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Kay Francis 01.13.1905 - 08.26.1968 (63 years old)

Kay Francis was an American stage and film actress.After a brief period on Broadway in the late 1920s, she moved to film and achieved her greatest success between 1930 and 1936, when she was the number one female star at the Warner Brothers studio and the highest-paid American film actress.Some of her film-related material and personal papers are available to scholars and researchers in the Wesleyan University Cinema Archives. Click here to read more about Kay Francis

Thanks

This actor appeared in the following radio shows

Series	Episode title	Date
Lux Radio Theater	lux radio theater (209) one way passage	1939-03-06
Lux Radio Theater	lux radio theater (241) in name only	1939-12-11
Lux Radio Theater	lux radio theater (255) the rains came	1940-03-18
Lux Radio Theater	lux radio theater (297) my bill	1941-03-03
jack benny program	charleys aunt	1941-05-18
cavalcade of america, the	waters of the wilderness	1941-10-13
Lux Radio Theater	lux radio theater (385) the lady is willing	1943-03-01
great gildersleeve, the	rabbits easter program	1943-04-25
cavalcade of america, the	soldiers in greasepaint	1943-05-03
soldiers in greasepaint	soldiers in greasepaint	1943-11-25
command performance	bob hope	1943-12-11
hollywoods open house	guest kay francis	1948-04-01

Comments
Photos

All love watching her ALL

Davis

I just love her.

Beth

We’ve shared in this space before how fond we are of actress Kay Francis‘s oeuvre. Her movies, once called “women’s pictures,” would likely be dubbed “soap operas” by most observers today, but whatever tag you choose, the chance to see Kay suffer (she almost always suffered), adorned all the while in elegant gowns designed by the likes of Orry-Kelly and Adrian, is one not to be missed. One attribute that makes Kay especially appealing is that she has one tiny flaw as an actress: She had trouble with her Rs, much as Elmer Fudd (opposite whom she never starred) struggled with his. To make it clearer for the uninitiated, Kay, were she still with us and if asked to introduce herself, would pronounce her own name, “Kay Fwancis.” Today marks our Kay’s 110th birthday. She’s brought us much enjoyment over the years, and we’re happy to remember her on this day.

Mike

I am so glad that Kay Francis is being rediscovered by new generations of film lovers. She lost much of her fight after the mid-30s, leaving that to Bette Davis. Warners wanted her to leave her large contract early, but she stuck it out, through lesser and lesser films, with scripts containing more and more "r's" ( she had a speech impediment. R's offer came out as "w's"). She was a jarring villainess in "In Name Only", with Carole Lombard. But her later good chances were few and far between.

Linda

KAY FRANCIS (1905 ~ 1968) Francis was the queen at Warner Bros. during the first half of the 1930s (before Bette Davis) and was very popular with audiences in films like: "Girls About Town" (1931), "Twenty-Four Hours" (31), "One Way Passage" (32), "Trouble In Paradise" (32), "Mary Stevens, M.D." (33), "The House On 56th Street" (33), "Wonder Bar" (34), "I Found Stella Parish" (35), "The White Angel" (36), "Confession" (37), "My Bill" (38), "In Name Only" (39), "It's A Date" (40) and "The Feminine Touch" (41). Francis was a major fashion icon and appeared on 38 movie magazine covers (between 1930 and '37) - second only to Shirley Temple.

Jack

Fantastic face and an enormous talent.

Tina

Kay Francis Happy Heavenly Birthday

Mike

Happy heavenly birthday to one of my favorite actresses of Hollywood’s golden age, the lovely and ever-fashionable Kay Francis, born on January 13, 1905.

Kim

Kay was the Queen of Warner Brothers before Bette Davis claimed the title, making $115,000 per year in 1935 compared to Bette’s $18,000. She started her Hollywood career in 1929 with Paramount, who after suffering financial difficulties and with an overabundance of leading ladies, let Kay move to Warners in 1931, where she was promised a better salary and star status. She got both.

Kim

1932 was an excellent year for her, appearing in 7 films, among them TROUBLE IN PARADISE (where Kay returned to Paramount as a perfume owner being conned by Miriam Hopkins and Herbert Marshall), STREET OF WOMEN (where Kay, her fashionable apartment and fashions are to die for), MAN WANTED (in which Kay is the boss lusting after her male secretary), JEWEL ROBBERY (in which baroness Kay is charmed by gentleman thief William Powell), and ONE WAY PASSAGE (in which a terminally ill Kay meets a charming murderer headed to execution, played once again by William Powell, on a cruise ship).

Kim

Kay’s ability to play both high society and working class ladies, as well as playing both saintly and fallen women, made her invaluable to her studio - - and insanely popular with moviegoing audiences. Her fashions - - which were displayed brilliantly on her tall, slender figure (at 5’9”, Kay was the tallest actress in Hollywood) -- gave movie magazines and gossip columnists pages of content. In fact, over a seven year period (1930-1937), she appeared on the cover of 38 magazines (the most of any adult in Hollywood and topped only by Shirley Temple, who graced 138 covers.)

Kim

By the late 1930s, however, Warners spent more money on Kay’s costumes and set design than on great scripts and Kay had become typecast in her “weepy women’s picture” roles, leading her to a public feud with the studio in which she threatened a lawsuit in order to acquire better pictures or be released from her contract. Jack Warner responded by issuing a press release in which he stated his former queen of the lot would now be demoted to B pictures - - a public slap in the face to Kay.

Kim

Warners took it further by leaking information that Kay was actually born in 1899 (suggesting she was 42 in 1937, rather than 32) and began giving her scripts that were peppered with dialogue to intentionally highlight the slight lisp she had.

Kim

In 1938 she was named, alongside a handful of other stars, by The Independent Theater Owners Association as “box office poison.” Kay, unlike the other stars, did not have support of her studio and was not able to recover. When her contract expired at the end of that year, it was not renewed and Kay found that no other studio wanted to pick her up. She began working as an independent, with friends in the industry helping her to get parts. IN NAME ONLY, from 1939, where she played the mean-spirited wife of Cary Grant, impeding his future with Carole Lombard, was her last truly big picture (although 194__’s FOUR JILLS IN A JEEP was a hit).

Kim

Kay’s last film was in 1946, WIFE WANTED. Movie audiences were flocking to film noirs and detective flicks and weren’t interested in a film where Kay portrayed an actress.

Kim

Kay did some regional theater and summer stock. In 1948, she was burned by a radiator either after a fainting spell or following an accidental overdose of pills. She did some radio work and made two television appearances, in 1951 and 1952, before officially retiring from show business in 1952.

Kim

She went into virtual seclusion, holed up at either her New York apartment or home on Cape Cod. She was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1966 and underwent a mastectomy. Unfortunately the cancer had spread and two years later, in August of 1968, the disease took her life. She was 63 years old.

Kim

As she had requested, her body was cremated, with the remains scattered at an undisclosed location. (Her will stated “how the undertaker sees fit.”) There was no memorial service or marker, pursuant to her request.

Kim

Although Kay married five times during her life, she never had children. She left the bulk of her $1 million-plus estate to The Seeing Eye, Inc., which trains guide dogs for the blind.

Kim

During her life Kay had been quoted as saying, “A dog has kindliness in his heart and dignity in his demeanor. The finest qualities anyone can have.”

Kim

Happy heavenly birthday to one of my favorite actresses of Hollywood’s golden age, the lovely and ever-fashionable Kay Francis, born on January 13, 1905.

Lori

I love her so much. I don't care what people say about her "speech impediment". I'd have never really noticed it much if I hadn't seen it called out in articles about her. She was so gorgeous and elegant.

Jenn

Simply breathtaking! A lovely, lovely lady and a fine actress. She had perhaps the best wardrobes, both personal and professional, in Hollywood for years!

Daniel

I love her! She could own her outfits like no one else! Never over or under dressed always perfection!

Deonn

An absolute beauty of a woman, she is up on my top ten list!

William

*** KAY FRANCIS *** Francis (1905 ~ 1968) was Warner Bros. first queen of the studio, prior to Bette Davis. Kay was their # 1 female star during the first half of the 1930s and a popular fashion icon with the public as well. She appeared on the cover of more movie magazines during the thirties than any other actress, except Shirley Temple. She appeared in more than 50 films during the 1930s.

John

Her best films included: "A Notorious Affair" (1930), "Guilty Hands" (31), "24 Hours" (31), "Girls About Town" (31), "The False Madonna" (31), "Jewel Robbery" (32), "One Way Passage" (32), "Trouble In Paradise" (32), "Mary Stevens, M.D." (33), "The House On 56th Street" (33), "Mandalay" (34), "Wonder Bar" (34), "I Found Stella Parish" (35), "The White Angel" (36), "Stolen Holiday" (37), "Another Dawn" (37), "Confession" (37), "My Bill" (38), "Secrets Of An Actress" (38), "Comet Over Broadway" (38), "King Of The Underworld" (39) and "In Name Only" (39).

John

Kay's career continued in the early 1940s, but trailed off after 1942. She made "It's A Date" (40), "Play Girl" (41) and "The Feminine Touch" (41) - the best films from that period. Her last film was in 1946. She passed from cancer in 1968 at age 63.

John

Herbert Marshall and Kay Francis in Trouble in Paradise (1932)

Carole Lombard, Cary Grant and Kay Francis.

Kay Francis 01.13.1905 - 08.26.1968 (63 years old)

This actor appeared in the following radio shows

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