Elfie Fay

Elfie Virginia Fay (January 11, 1880 – September 16, 1927) was an American actress and vaudeville performer known for her comic work on stage and screen. Born in New York City, she was the daughter of Henry "Hugh" Fay, an Irish-born comedian and vaudeville performer. Although various sources place her birth year between 1879 and 1882, the 1880 census supports the earlier date. Her younger brother was actor and director Hugh Fay (1882–1925).

Fay began her stage career in the mid-1890s and made her Broadway debut in 1900 in the musical comedy Mam'selle 'Awkins. She developed a reputation as a vivacious redhead with a talent for ad-libbing and physical comedy. Her Broadway work continued through 1904 and included a role in The Southerners, as well as an appearance in The Belle of New York. She also traveled to England to perform, where she reportedly became briefly engaged to tea merchant and sportsman Thomas Lipton and was linked to more than one British military officer. Her personal relationships attracted considerable press attention alongside her theatrical career.

Following her return to New York, Fay appeared in 1906 in The Belle of Avenue A, a show written specifically for her and built around a song she had already been performing. The production was unsuccessful, and by 1910 she had filed for bankruptcy. Over the next several years she toured and performed primarily in Europe and Asia. In 1913 she married actor Eugene Rosenblatt in London; the marriage ended in divorce after three years. Back in the United States, she married steel executive Samuel Armstrong Benner in 1920, but he died three months after the wedding.

In the early 1920s, Fay joined her brother Hugh in Hollywood and transitioned into film work. She made her screen debut in the 1924 silent film A Movie Mad Maid and subsequently appeared in several short films, including Trouble Chaser (1926) and both Hot Cookies and A Perfect Day in 1927. She also became a regular presence in the Izzy and Lizzie film series produced by the Weiss Brothers.

The deaths of her father and brother in 1925 preceded a decline in her health. Fay developed tuberculosis and died in Los Angeles on September 16, 1927, at the age of 47.