Fay Holden


Dorothy Fay Hammerton, known professionally as Fay Holden, was a British-born, American-based actress. She was known as Gaby Fay early in her career.

Biography

Holden was born in Birmingham, England. After leaving England in 1929, Holden and her husband moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for a time. They co-owned The Empress Theatre until 1933, and they created a theatre company, The British Guild Players, that specialized in comedies during the depression era. Eventually they left Vancouver and moved to Hollywood.
Holden appeared in 46 motion pictures between 1935 and 1958, and she is best known for her recurring role as Emily Hardy, mother of Mickey Rooney's character in the Andy Hardy film series. The series was enormously popular in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and Holden was in 15 of the 16 Hardy movies, surpassed only by Rooney, who was in all 16.
Holden is remembered for her performance as Hazel, the mother of Samson, in Cecil B. DeMille's Samson and Delilah, in which she utters her character's most notable line: "He wants to marry a Philistine!"
She was married to David Clyde from 1914 until his death in 1945. She died in Los Angeles, California, aged 79, from cancer.

Partial filmography