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Job Actress
Years active 1910-1961
Known for Motherly types, husky voice and sympathetic nature
Top Roles Aunt Emily, Hannah Linden, Mrs. Thornway, Melissa Frake, Annie Murray
Top Genres Drama, Comedy, Romance, Musical, Film Adaptation, War
Top Topics Based on Play, Remake, Book-Based, World War II, Romance (Comic)
Top Collaborators Henry O'Neill, Henry Blanke (Producer), Edward McWade, Harry Semels, Spring Byington, Spencer Charters, Paul Harvey, Emory Parnell
Also Born on December 7
Also Born in 1893
Also Born in California
Also a Sagittarius

Fay Bainter Overview:

Legendary character actress, Fay Bainter, was born Fay Okell Bainter on Dec 7, 1893 in Los Angeles, CA. Bainter died at the age of 74 on Apr 16, 1968 in Los Angeles, CA and was laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, VA.

MINI BIO:

Dark-haired and dark-eyed with a soothing smile, Fay Bainter was expert at playing motherly types. Her attractively husky voice and sympathetic nature made her a top featured attraction throughout the late 1930's and early 1940's. Her double nomination as Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress in 1938 (she won the latter Oscar for Jezebel) led to a change in the Academy rules. Her other Oscar nomination was for The Children's Hour in 1962.

(Source: available at Amazon Quinlan's Illustrated Dictionary of Film Character Actors).

HONORS and AWARDS:

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Fay Bainter was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning one for Best Supporting Actress for Jezebel (as Aunt Belle Massey) in 1938.

Academy Awards

YearAwardFilm nameRoleResult
1938Best ActressWhite Banners (1938)HannahNominated
1938Best Supporting ActressJezebel (1938)Aunt Belle MasseyWon
1961Best Supporting ActressThe Children's Hour (1961)Mrs. Amelia TilfordNominated
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She was honored with one star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the category of Motion Pictures.

Fay Bainter BlogHub Articles:

Classic Movie Travels: Fay Bainter

Classic Movie Travels: Fay Bainter Actress Fay Bainter was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on February 8, 1960. American actress Fay Okell Bainter was a familiar face in many films throughout the 1930s and 1940s. Typically playi... Read full article


Classic Film Art from the Cafe's Collection: Fay Bainter and Mickey Rooney in "The Human Comedy"

... Read full article


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Fay Bainter Quotes:

Mrs. Mitty: The clock didn't strike. I definitely heard it not strike.

Mrs. Julia Hersey Gibbs: It seems to me, once in your life, before you die, you ought to see a country where they don't speak any English and they don't even want to.
— From: Our Town

Melissa Frake: Abel Frake, I am not putting liquor in my cooking!
— From: State Fair

Paul Ward: You don't think I have a fighting chance!
Hannah: I don't think you have a chance, fighting!
— From: White Banners

Henry Linden: [Referring to Maggie] Hannah, isn't she all I said?
Hannah Linden: [Cattily] I'm sure she is, Henry, and more.
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Fay Bainter Facts
Buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Her husband was a military officer who is buried there.

Her husband (1890-1964) was a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy.

A change in the Academy Awards nominating and voting rules was made because of confusion over her two nominations in 1938.

Screen, stage, and television actress.

One of the ten thespians to have been nominated for both a supporting and lead acting Academy Award in the same year for two different movies. The other nine are Teresa Wright, Cate Blanchett, Barry Fitzgerald (he was nominated in both categories for the same role in the same movie), Jessica Lange, Sigourney Weaver, Al Pacino, Emma Thompson, Holly Hunter, Julianne Moore and Jamie Foxx. Bainter was the first to have ever been nominated for both awards in the same year.

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