Frances Bay
Bay in 1999
Born	Frances Evelyn Goffman (1919-01-01)January 1, 1919 Mannville, Alberta, Canada[1]
Died	September 15, 2011(2011-09-15) (aged 92) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actress, comedian
Years active	1930s–2011
Spouse	Charles Bay ​ ​ (m. 1946; died 2002)​
Children	1
Family	Erving Goffman (brother)

Frances Evelyn Bay (néeGoffman; January 1, 1919 – September 15, 2011) was a Canadian and Americancharacter actress andcomedienne.^[2] In a career that spanned 35 years, she acted in a variety of roles both in film and television. Bay was inducted intoCanada's Walk of Fame in 2008.

Frances Evelyn Goffman was born January 1, 1919, inMannville, Alberta, to Russian Jewish immigrant parents, Ann (née Averbach) and Max Goffman, and was raised inDauphin, Manitoba. Her younger brother was the sociologistErving Goffman.^[1]

Bay started her career in the 1930s as a radio actress.^[3] BeforeWorld War II she acted professionally inWinnipeg and spent the war hosting theCanadian Broadcasting Company's radio show,Everybody's Program, aimed at service members overseas.^[1] She studied acting withUta Hagen.^[4]

Bay returned to acting in the 1970s^[3] while in her mid-fifties, beginning with a small part inFoul Play, a 1978 comedy starringGoldie Hawn andChevy Chase. A year earlier, she appeared as Mrs. Hamilton in the Christmas television specialChristmastime with Mister Rogers.

Bay's first major television appearance occurred playing the grandmother to the character ofFonzie onHappy Days. She describedHenry Winkler, who played Fonzie, as "just a sweet guy. He lost his own grandmother in theHolocaust, and he wrote me a letter saying I was his virtual grandmother".^[4]

In 1983, she played the grandmother inLittle Red Riding Hood inFaerie Tale Theatre forShowtime. She appeared in the final episodes of two long-runningsitcom series:Happy Days, andWho's the Boss?^[5] In 1990, she appeared in the episode "When I'm 64" of the TV seriesALF as the faded movie star Louise Beaumont residing in a retirement home. She appeared on many other shows includingThe Jeffersons,The Dukes of Hazzard,Alice,Family Ties,Cheers,Hill Street Blues,The Golden Girls,Matlock,Murder, She Wrote, andER. Bay played Cousin Winifred in the fourth to last episode ofRoad to Avonlea, a role for which she won aGemini Award.

Bay's feature film work includes small roles in films likeThe Karate Kid (1984),Movers & Shakers (1985),Big Top Pee-wee (1988),Twins (1988),The Grifters (1990),The Pit and the Pendulum (1991).^[5] In 1986, Bay appeared as the doddery aunt ofKyle MacLachlan's character inDavid Lynch'sBlue Velvet. Lynch cast her in several subsequent works, including as a foul-mouthedmadam inWild at Heart, and as Mrs. Tremond onTwin Peaks and its feature film prequelTwin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.^[5]

In 1994, she played Mrs. Pickman inJohn Carpenter'sIn the Mouth of Madness. In 1996, she playedAdam Sandler's grandmother in the feature filmHappy Gilmore. In 1999, she played Thelma, the head security guard at the Bradford robotics laboratory in the filmInspector Gadget. In 2003 Bay had a brief cameo in the movieOld School, during the funeral for the character “Blue”. Bay's other roles included a supporting role in "The Rye", a notable 1996 episode ofSeinfeld in which she played a woman who got into a physical altercation withJerry over a loaf of marble rye bread.^[5]

Bay appeared in the 2002 music video forJimmy Fallon's comedy song "Idiot Boyfriend".^[6] Played the role of geriatric Phoebe Halliwell inCharmed.^[7] In 2005, she reunited with herThe Pit and the Pendulum directorStuart Gordon to play a fortune teller inEdmond. From 2009 to 2011, Bay had a recurring role as "Aunt Ginny" on the television seriesThe Middle.^[5] She also worked in theatre, winning both theDrama-Logue Award andGemini Award.^[3][2]

Bay married Charles Irwin Bay (December 15, 1918 – June 18, 2002) in 1946.^[4] The couple had a son who died when he was 23.^[5]

In 2002, Bay was involved in an auto accident inGlendale, California, which required her to have her leg amputated below the knee.^[5]

Bay died in theTarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles on September 15, 2011, of complications frompneumonia at the age of 92.^[8]

Bay was inducted intoCanada's Walk of Fame on September 6, 2008,^[9] in large part thanks to a petition with 10,000 names which was submitted on her behalf. The selection committee also received personal letters fromAdam Sandler,Jerry Seinfeld,David Lynch,Henry Winkler,Monty Hall, and other celebrities.^[10][4]

• Frances Bay atIMDb 

• 1919 births
• 2011 deaths
• American amputees
• American people of Russian-Jewish descent
• American film actresses
• American television actresses
• Actresses from Manitoba
• Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent
• Canadian amputees
• Canadian emigrants to the United States
• Canadian film actresses
• Canadian television actresses
• Canadian Screen Award winning actors
• Deaths from pneumonia in California
• Jewish American actresses
• Jewish Canadian actresses
• People from Dauphin, Manitoba
• People from the County of Minburn No. 27
• Naturalized citizens of the United States
• 21st-century American Jews
• 21st-century American women
• Comedians from Alberta
• Canadian women comedians
• American women comedians
• Actresses from Alberta
• Jewish Canadian comedians
• Jewish American comedians
• Comedians from Manitoba
• Jewish women comedians

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