claimed she had had a larger role in the film but that much of her work ended up on the cutting room floor.[2]
Baker remained in Hollywood for nearly two decades, acting in two dozen films with star billing in The House on Telegraph Hill (1950).[3] She had one of the leading roles in the 1950 crime drama Double Deal, and later played one of publisher Ethel Barrymore's two daughters trying to seize control of and sell editor Humphrey Bogart's newspaper in the 1952 drama Deadline - U.S.A..
During her California years, she also appeared frequently on television. She is credited with guest parts on 30 different series beginning with Your Show Time in 1949 up to her final performance on Dr. Kildare in 1963. Her roles included comedy sitcoms (Hazel, The Donna Reed Show), drama (Perry Mason), and westerns (Have Gun - Will Travel). In 1958, she made two guest appearances on Perry Mason, playing Marian Newburn in "The Case of the Demure Defendant" and Stephanie Sabin in "The Case of the Perjured Parrot".
Personal life
Baker married writer/producer Arthur Weiss on August 3, 1940, in New York City. They had two children, her son Jonathan being born in 1950, before divorcing in 1965. While Weiss remained in California working for Irwin Allen, she returned to New York City with her two children and began a new career as an author.
After her son Jonathan died from a drug overdose in 1971, Fay dedicated herself to the topic of how parents enable bad behavior in children. This inspired her most successful novel, The Whipping Boy (1978), which focused on the "emotional abuse" of children.[2] She used the pen name "Beth Holmes" to shield her family from being compared with fictional characters in the novel.
Fay was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1972 and described the experience humorously in her first published book, My Darling, Darling Doctors, in 1975. She lost her 15-year battle with breast cancer on December 8, 1987, at age 70.
TV appearances
| TV | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| TV Show | Role | Episode | Year |
| Dr. Kildare | Mrs. Tucker | A Very Infectious Disease | 1963 |
| Hazel | Madeleine Van Dyke | Number, Please? | 1962 |
| The Roaring 20's | Carlotta La Salle | No Exit | 1961 |
| This Is the Life | The Sin of Silence | 1961 | |
| The Ann Sothern Show | Miss Norton | Pandora | 1961 |
| Louise | The Roman Hatter | 1960 | |
| Mildred Holliday | Five Year Itch | 1959 | |
| 77 Sunset Strip | Caroline Kinares | Strange Bedfellows | 1961 |
| The Donna Reed Show | Hope | Donna Goes to a Reunion | 1960 |
| Maggie | Annie Bradley | Unsold Pilot | 1960 |
| The David Niven Show | Sarah Winter | The Promise | 1959 |
| Have Gun - Will Travel | Mrs. Grayson | Lady on the Stagecoach | 1959 |
| Perry Mason | Stephanie Sabin | The Case of the Perjured Parrot | 1958 |
| Marian Newburn | The Case of the Demure Defendant | 1958 | |
| M Squad | Helen Greville | Day of Terror | 1958 |
| The Court of Last Resort | Mrs. Laura Barclay | The Stephen Lowell Case | 1958 |
| Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer | Margaret Green | Letter Edged in Blackmail | 1958 |
| San Francisco Beat | Elsie Folger | The Jealous Mambo Dancer Case | 1958 |
| The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp | Marie Burden | Bad Woman | 1957 |
| The Adventures of Jim Bowie | Charlotte De Vaux | A Fortune for Madame | 1957 |
| The Ford Television Theatre | Laura Van Cleve | Singapore | 1957 |
| Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | Sylvia | The Girl in the Grass | 1957 |
| State Trooper | Judith Andrews | Weep No More O'Grady | 1957 |
| Four Star Playhouse | Nadine | The Case of Emily Carmeron | 1956 |
| Claire Dumont | Man in the Cellar | 1954 | |
| Damon Runyon Theatre | Adele Salisbury | Old Em's Kentucky Home | 1955 |
| The Loretta Young Show | Pat Wadlington | Let Columbus Discover You | 1955 |
| The Millionaire | Margaret Browning | The Margaret Browning Story | 1955 |
| Rebound | Quiet Sunday | 1953 | |
| Sky King | Lucille Bradley | Wings of Justice | 1952 |
| Cavalcade of America | A Romance to Remember | 1952 | |
| The Doctor | The Hiding Place | 1952 | |
| Dangerous Assignment | Countess Todesca | The Knitting Needle Story | 1952 |
| Fireside Theatre | Dinner for Three | 1950 | |
| Your Show Time | The Necklace | 1949 | |
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 1957 | Sorority Girl | Mrs. Tanner | |
| She Devil | Evelyn Kendall | IMDb | |
| 1956 | Don't Knock the Rock | Arlene MacLaine | |
| 1955 | I Died a Thousand Times | Woman in Tropico Lobby (uncredited) | |
| 1954 | Phffft! | Radio Actress as 'Nurse Serena' (uncredited) | |
| 1953 | Invaders from Mars | Mrs. Wilson (uncredited) | |
| The Blue Gardenia | Switchboard Monitor (uncredited) | ||
| 1952 | The Star | Margaret's sister | |
| Deadline - U.S.A. | Alice Garrison Courtney | ||
| 1951 | Reunion in Reno | Miss Pearson | IMDb |
| The House on Telegraph Hill | Margaret | ||
| The Company She Keeps | Tilly Thompson | ||
| 1950 | Double Deal | Lilly Sebastian | |
| Father of the Bride | Miss Bellamy (Stanley's secretary) (uncredited) | ||
| Chain Lightning | Mrs. Willis | ||
| 1949 | Tell It to the Judge | Valerie Hobson | |
| Black Midnight | Martha Baxter | IMDb | |
| Manhattan Angel | Vi Langdon | IMDb | |
| Family Honeymoon | Fran Wilson (uncredited) | ||
| 1948 | No Minor Vices | Mrs. Felton | |
| The Saxon Charm | Mrs. Noble (uncredited) | ||
| The Gentleman from Nowhere | Catherine Ashton | ||
| Trapped by Boston Blackie | Margie O'Reilly, alias Sandra Doray | IMDb | |
| 1946 | Notorious | Ethel | |
Playlist
| Plays | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Play | Role | Notes |
| 1946 | Wonderful Journey | Julia Farnsworth | Dec 25, 1946 - Jan 1, 1947 |
| 1944 | Violet | Crystal | Oct 24, 1944 - Nov 11, 1944 |
| 1943 | Another Love Story | Celia Hale | Oct 12, 1943 - Jan 8, 1944 |
| 1942 | The Sun Field | Mildred Deagon | Dec 9, 1942 - Dec 12, 1942 |
| 1942 | Journey to Jerusalem | The Greek Woman | Oct 5, 1940 - Oct 19, 1940 |
| The Taming of the Shrew | Bianca | Feb 5, 1940 - Feb 10, 1940 | |
| 1938 | Danton's Death | Voice in the Street | Nov 2, 1938 - Nov 1938 |
References
- ↑ Fay Baker IBDb profile
- 1 2 Baker's personal life
- ↑ Allmovie.com profile
External links
- Fay Baker at the Internet Broadway Database
- Fay Baker at the Internet Movie Database