Fay Okell Bainter (December 7, 1893 – April 16, 1968) was an American film and stage actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for ''

Jezebel Jezebel (;"Jezebel"
(US) and ) was the daughte ...

'' (1938) and has a star on the

Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...

Early life

Bainter was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Charles F. Bainter and Mary Okell.

Career

Bainter made her first appearance on stage in 1908 in '' The County Chairman'' at Morosco's Theater in Burbank, California. In 1910, she was a traveling stage actress. Her Broadway debut was in the role of Celine Marinter in ''The Rose of Panama'' (1912).

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

, reviewing ''Turn to the Right'' in ''

Vanity Fair Vanity Fair may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Literature * Vanity Fair, a location in '' The Pilgrim's Progress'' (1678), by John Bunyan * ''Vanity Fair'' (novel), 1848, by William Makepeace Thackeray * ''Vanity Fair'' (magazines), the ...

'' in 1916, wrote, "Miss Bainter's advent from nowhere and her instant success form the season's biggest sensation." She appeared in a number of successful plays in New York, such as ''East Is West'', ''The Willow Tree'', and '' Dodsworth''. In 1926, she appeared with

Walter Abel Walter Abel (June 6, 1898 – March 26, 1987) was an American film, stage and radio actor. Life Abel was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the son of Christine (née Becker) and Richard Michael Abel. Abel graduated from the American Academy of ...

in a Broadway production of Channing Pollock's ''The Enemy''. MGM persuaded her to try films and her movie debut was in ''This Side of Heaven'' (February 1934). Also in 1934, she appeared in '' Dodsworth'' on Broadway and in the film ''It Happened One Day''. Bainter quickly achieved success in the movies, and in 1938 she became the first performer nominated in the same year for both the

Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year ...

for '' White Banners'' (1938) and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for ''

Jezebel Jezebel (;"Jezebel"
(US) and ) was the daughte ...

'' (1938), winning for the latter. In 1940, she played Mrs. Gibbs in the film production of the

Thornton Wilder Thornton Niven Wilder (April 17, 1897 – December 7, 1975) was an American playwright and novelist. He won three Pulitzer Prizes — for the novel '' The Bridge of San Luis Rey'' and for the plays ''Our Town'' and '' The Skin of Our Teeth'' — ...

play ''

Our Town ''Our Town'' is a 1938 metatheatrical three-act play by American playwright Thornton Wilder which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play tells the story of the fictional American small town of Grover's Corners between 1901 and 1913 thr ...

''. In 1945, she played Melissa Frake in the

Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popular ...

musical ''

State Fair A state fair is an annual competitive and recreational gathering of a U.S. state's population, usually held in late summer or early fall. It is a larger version of a county fair, often including only exhibits or competitors that have won in th ...

''. She was again nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in '' The Children's Hour'' (1961). Bainter has a star on the

at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard in Los Angeles, California.

Personal life

Fay Bainter and Reginald Venable were married on June 8, 1921, in Riverside, California. Cmdr. Reginald Venable was a United States Navy officer who graduated from the US Naval Academy in 1913. He resigned from the Navy in 1925 as a Lieutenant Commander to manage his wife's business affairs. He had been a real-estate operator. The couple had one son, Reginald Venable Jr., who became an actor. Bainter was the aunt of actress Dorothy Burgess. Bainter and Venable are interred at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

Filmography

Radio appearances

References

External links

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Fay Bainter and son Reggie Jr.

Fay Bainter
at Virtual History {{DEFAULTSORT:Bainter, Fay 1893 births 1968 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Los Angeles American film actresses American stage actresses Best Supporting Actress Academy Award winners Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Deaths from pneumonia in California Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract players