In her modest, jewel of an autobiography, On the Other Hand, film actress Fay Wray (September 15, 1907–August 8, 2004), best known for her role as Ann Darrow in the classic film King Kong, unveils the confusing threads of her life in Hollywood in a lovely, impressionist style that is, at the same time, sharply focused.
As Seraphic Secret wrote in Part I, Wray, a fatherless young beauty from Canada, made her way to Hollywood with her sister Willow and Willow’s husband, William Mortensen, who sexually abused fourteen-year-old Fay. At one point, he took “artistic photos” of her on the beach—and when Fay’s mother later discovered these photos, she destroyed them, furiously smashing plate after plate.
But even before the emotionally confusing incidents with William, there was another beast in Fay’s life: her eldest brother Vivien, whom she adored.
[Read more…] about Hidden Hollywood: Fay Wray, Beauty and the Beasts, Part II