Frank Fay (born Francis Anthony Donner; November 17, 1891 – September 25, 1961) was an American vaudeville comedian (the first stand-up) and film and stage actor. He is considered an important pioneer in stand-up comedy. For a time he was a well known and influential star, but he later fell into obscurity, in part because of his abrasive personality and fascist political views. He played the role of Elwood P. Dowd in the 1944 Broadway play Harvey by the American playwright Mary Coyle Chase. He is best known as actress Barbara Stanwyck's first husband. Their troubled marriage is thought by some to be the basis of the 1937 film A Star Is Born, in which the previously unknown wife shoots to stardom while her husband's career goes into sharp decline. Fay was notorious for his bigotry and alcoholism, and according to the American Vaudeville Museum, "even when sober, he was dismissive and unpleasant, and he was disliked by most of his contemporaries".
Although very talented, Fay offended most of the people he worked with because of his enormous ego. Former vaudevillian and radio star Fred Allen remarked, "The last time I saw him he was walking down Lover's Lane, holding his own hand." Actor Robert Wagner wrote that Fay was "one of the most dreadful men in the history of show business. Fay was a drunk, an anti-Semite, and a wife-beater, and Barbara [Stanwyck] had had to endure all of that", while according to actor and comedian Milton Berle "Fay's friends could be counted on the missing arm of a one-armed man." Berle, who was Jewish, claimed to have once hit Fay in the face with a stage brace after Fay, on seeing Berle watching his act from offstage, called out, "Get that little Jew bastard out of the wings".
Early life
Born as Francis Anthony Donner in San Francisco, California, to Irish Catholic parents, he took the professional name of Frank Fay after concluding that his birth name was not suitable for the stage.
As a child, he appeared in Victor Herbert's operetta Babes in Toyland.
Vaudeville
He enjoyed considerable success as a variety artist starting around 1918, telling jokes and stories in a carefully planned "off the cuff" manner that was very original for the time. He was one of the most analyzed comedians, with his timing and delivery praised. Jack Benny stated that he modeled his early stage character on Fay.
He formed several partnerships, including with Lieutenant Gitz Rice and appearing as Dyer & Fay and Fay Fay & Co.
During the 1920s, Fay was vaudeville's highest-paid headliner, earning $17,500 a week. He often played the Palace Theatre in New York City, sometimes once a month.
Later, he was successful as a revue and nightclub comedian and master of ceremonies, arguably originating the form, and also appeared frequently on radio shows. He was cast in a bit part as master of ceremonies in the night club sequence of Nothing Sacred (1937).
One of his most enduring routines, which he performed as late as the 1950s, was taking a popular song and analysing the "senseless" lyrics. It did not endear him to songwriters. For example, "Tea for Two":
"Picture you, upon my knee." (This guy just owns one chair?) "Just tea for two and two for tea, me for you, and you for me, alone" So, here's the situation: the guy just has one chair, but enough tea for two, so he has two for tea. If anyone else shows up, he shoots 'em! "Nobody near us, to see us or hear us." Who'd want to listen to a couple of people drinking tea?
"We won't have it known, dear, that we own a telephone." So, this guy's too cheap to get another chair, he has a telephone, but won't tell anyone about it!
"Dawn will break, and you'll awake, and start to bake a sugar cake." Oh, this poor woman's life, I can see it now. Dawn breaks, and she's got to start baking, can't even run a brush through her hair, down in the dark, feeling around for the flour...
"For me to take for all the guys to see." I can see that! "Hey, guys, I've got something the wife gave me!" Is it a new tie? Is it a set of tires? Nahhh - it's a sugar cake! Three layers, with a coconut cream filling! "Oh, that's just ducky!," they all say, and they crown him with it.