Biographical Information on Kay Francis…
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Who IS Kay Francis?
Kay Francis was born on January 13, She was raised by a single mother, Katherine Clinton, a largely unmemorable stage actress. Francis herself got into theater in the s, moving to Hollywood at the end of the decade. After a few years of supporting roles at Paramount, she moved to Warner Bros. where she reigned as the studio’s Queen of the Lot (and highest-paid star) from , before being pushed out by management in favor of Bette Davis,
After a legal dispute with Warner Bros., she was demoted to B-pictures, insisted she wanted to be forgotten, and was unable to secure another studio contract after her legal battle with her previous employer. After finishing her movie career at the low-ranking Monogram Pictures, she banished her appearances to summer stock theater where her name still had power. When that came to an end in the mid s she lived comfortably until her death from cancer on August 26,
After her death Kay Francis and her career were largely banished from all books and documentaries regarding Warner Bros. If she
Kay Francis
At the height of her stardom in the 's, tall, slender, raven-haired Kay Francis was one of the most popular actresses in film. She epitomized glamorous, sexy, screen beauty. Her films emphasized sophistication, sex appeal, and fabulous clothes. Francis became associated with frequent wardrobe changes into fashionable clothes which she wore with style and distinction.
Francis was a relatively tall woman with a willowy figure and a regal bearing. She had a minor lisp in her throaty voice that made it difficult to pronounce the “r” sound. Her scripts reduced the inclusion of words featuring an “r” sound.
At Paramount and Warner Bros she paired with talented and equally sophisticated William Powell in several films that perfectly presented her youthful beauty and charm. In the mid thirties, under the restrictions of the code, romantic melodrama replaced sexy sophistication in her films. By the 's, her popularity had declined. Francis' film career ended in when she was only 41 years old.
Early Career: Broadway
The acting career of Katherine Francis began in the theater. In November , barely 20 years old, she appeared in Hamlet (starring Basil
Film star Kay Francis's dark, wide-set eyes, dark hair, sultry-but-sophisticated manner, and glamorous wardrobe marked her as one of Hollywood's most beautiful, and highly paid, leading ladies of the s. Francis began life as Katharine Edwina Gibbs in Oklahoma City on January 13, Educated in upscale schools in New York and Katharine Gibbs Secretarial School, she began a career as a stenographer.
In Kay Francis made her acting debut on Broadway. After working in stock theater, in she made her screen debut in Gentlemen of the Press, followed by a role in the Marx Brothers' The Cocoanuts. A Paramount Pictures contract brought her roles in the films Street of Chance, with William Powell, and Raffles, with Ronald Colman.
In she signed with Warner Brothers. Soon she was being cast in the female lead opposite important leading men, such as fellow Oklahoman William Boyd (False Madonna, ), William Powell (One Way Passage, ), Errol Flynn (Another Dawn, ), Cary Grant (In Name Only, ), and Humphrey Bogart (King of the Underworld, ). She also appeared with Alice Faye, Martha Raye, and Carole Landis in Four Jills in a Jeep ().
Kay Francis always played in "women's pictur
Legacy&#;
With Ruth Chatterton as director, and Patsy Ruth Miller on board for the production of Windy Hill, Kay Francis had made her triumphant return to the stage on September 20, (CR). Reviews and public response were largely positive, but Kay was forced back to Hollywood because of her Monogram contract. Now free from Hollywood, Kay Francis decided to set her sights on returning to the stage and leaving her film career behind for good. A year later, she made her first appearance in State of the Union on September 2, at the Hudson Theatre in New York. Reviews for the production were some of the best Kay ever received, and the play was so popular it ran for performances (CR).
For her next two projects, Kay dusted off two old hats: Frederick Lonsdale’s The Last of Mrs. Cheyney and Rachel Crothers’ Let Us Be Gay. Fay Kanin’s Goodbye, My Fancy followed. The popular success of all three shows gave her the idea that her work in a new play, George Oppenheimer’s Mirror, Mirror, would garner her the opportunity to return to Broadway (BF). Unfortunately, a critical backlash and lack of public response killed the deal. Mirror, Mirror was the only Kay Francis play to f
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