FRANCES BAY - Leading Character Actress

Actress Frances Bay, who began her acting career later in life in films and television, died in a Tarzana, California, hospital on September 15, 2011. She was 92.  She was born in Mannville, Canada, on January 23, 1919. She was an aspiring actress in her youth, and occassionally performed on the radio Winnipeg and Toronto. After marrying her childhood sweetheart, Charles Bay, she abandoned her acting career to raise a family in the United States. She rekindled her interest in acting while living in New York in the early 1970s. She became a familiar face in films and television after moving to Los Angeles later in the decade. She made her film debut as a sweet elderly lady in the 1978 comedy "Foul Play" with Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase. She was featured in numerous films over the next thirty years, including "Chilly Scenes of Winter" (1979), "The Attic" (1980), "Double Exposure" (1983), "The Karate Kid" (1984), and "Nomads" (1986). She was featured as Aunt Barbara in David Lynch’s 1986 film "Blue Velvet", and became one of his repertory players, appearing in the film "Wild At Heart" (1990), and television’s "Twin Peaks" (1990) and the film sequel "Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me" (1992) as Mrs. Tremond.  Her other film credits include "Big Top Pee-wee" (1988), "Twins" (1988), "The Karate Kid, Part III" (1989), "Arachnophobia" (1990), "The Grifters" (1990), "The Pit and Pendulum" (1991), "Critters 3" (1991), "Single White Female" (1992), "Inside Monkey Zetterland" (1992), "The Paper Boy" (1994), John Carpenter’s "In the Mouth of Madness" (1994), "Happy Gilmore" (1996) as Adam Sandler’s Grandma, "Krippendorf’s Tribe" (1998), "Inspector Gadget" (1999), "Stranger Than Fiction" (2000), "The Movie Hero" (2003), "A Freudian Image" (2003), "The Red Scarf" (2006), "Ring Around the Rosie" (2006), "Repo Chick" (2009), and "Bare Knuckles" (2010). She was also seen in the tele-films "Topper" (1979), "Murder In Texas" (1981), "Second Sight: A Love Story" (1984), "Police Story: Monster Manor" (1988), "By Way of the Stars" (1992), "Brave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive" (1992), "Rossini’s Ghost" (1996), "Annie’s Point" (2005), and "Oh, Baby" (2005). Her other television credits include episodes of "Hart to Hart", "Remington Steele", the "Faerie Tale Theatre" production of "Little Red Riding Hood" (1983) as Granny, "Happy Days" in the recuring role of Grandma Nussbaum, "Amazing Stories" as Mrs. Santa Clause in the episode "Santa ‘85", "Santa Barbara", "T.J. Hooker", "Alien Nation", "ALF", "Normal Life", "Equal Justice", "Tales From the Crypt", "Over My Dead Body", "Father Dowling Mysteries", "Hunter", "Quantum Leap", "Baby Talk", "Who’s the Boss?", "L.A. Law", "Middle Ages", "The X-Files", "Platypus Man", "The Marshal", "Murder, She Wrote", "Diagnosis Murder", "Seinfeld" as the elderly woman Jerry steals a loaf of marble rye from, "C-16: FBI", "Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction", "Da Vinci’s Inquest", "The Hughley’s" in the recurring roles of Mrs. Fitch, "ER", "Passions", "Charmed",  "Cavemen", and "Grey’s Anatomy". Bay also starred as Aunt Ginny in the comedy series "The Middle" from 2009 until 2011. Her right leg was amputated below the knee after being struck by a car in Glendale in 2002 but she continued her career after her recovery. She also was seen frequently on the local stage. Bay was widowed in 2002.