Kay Medford
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Margaret Kathleen Regan[1] (September 14, 1919 – April 10, 1980), better known as Kay Medford, was an American actress. For her performance as Rose Brice in the musical Funny Girl and the film adaptation of the same name, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress respectively.
Early years
Medford was born in 1919.[2] Her mother had been an actress with a Shakespearean stock group in Connecticut.[3] She was orphaned in her teens. She adopted the name Kay Medford professionally, and began her career after graduating from high school and working as a nightclub waitress.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
Career
Medford began entertaining professionally by performing at summer resorts in the Catskill Mountains.[4] In 1949, she toured with a nightclub routine in which she did impersonations of Hollywood celebrities.[3]
Medford was the original Mae Peterson (Albert's mother) in Bye Bye Birdie on Broadway, garnering excellent reviews. Medford appeared in the Warner Bros. rock and roll film, Jamboree (1957).Script error: No such module "Unsubst". She made her Broadway debut in 1951 in the musical Paint Your Wagon.[5]
She was cast in Carousel, then appeared onstage in Funny Girl[5] as the mother of Fanny Brice (played by Barbra Streisand); for this performance she was nominated for a 1964 Tony Award for Featured Actress (Musical),[6] and when she repeated the role in the 1968 film adaptation, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
Her many film credits included roles in A Face in the Crowd (1957), The Rat Race (1960), BUtterfield 8 (1960),[7] Girl of the Night (1960), Ensign Pulver (1964), A Fine Madness (1966), The Busy Body (1967), Angel in My Pocket (1969), Twinky (1969), But I Don't Want to Get Married! (1970), Fire Sale (1977), and Windows (1980).Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
In the summer of 1970, Medford appeared at Denver's Elitch Theatre in the play, Light Up the Sky, with Kitty Carlisle.[8]
On television, Medford portrayed Harriet Endicott on To Rome with Love,Template:R Gloria's mother on That's Life,Template:R and Maria's mother on On Our Own,Template:R and was a member of the cast of The Dean Martin Show.[9] She also guest-starred on series, including Decoy, Marcus Welby, M.D.,The Partridge Family, and Barney Miller in her last screen performance in the episode 'Dietrich's Arrest' which originally aired March 6, 1980, just 35 days before her death.
Death
Medford never married and had no children. She died of cancer in New York City on April 10, 1980, at 60.[10]
Partial filmography
References
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- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Her year of birth had been misreported as 1914 and 1920 for many years.
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- ↑ a b Template:PAGENAMEBASE at the Internet Broadway DatabaseTemplate:EditAtWikidataTemplate:WikidataCheck
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- ↑ Obituary, Sun Journal, April 11, 1980 (archived); accessed October 17, 2014.
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External links
- Template:Trim/ Template:PAGENAMEBASE at IMDbTemplate:EditAtWikidataScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
- Template:PAGENAMEBASE at the Internet Broadway DatabaseTemplate:EditAtWikidataTemplate:WikidataCheck
- Template:Iobdb name
- Template:Playbill person
- Genealogy profile #2, familysearch.org; accessed November 20, 2014.
- Pages with script errors
- 1919 births
- 1980 deaths
- American film actresses
- American musical theatre actresses
- American stage actresses
- American television actresses
- American people of Irish descent
- Actresses from New York City
- Deaths from cancer in New York (state)
- 20th-century American actresses
- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players