Fay Okell Bainter was an American film and stage actress.

Early life

She was born in Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

, the daughter of Charles F. Bainter and Mary Okell. In 1910, she was a traveling stage

Theatre

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...

 actress. She made her first appearance on stage in 1908 in The County Chairman at Morosco's Theater in Burbank, California and her Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 debut was in the role as Celine Marinter in The Rose of Panama (1912). She appeared in a number of successful plays in New York like East is West, The Willow Tree, and Dodsworth. In 1926 she appeared with Walter Abel in a Broadway production of Channing Pollock's The Enemy. In 1918, her portrait was painted by Robert Henri

Robert Henri

Robert Henri was an American painter and teacher. He was a leading figure of the Ashcan School in art.- Early life :...

, the artist who was known for the style of Ashcan School

Ashcan School

The Ashcan School, also called the Ash Can School, is defined as a realist artistic movement that came into prominence in the United States during the early twentieth century, best known for works portraying scenes of daily life in New York's poorer neighborhoods. The movement grew out of a group...

.

Career

MGM persuaded her to try films and her movie

Film

A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

 debut was in This Side of Heaven (Feb 1934), the same year she appeared in Dodsworth

Dodsworth (play)

Dodsworth is a three-act play by Sidney Howard based on the 1929 novel by Sinclair Lewis. Through the title character, it examines the differences between American and European intellect, manners, and morals.-Synopsis:...

on Broadway and the film It Happened One Day (July 1934).

Bainter quickly achieved success, and in 1938 she became the first performer nominated for both the Academy Award for Best Actress

Academy Award for Best Actress

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...

, for White Banners

White Banners

White Banners is a 1938 Warner Brothers drama film starring Claude Rains, Fay Bainter, Jackie Cooper, Bonita Granville, Henry O'Neill, and Kay Johnson....

(1937), and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...

 for Jezebel (1938), winning for the latter. Since then, only nine other actors have won dual nominations in a single year. She was again nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Children's Hour

The Children's Hour (1961 film)

The Children's Hour is a 1961 American drama film directed by William Wyler. The screenplay by John Michael Hayes is based on the 1934 play of the same title by Lillian Hellman...

(1961).

Personal life

She and Reginald Venable were married on June 8, 1921, in Riverside, California

Riverside, California

Riverside is a city in Riverside County, California, United States, and the county seat of the eponymous county. Named for its location beside the Santa Ana River, it is the largest city in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan area of Southern California, 4th largest inland California...

. The couple had one son, Reginald Venable Jr. (1926–1974), who became an actor.

Bainter was the aunt of actress Dorothy Burgess

Dorothy Burgess

Dorothy Burgess was a stage and motion picture actress from Los Angeles, California.-Family, education:She was a niece of Fay Bainter. On her father's side she was related to George Montgomery of Montgomery and Stone. Her grandfather was Henry A. Burgess, Sr. He came to Los Angeles in 1893,...

 and sister-in-law

Sister-in-law

A sister-in-law is the sister of one's spouse, the wife of one's sibling, or sometimes the wife of one's spouse's sibling...

 to actress Grace Burgess.

Death

Fay Bainter died at age 74 of pneumonia

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

 in Los Angeles. As her husband, Reginald Venable, was a military officer, the couple are interred at Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery

Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, is a military cemetery in the United States of America, established during the American Civil War on the grounds of Arlington House, formerly the estate of the family of Confederate general Robert E. Lee's wife Mary Anna Lee, a great...

. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

Hollywood Walk of Fame

The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...

 at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard

Hollywood Boulevard

-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...

 in Hollywood

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...

.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1934	This Side of Heaven	Francene Turner
1937	Quality Street	Susan Throssel
1937		Strogoff's Mother
1937	Make Way for Tomorrow Make Way for Tomorrow Make Way for Tomorrow is a 1937 American drama film directed by Leo McCarey. The plot concerns an elderly couple who are forced to separate when they lose their house and none of their five children will take both parents in....	Anita Cooper
1938	White Banners White Banners White Banners is a 1938 Warner Brothers drama film starring Claude Rains, Fay Bainter, Jackie Cooper, Bonita Granville, Henry O'Neill, and Kay Johnson....	Hannah Parmalee	Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
1938	Jezebel	Aunt Belle	Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
1938	Mother Carey's Chickens Mother Carey's Chickens (film) Mother Carey's Chickens is a 1938 drama film starring Anne Shirley and Ruby Keeler. The film was directed by Rowland V. Lee and based upon a 1917 play by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Rachel Crothers, which in turn was adapted from Wiggins' novel of the same title.Originally Katharine Hepburn was...	Mrs. Margaret Carey
1938		Mrs. Martha Allen
1938		Hannah Linden
1939	Yes, My Darling Daughter Yes, My Darling Daughter (1939 film) Yes, My Darling Daughter is a 1939 American drama film directed by William Keighley and starring Priscilla Lane. Ellen Murray is a young woman is determined to spend a weekend with her lover, Douglas Hall before he takes off to Europe for his new job.-Cast:* Priscilla Lane as Ellen Murray*...	Ann "Annie" Murray
1939		Hattie Leonard
1939	Daughters Courageous Daughters Courageous Daughters Courageous is a 1939 drama film starring the three Lane Sisters , with the fourth sister being played by Gale Page. The movie also stars John Garfield and Claude Rains...	Nancy "Nan" Masters
1939	Our Neighbors – The Carters	Ellen Carter
1940	Young Tom Edison Young Tom Edison Young Tom Edison is a 1940 biographical film about the early life of inventor Thomas Edison, with Mickey Rooney in the title role.-Cast:*Mickey Rooney as Thomas Edison*Fay Bainter as Nancy Edison*George Bancroft as Samuel Edison...	Mrs. Samuel (Nancy) Edison
1940	Our Town	Mrs. Julia Hersey Gibbs
1940		Margaret "Meg" Fairfield
1940	Maryland	Charlotte Danfield
1941	Babes on Broadway Babes on Broadway Babes on Broadway is a 1941 musical film starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland and directed by Busby Berkeley, with Vincente Minnelli directing Garland's big solo numbers. The film, which features Fay Bainter and Virginia Weidler, was the third in the "Backyard Musical" series about kids who put...	Miss "Jonesy" Jones
1942	Woman of the Year Woman of the Year Woman of the Year is a romantic comedy film. The movie is about an emancipated woman, chosen "Woman of the Year", and her colleague-turned-husband and their efforts to negotiate a path to marital bliss....	Ellen Whitcomb
1942		Stella Hadley
1942	Journey for Margaret Journey for Margaret Journey for Margaret is a 1942 drama film set in London in World War II. It stars Robert Young and Laraine Day as a couple who have to deal with the loss of their unborn child due to a bombing raid. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by William Lindsay White.-Plot:John Davis is a...	Trudy Strauss
1942	Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch	Mrs. Elvira Wiggs
1943		Mrs. Macauley
1943	Presenting Lily Mars Presenting Lily Mars Presenting Lily Mars is an American musical motion picture produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and released in 1943. The film starred Judy Garland and Van Heflin and was based on the novel by Booth Tarkington...	Mrs. Thornway
1943	Salute to the Marines Salute to the Marines Salute to the Marines is a 1943 World War II war film starring Wallace Beery. The movie, set in the Philippines and shot in Technicolor , was directed by S...	Jennie Bailey
1943	Cry 'Havoc' Cry 'Havoc' This article is about the 1943 motion picture. For the board game see Cry Havoc.Cry 'Havoc' is a 1943 American drama film, produced by MGM and directed by Richard Thorpe...	Captain Alice Marsh
1944		Margaret Sibyll
1944	Dark Waters Dark Waters (1944 film) Dark Waters is a 1944 Gothic horror film based on the novel of the same name by Francis and Marian Cockrell. It was directed by André De Toth and starred Merle Oberon, Franchot Tone and Thomas Mitchell.-Plot:...	Aunt Emily
1944	Three Is a Family Three Is a Family Three Is a Family is a 1944 comedy film directed by Edward Ludwig. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Sound Recording .-Cast:* Marjorie Reynolds as Kitty Mitchell* Charles Ruggles as Sam Whitaker...	Frances Whittaker
1945	State Fair State Fair (1945 film) State Fair is a 1945 film directed by Walter Lang. The film a musical adaptation of the 1933 film of the same name, with original music by Rodgers and Hammerstein. The film starred Jeanne Crain, Dana Andrews, Dick Haymes, Vivian Blaine, Fay Bainter and Charles Winninger...	Melissa Frake
1946		Mrs. E. Winthrop LeMoyne
1946		Mrs. Taylor
1947	Deep Valley Deep Valley Deep Valley is a 1947 drama film starring Ida Lupino and Dane Clark. A young woman lives unhappily with her embittered parents in an isolated rural home until an escaped convict changes her dreary existence...	Ellie Saul
1947		Mrs. Eunice Mitty
1948	Give My Regards to Broadway	Fay Norwick
1948	June Bride June Bride June Bride is a 1948 American comedy film directed by Bretaigne Windust. Ranald MacDougall's screenplay, based on the unproduced play Feature for June by Eileen Tighe and Graeme Lorimer, was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Written American Comedy. The film starred Bette...	Paula Winthrop
1951	Close to My Heart Close to My Heart Close to My Heart is a 1951 Warner Bros. drama directed by William Keighley, written by James R. Webb , and starring Ray Milland and Gene Tierney.-Plot:...	Mrs. Morrow
1953		Mrs. Donaldson
1961		Mrs. Amelia Tilford	Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the... Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture

External links