Kay Medford

A veteran scene stealer in the cynical tradition of Thelma Ritter and known for her own inimitably dry, poker-faced delivery, Kay Medford was born Margaret Kathleen Regan in the Bronx, New York City on September 14, 1919, the daughter of Irish folk James and Mary Regan. Her mother was, at one time, a Shakespearean actress on the road. Kay attended both public and Catholic schools growing up, her parents both dying while she was in her teens. Kay quickly gravitated towards humor and show business as a respite from those sad times. She began as a nightclub waitress and worked herself up a comedy routine eventually. She officially began her career entertaining at summer resorts on the Borscht circuit in the Catskill Mountains.

Moving to Hollywood in an effort to break into war-era films (1942-1945), Kay only managed atmospheric, unbilled bits (secretaries, waitresses, phone operators), for the most part in such MGM fare as Maisie Gets Her Man (1942), Random Harvest (1942), Three Hearts for Julia (1943), Whistling in Brooklyn (1943) Broadway Rhythm (1944), The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945) and Adventure (1945).

The only minor speaking role of any significance or substance was in the film Swing Shift Maisie (1943).

In 1949, Kay toured with a nightclub routine in which she did impersonations of Hollywood celebrities.

She returned to films in the post-war with featured roles in The Undercover Man (1949), the film noir Guilty Bystander (1950) and Mr.

This built-in reputation eventually led her to the Broadway musical stage in 1951, where, at the age of 37, she played Cherry in "Paint Your Wagon.

Walkie Talkie (1952). But it was as one of New York and London's most enjoyable cabaret performers that the comedienne earned a huge following.

" More popular shows made use of her reliable name, including "John Murray Anderson's Almanac" (1953), "Lullaby" (winning a Theatre World Award) (1954), "Mr.

Wonderful" (1956), "A Hole in the Head" (1957), and "Carousel" (1957) (as Mrs. Mullin).

TV anthologies also earned her some attention ("Philco Television Playhouse," "United States Steel Hour," "Studio One in Hollywood") as well as a couple films, especially her role as the first wife of grasping, increasingly ruthless guitar player-turned-politician Andy Griffith in the acclaimed drama A Face in the Crowd (1957) directed by Elia Kazan and her comedy relief role as the landlady in the NYC tenement drama The Rat Race (1960).

Often playing older than she was, Kay won the New York Drama Critic's Award for her hilarious turn as Dick Van Dyke's emasculating mother in the classic 1960 musical "Bye, Bye Birdie". However, she lost out on the Mama role to Maureen Stapleton when it transferred to film.

"Later sporadic films, both comedic and dramatic, included supports in BUtterfield 8 (1960), Ensign Pulver (1964), A Fine Madness (1966), The Busy Body (1967), Angel in My Pocket (1969), Fire Sale (1977) and Windows (1980).

By this time, she had pretty much patented her meddling, overbearing Brooklynesque characters and it all culminated in the role of a lifetime as the sermonizing Jewish mom in both the Broadway stage (1964) and film versions of the hit musical Funny Girl (1968), the highly fictionalized bio of entertainer Fanny Brice. Kay was the only one in the cast who managed to keep up with Barbra Streisand and her star-making brilliance. Her spot-on, stone-faced comic timing grabbed its share of laughs and earned her well-deserved Tony and Oscar nominations. Her last appearance on Broadway was in the Woody Allen comedy "Don't Drink the Water.

And in recurring mode, she also enjoyed playing nosy relative characters in the light TV series That's Life (1968) and To Rome with Love (1969). While comedy was Kay's forté, appearing in such established sitcoms ("The Partridge Family, "Love American Style"), she often provided comedy relief in heavy TV dramas and at times played dead serious as well -- "Ben Casey," "Medical Center," "Marcus Welby," "Kojak".

Surprisingly, she was not utilized and was sorely missed in the "Funny Girl" sequel Funny Lady (1975). Appearing frequently on TV with both comedic and dramatic roles, Kay continued in her busybody mama vein with Dean Martin on his long-running variety show.

Falling ill in her final years, Kay, who remained unmarried, made her last on-camera appearance in a 1980 episode of "Barney Miller.

Kay's last Broadway performance was as the Hollander family matriarch in The Mysterious Paper (1896)'s 1966 farcical comedy "Don't Drink the Water." Löwenzahn: Biber in Bärstadt (2005) was originally cast in the part but was fired out of town before it reached Broadway. Vance and Allen both agreed she was wrong in the part and Woody later expressed that Kay brought the role to life. The O'Reilly Factor: Episode dated 18 October 2005 (2005) went on to play the part of Marion Hollander in the 1969 film version.