Past Her Primate

Or
Old Actresses Don’t Die, They Just Fay Away
Seventy years late, actress Fay Wray has been brought to justice for her role in the death of King Kong. Able to monkey around with the legal system, due to Carl Denham’s ambiguous eyewitness account, “’Twas beauty killed the beast,” Wray got off scot free. Although Wray appeared in more than 70 films, earning a reputation as an attractive, if limited, leading lady and the first cinematic scream queen, her role as King Kong’s main squeeze is the only reason we remember a career that has featured one acting credit since 1958. After being told her next co-star would be Hollywood’s tallest, darkest leading man, she expected Clark Gable, and instead got an 18-inch statue of a monkey. Although she resented playing second banana for much of her life, she later appreciated the film’s lasting impact. In 1991, she was the guest of honor at the Empire State Building’s 60th anniversary, and this week the building went dark to note her passing.