Bainter, Fay

(1891-1968)

   Born in Los Angeles, California, where she began acting in childhood, Fay Bainter made her first New York stage appearance in The Rose of Panama (1912), a musical. She also appeared in The Bridal Path (1913) and toured with Minnie Maddern Fiske in Mrs. Bumpstead-Leigh (1914) before achieving her first important successes in Arms and the Girl (1916) and The Willow Tree (1917). Although most of Bainter's later career would be as a versatile character actress in all genres on stage and in motion pictures, she often appeared in musicals and operettas such as The Kiss Burglar (1918) and The Dream Girl (1924). Bainter attained stardom as the hoyden Ming Toy in the comedy East Is West (1918). She had a very active period in the 1920s in a variety of contemporary and classical roles, including The Enemy (1925), The Two Orphans (a 1926 revival), Noël Coward's Fallen Angels (1927), She Stoops to Conquer (1928), The Beaux' Stratagem (1928), Lysistrata (1930), and The Admirable Crichton (1931). Bainter made periodic returns to Broadway throughout the remainder of her career, but she acted more frequently in films after the dawn of the sound era.