Frances Bay
Quick Facts
Biography
Frances Evelyn Bay (née Goffman; January 23, 1919 – September 15, 2011) was a Canadian-American character actress.
Career synopsis
Bay started her career as a professional performer in 1930s radio, did not enter the acting industry of television and film until 1976 while in her mid-50s, ultimately appearing in numerous roles, and best known for playing eccentric elderly women, particularly in Seinfeld and Happy Gilmore. She also worked in theatre, winning both the Drama-Logue and Gemini awards, respectively.
Personal life
Bay was born Frances Evelyn Goffman in Mannville, Alberta, to Ukrainian Jewish immigrant parents, Ann (née Averbach) and Max Goffman, and was raised in Dauphin, Manitoba. Her younger brother was the noted sociologist Erving Goffman. Before World War II she acted professionally in Winnipeg and spent the war hosting the Canadian Broadcasting Company's radio show, Everybody's Program, aimed at servicemembers overseas.
She married Charles Irwin Bay (born December 15, 1918 – died June 18, 2002) in 1946, and moved to Cape Town, South Africa, living in the Constantia and Camps Bay areas. She studied with Uta Hagen at this time. Charles and Frances Bay had one son, Josh (Eli Joshua; March 14, 1947 – June 6, 1970), who died at the age of 23.
She was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame on September 6, 2008, in large part thanks to a petition with 10,000 names which was submitted on her behalf. The selection committee also received personal letters from Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld, David Lynch, Henry Winkler, Monty Hall and other celebrities.
Early roles
Bay did not appear in films until she got a small part in Foul Play, a 1978 comedy starring Goldie Hawn and Chevy Chase. A year earlier, she appeared as Mrs. Hamilton in the Christmas television special Christmastime with Mister Rogers. She went on to play small roles in films like The Karate Kid, Big Top Pee-wee and Twins.
Her first major television appearance occurred playing the grandmother to the character of Arthur Fonzarelli (aka "The Fonz") on Happy Days. She described Henry Winkler (who played Fonzarelli) as "just a sweet guy. He lost his own grandmother in the Holocaust, and he wrote me a letter saying I was his virtual grandmother". In 1983, she played the grandmother in Little Red Riding Hood in Faerie Tale Theatre for Showtime.
Work with David Lynch
In 1986, Bay appeared as the doddery aunt of Kyle MacLachlan's character in David Lynch's Blue Velvet. This role seems to have endeared the actress to Lynch, who recast her in several subsequent works, including as a foul-mouthed madam in Wild at Heart, and as Mrs. Tremond on Twin Peaks and its movie spin-off, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.
Other roles
In 1990, Bay had a small role in the Anjelica Huston-John Cusack vehicle, The Grifters. She appeared in two Stuart Gordon films: as a kindly witch in The Pit and the Pendulum, and as a fortune teller in Edmond, adapted from the David Mamet play.
She portrayed the grandmother of Adam Sandler's titular character in Happy Gilmore (1996). She appeared in the music video for Jimmy Fallon's comedy song, "Idiot Boyfriend". In 1994, she played Mrs. Pickman in John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness.
She also played Thelma, the head security guard at the Bradford robotics laboratory in the film Inspector Gadget.
Television
Bay appeared in the final episodes of three long-running sitcom series: Happy Days, Who's the Boss? and Seinfeld. She also played Cousin Winifred in the fourth to last episode of Road to Avonlea, a role for which she won a Gemini Award.
Notable television appearances
- In a The Dukes of Hazzard episode "The Return of Hughie Hogg", Bay played Hortense Coltrane, Boss Hogg's sister-in-law.
- In the episode "The Gift" of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, Bay played a dying woman, Mildred Grayson, who has been abandoned by her daughters.
- The Matlock episode "The Defense" has Bay playing Rose Hayes, the mother and killer of her abusive husband.
- In the Seinfeld episode "The Rye", she played Mabel Choate, an irritable old woman from whom Jerry steals a loaf of marbled rye bread. Following a story arc, she then appeared in a later episode, "The Cadillac". She recognized Jerry as the thief and cast the deciding vote to impeach Jerry's father as president of his condo community. She also appeared in the final episode to recount the incident.
- She guest-starred as the elderly boarding home operator Viola McKnight in a 1999 episode of the Canadian television series Davinci's Inquest.
- In the episode "Excelsis Dei" of The X-Files, Bay played Dorothy, a resident of the nursing home who could see the spirits that had been awakened.
- She appeared in an episode of Charmed as an older version of the character Phoebe Halliwell.
- In 2009, Bay appeared in an episode of Grey's Anatomy as an elderly patient who "just wouldn't die."
- Her final part was a recurring role as the silent Aunt Ginny on the sitcom The Middle. The episode "The Map" was dedicated to her and focuses on the funeral of her Aunt Ginny character.
Personal life and death
Bay was involved in an auto accident in 2002, and had to have her leg amputated; she was subsequently confined to a wheelchair. She died in Tarzana, California on September 15, 2011, of complications from pneumonia at the age of 92.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1978 | Foul Play | Mrs. Russel | |
1979 | Chilly Scenes of Winter | Mrs. Delillo | |
1981 | Amy | Mrs. Lindey | |
1981 | Honky Tonk Freeway | Mrs. Lewenowski | |
1983 | Private School | Birdie Fallmouth | |
1984 | The Karate Kid | Mrs. Milo | |
1985 | Movers & Shakers | Betty Gritz | |
1986 | Nomads | Bertril | |
1986 | Blue Velvet | Aunt Barbara | |
1987 | Medium Rare | Gertrude | |
1988 | Twins | Mother Superior | |
1988 | Big Top Pee-wee | Mrs. Haynes | |
1989 | The Karate Kid Part III | Mrs. Milo | |
1990 | Arachnophobia | Evelyn Metcalf | |
1991 | The Pit and the Pendulum | Esmeralda | |
1991 | Critters 3 | Mrs. Menges | |
1992 | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me | Mrs. Tremond / Mrs. Chalfont | |
1993 | The Neighbor | Aunt Sylvia | |
1994 | The Paperboy | Mrs. Rosemont | |
1994 | In the Mouth of Madness | Mrs. Pickman | |
1996 | Happy Gilmore | Grandma Gilmore | |
1996 | Never Too Late | Elisabeth Kronner | |
1997 | Changing Habits | Midge | |
1997 | Sparkler | Raspy | |
1997 | Mitzi & Joe | Mitzi | |
1998 | Krippendorf's Tribe | Edith Proxmire | |
1999 | Inspector Gadget | Thelma | |
2000 | The Operator | Mrs. Sloan | |
2000 | Stranger Than Fiction | Mrs. Steiner | |
2000 | A Day in the Life | Rosa | |
2001 | The Wedding Planner | Dottie | |
2001 | Finder's Fee | Mrs. Damsetter | |
2002 | Kiss the Bride | Grandma Julia | |
2004 | In the Land of Milk and Money | Grandma Shallot | |
2009 | Repo Chick | Grandma De La Chasse | |
2010 | Pickin' & Grinnin | Grandma Johnson | |
2010 | Bare Knuckles | Rosie Mcintyre |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1977 | CHiPs | Ruth | Episode: "Name Your Price" |
1979 | ABC Weekend Special | Madame Zarona | Episode: "The Big Hex of Little Lulu" |
1979 | Topper | Mrs. Quincy | TV film |
1981 | The Jeffersons | Mrs. Watson | Episode: "My Hero" |
1981 | The Dukes of Hazzard | Aunt Hortense | Episode: "The Return of Hughie Hogg" |
1981 | Murder in Texas | Myra Hill | TV film |
1981 | Callie & Son | Mabel Simpson | TV film |
1982 | Father Murphy | Alma Hubbard | Episode: "88 Keys to Happiness" |
1982, 1984 | Happy Days | Grandma Nussbaum | Episodes: "Grandma Nussbaum", "Going Steady", "Passages: Part 2" |
1983 | American Playhouse | Mrs. Timmins | Episode: "Wings" |
1983 | Faerie Tale Theatre | Granny | Episode: "Little Red Riding Hood" |
1983 | Remington Steele | Mother Trust | Episode: "Scene Steelers" |
1984 | Alice | Granny Annie | Episode: "Mel Spins His Wheels" |
1984 | Family Ties | Florence Menlo | Episode: "Keaton and Son" |
1984 | E/R | Mrs. Gordon | Episode: "A Cold Night in Chicago" |
1984 | The President of Love | Herbina Plum | TV film |
1985 | Cagney & Lacey | Edna Kiss | Episode: "Violation" |
1985 | Fame | Grandma George | Episode: "Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?" |
1985 | Amos | Lydia | TV film |
1985 | Amazing Stories | Mrs. Santa Claus | Episode: "Santa '85" |
1985, 1990 | Santa Barbara | Mrs. McRae, Sister Gabriella | Episodes: "1.357", "1.359", "1.1405" |
1986 | Cheers | Mrs. Brubaker | Episode: "Take My Shirt... Please?" |
1986 | T. J. Hooker | Mrs. Greene | Episode: "Taps for Officer Remy" |
1986 | Hill Street Blues | Elizabeth Mies | Episode: "Larry of Arabia" |
1986 | Easy Street | Mrs. Walker | Episode: "Pride Goeth Before a Cheap Hotel" |
1986 | Simon & Simon | Agnes Rich | Episode: "The Case of Don Diablo" |
1986 | Sidekicks | Sarah | Episode: "Grey Belts" |
1987 | LBJ: The Early Years | Effie Pattilo | TV film |
1987 | Convicted: A Mother's Story | Ma Barker | TV film |
1987 | St. Elsewhere | Mrs. Renninger | Episode: "Ewe Can't Go Home Again" |
1987 | The Oldest Rookie | Mrs. Zimmer | Episode: "Ike and Son" |
1988 | The Golden Girls | Claire | Episode: "The Days and Nights of Sophia Petrillo" |
1988 | Police Story: Monster Manor | Mary | TV film |
1988, 1991 | Hunter | Emma Parsons, Mrs. Laskey | Episodes: "The Bogota Million", "Fatal Obsession: Parts 1 & 2" |
1989 | The Cavanaughs | Widow Kelsey | Episode: "The Cavanaugh Curse" |
1989 | Newhart | Mrs. Henderson | Episode: "Don't Worry Be Pregnant" |
1989 | Dragnet | Sadie McGuire | Episode: "Where's Sadie?" |
1989 | Generations | Emily Fober | Episodes: "1.175", "1.176", "1.178" |
1990 | Alien Nation | Mrs. Gillirue | Episode: "Spirit of '95" |
1990 | ALF | Louise Beaumont | Episode: "When I'm 64" |
1990 | Equal Justice | Florence Evans | Episode: "Sugar Blues" |
1990 | Twin Peaks | Mrs. Tremond | Episode: "Coma" |
1990 | Over My Dead Body | Sister Dempsey | Episode: "Pilot" |
1990 | True Colors | Aunt Sylvia | Episode: "Occasional Wife" |
1991 | Pacific Station | Celia Linder | Episode: "A Man's Best Friend" |
1991 | Matlock | Samantha Bergstrom, Rose Hayes | Episodes: "The Trial: Part 2", "The Defense" |
1991–1992 | Life Goes On | Eleanor, Sarah | Episodes: "Arthur", "Love Letters" |
1992 | Grave Secrets: The Legacy of Hilltop Drive | Iva Ruth McKinney | TV film |
1992 | Quantum Leap | Millie Reynolds | Episode: "Moments to Live" |
1992 | Who's the Boss? | Candy | Episodes: "Savor the Veal: Parts 2 & 3" |
1992 | L.A. Law | Marian McConnell | Episode: "Silence of the Lambskins" |
1992 | Down the Shore | Miss Suzette | Episode: "My Left Feet" |
1992–1993 | By Way of the Stars | Annie Pyle | TV miniseries |
1992–1993 | Empty Nest | Sylvia, Agnes | Episodes: "Charley for President", "The Fracas in Vegas" |
1993 | Street Legal | Patricia Peters | Episode: "Pride and Prejudice" |
1994 | Phenom | Mrs. Long | Episode: "What's in a Vow?" |
1994 | Dave's World | Daisy | Episode: "Lost Weekend" |
1994 | The 5 Mrs. Buchanans | Aunt Francine | Episode: "Alex, Then and N.O.W." |
1994 | The X-Files | Dorothy | Episode: "Excelsis Dei" |
1995 | Platypus Man | Bella | Episode: "Sweet Denial" |
1995 | The Commish | Ardith Cannon | Episode: "Off Broadway: Part 2" |
1995 | The Ben Stiller Show | Gertude | Episode: "ZooTV at Night" |
1995 | The Crew | Mrs. Henderson | Episode: "The Sugar Shack" |
1995 | Murder, She Wrote | Sarah McCoy | Episode: "Home Care" |
1995 | Courthouse | Kate Downey | Episode: "Injustice for All" |
1996 | Road to Avonlea | Winifred Ward | Episode: "After the Ball Is Over" |
1996 | Rossini's Ghost | Rosalie (elder) | TV film |
1996, 1998 | Seinfeld | Mabel, Mrs. Choate | Episodes: "The Rye", "The Cadillac", "The Finale" |
1997 | Suddenly Susan | Mrs. Tidgely | Episode: "What a Card" |
1997 | Life with Roger | Aunt Charlotte | Episode: "The Boxer Rebellion" |
1997 | Players | Mrs. Davis | Episode: "Three of a Con" |
1998 | Clueless | Opal | Episode: "Friends" |
1998 | C-16: FBI | Miss Wilson | Episode: "The Art of War" |
1998 | Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction | Mildred Grayson | Episode: "The Gift" |
1998 | Style & Substance | Elizabeth | Episode: "Chelsea's Ex" |
1998 | Forever Love | Martha Craddock | TV film |
1998–2000 | The Hughleys | Mrs. Fitch | Recurring role (seasons 1–2) |
1999 | The Simple Life of Noah Dearborn | Mrs. Lewis | TV film |
1999 | Da Vinci's Inquest | Viola McKnight | Episode: "A Nice Home in the Country" |
2000 | Port Charles | Leah Cochrane | Guest role |
2001 | ER | Georgia | Episode: "Witch Hunt" |
2001 | Bob Patterson | Laurie Evans | Episode: "Awards Bob" |
2001 | Bratty Babies | Maggie Winchester | TV film |
2002 | Charmed | Phoebe Halliwell (old) | Episode: "The Three Faces of Phoebe" |
2002 | Presidio Med | Joan Hart | Episode: "This Baby's Gonna Fly" |
2006 | Hannah Montana | Cathy | Episode: "Debt It Be" |
2007 | Cavemen | Mrs. Winston | Episode: "Pilot" |
2009 | Grey's Anatomy | Aunt Joyce | Episode: "Elevator Love Letter" |
2009–2011 | The Middle | Ginny Freehold | Recurring role (seasons 1–2) |