Kay Francis was an American stage and film actress who achieved her greatest success between 1930 and 1936, when she was the number one female star and highest-paid actress at Warner Bros. studio.
She was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Territory, in 1905, as the only child of Joseph Sprague Gibbs and Katharine Clinton Francis, an actress. She adopted her mother’s maiden name as her professional surname.
She married four times, but none of her marriages lasted more than four years. She had no children of her own, but she was a generous philanthropist who supported various causes, especially those related to the war effort and animal welfare.
She retired from acting in 1954, after a successful career on stage and screen. She appeared in over 60 films, mostly in the genres of drama, comedy, and romance. Some of her most notable films include Trouble in Paradise (1932), One Way Passage (1932), I Found Stella Parish (1935), and In Name Only (1939).
In 1966, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a mastectomy, but the cancer had already spread. She died in 1968, aged 63, in New York City.
She is remembered as one of the most glamorous and versatile actresses of the pre-Code era, who had a distinctive voice and style. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2012.
