Kay Medford

Kay Medford, born Margaret Kathleen Regan on September 14, 1916, in New York City, was an American actress and singer whose Broadway career spanned from 1951 to 1974. Her mother had worked as an actress with a Shakespearean stock company in Connecticut. Orphaned during her teenage years, Regan adopted the professional name Kay Medford after graduating from high school. She worked as a nightclub waitress before beginning her performing career, initially entertaining at summer resorts in the Catskill Mountains. In 1949, she toured with a nightclub act built around impersonations of Hollywood celebrities.

Medford made her Broadway debut in 1951 in the musical Paint Your Wagon. Her subsequent stage credits included the musicals Almost Crazy, Pal Joey, and Bye Bye Birdie, as well as the play Don't Drink the Water and the production Jule's Friends at the Palace. She originated the role of Mae Peterson, Albert's mother, in Bye Bye Birdie, earning strong reviews for the performance. Her work in Almost Crazy brought her a Theatre World Award in 1954. She was also cast in Carousel during her Broadway years.

Her most celebrated stage role came when she was cast as Rose Brice, the mother of Fanny Brice, in the musical Funny Girl, in which Barbra Streisand played the title character. The performance earned Medford a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 1964. When the 1968 film adaptation was produced, she reprised the role and received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Beyond Broadway, Medford built a substantial film career. Her screen credits included A Face in the Crowd and Jamboree, both in 1957, followed by The Rat Race, BUtterfield 8, and Girl of the Night in 1960. She continued appearing in films throughout the 1960s and 1970s, with roles in Ensign Pulver (1964), A Fine Madness (1966), The Busy Body (1967), Angel in My Pocket (1969), Twinky (1969), But I Don't Want to Get Married! (1970), Fire Sale (1977), and Windows (1980). In the summer of 1970, she appeared at Denver's Elitch Theatre in Light Up the Sky alongside Kitty Carlisle.

On television, Medford was a recurring presence, portraying Harriet Endicott on To Rome with Love, Gloria's mother on That's Life, and Maria's mother on On Our Own. She was also a cast member of The Dean Martin Show and guest-starred on series including Decoy, Marcus Welby M.D., The Partridge Family, and Barney Miller, with her appearance in the Barney Miller episode "Dietrich's Arrest," which aired on March 6, 1980, marking her final screen performance.

Medford never married and had no children. She died of cancer in New York City on April 10, 1980, at the age of 63.