# Fay Bainter

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 (1938) and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

## 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, reviewing Turn to the Right in Vanity Fair 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 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 1939, she became the first performer to receive two Oscar nominations in the same year, contending for both Best Actress for White Banners (1938) and Best Supporting Actress for Jezebel (1938), winning for the latter. In 1940, she played Mrs. Gibbs in the film production of the Thornton Wilder play Our Town. In 1945, she played Melissa Frake in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical State Fair. She was again nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Children's Hour (1961).
Bainter has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame 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.

## Filmography

Films :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1934 | This Side of Heaven | Francene Turner | |
| 1937 | Quality Street | Susan Throssel | |
| 1937 | The Soldier and the Lady | Strogoff's Mother | |
| 1937 | Make Way for Tomorrow | Anita Cooper | |
| 1938 | White Banners | Hannah Parmalee | Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actress |
| 1938 | Jezebel | Aunt Belle Massey | Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress |
| 1938 | Mother Carey's Chickens | Mrs. Margaret Carey | |
| 1938 | The Arkansas Traveler | Mrs. Martha Allen | |
| 1938 | The Shining Hour | Hannah Linden | |
| 1939 | Yes, My Darling Daughter | Ann "Annie" Murray | |
| 1939 | The Lady and the Mob | Hattie Leonard | |
| 1939 | Daughters Courageous | Nancy "Nan" Masters | |
| 1939 | Our Neighbors – The Carters | Ellen Carter | |
| 1940 | Young Tom Edison | Mrs. Samuel (Nancy) Edison | |
| 1940 | Our Town | Mrs. Julia Hersey Gibbs | |
| 1940 | A Bill of Divorcement | Margaret "Meg" Fairfield | |
| 1940 | Maryland | Charlotte Danfield | |
| 1941 | Babes on Broadway | Miss "Jonesy" Jones | |
| 1942 | Woman of the Year | Ellen Whitcomb | |
| 1942 | The War Against Mrs. Hadley | Stella Hadley | |
| 1942 | Journey for Margaret | Trudy Strauss | |
| 1942 | Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch | Mrs. Elvira Wiggs | |
| 1943 | The Human Comedy | Mrs. Macauley | |
| 1943 | Presenting Lily Mars | Mrs. Thornway | |
| 1943 | Salute to the Marines | Jennie Bailey | |
| 1943 | Cry 'Havoc' | Captain Alice Marsh | |
| 1944 | The Heavenly Body | Margaret Sibyll | |
| 1944 | Dark Waters | Aunt Emily | |
| 1944 | Three Is a Family | Frances Whittaker | |
| 1945 | State Fair | Melissa Frake | |
| 1946 | The Kid from Brooklyn | Mrs. E. Winthrop LeMoyne | |
| 1946 | The Virginian | Mrs. Taylor | |
| 1947 | Deep Valley | Ellie Saul | |
| 1947 | The Secret Life of Walter Mitty | Mrs. Eunice Mitty | |
| 1948 | Give My Regards to Broadway | Fay Norwick | |
| 1948 | June Bride | Paula Winthrop | |
| 1951 | Close to My Heart | Mrs. Morrow | |
| 1953 | The President's Lady | Mrs. Donaldson | |
| 1961 | The Children's Hour | Mrs. Amelia Tilford | Laurel Award for Top Female Supporting Performance (2nd place) Nominated – Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture |

## Radio appearances

| Year | Program | Episode/source |
| 1946 | Suspense | 180/"The Lucky Lady" |
| 1952 | Theatre Guild on the Air | "The Search" |