Fay Spain

Fay Spain
Spain in 1959
Born	Lona Fay Spain (1932-10-06)October 6, 1932 Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Died	May 8, 1983(1983-05-08) (aged 50) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	Lona May Spain
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1955–1977
Spouses	John Falvo ​ ​ (m. 1949; div. 1954)​ John Altoon ​ ​ (m. 1959; div. 1962)​ Imo Ughini ​ ​ (m. 1965; div. 1966)​ Philip Fulmer ​ ​ (m. 1968)​
Children	1

Lona Fay Spain (October 6, 1932 – May 8, 1983) was an American actress in motion pictures and television.

Early years

Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Fay Spain was the younger of two daughters born to Robert C. Spain and Arminta Frances "Mickie" Cochran. When she was 17 years old, Spain worked as a dealer in a casino in Reno, Nevada. Years later, she said, "I lied about my age and got a job as a dealer – and made big money, much more than my husband, who was a shill."

Theater apprentice

Within two months, she found work with a stock company in the Catskill Mountains. She obtained an Equity card, which enabled her to continue working as an actress. Spain eschewed a college scholarship after attending high school in White Salmon, Washington. She chose instead to pursue a stock company apprenticeship.

Film actress

Spain pursued acting, unimpeded by rejection. She accepted any parts that came along, learning the techniques of the acting trade.

In 1955, Spain was one of 15 actresses who were named WAMPAS Baby Stars. She first came to prominence with movie audiences in the late 1950s. In 1957, she appeared as Carol Smith with John Smith as Tommy Kelly in the dramatic film The Crooked Circle in which a young boxer is pressured to throw a fight. In 1958, she was cast as Darlin' Jill in the film version of God's Little Acre, based on Erskine Caldwell's novel. The film marked the screen debut of Tina Louise and also starred Robert Ryan, Jack Lord, Buddy Hackett, Aldo Ray, and Vic Morrow.

Spain followed this success by playing Maureen Flannery in the film Al Capone (1959), and appeared in such films as The Beat Generation (1959), The Private Lives of Adam and Eve (1960), Hercules and the Conquest of Atlantis (1961), Black Gold (1962), Thunder Island (1963), Flight to Fury (1964), The Gentle Rain (1966), Welcome to Hard Times (1967), and The Todd Killings (1971).

Her final appearance as a film actress came in 1974, when she portrayed the wife of mobster Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg) in The Godfather Part II (1974).

Marriages

When she was 16, Spain married John Falvo, a screenwriter and actor. They had one son, Jock Falvo (born 1954), and divorced in 1954. In 1959, the actress married West Coast abstract painter John Altoon. From 1965 to 1966, she was married to Imo Ughini, a hairdresser.

Television

Spain starred in 11 episodes of NBC Matinee Theater.

She appeared as a contestant in an episode of the Groucho Marx game show You Bet Your Life (episode #56-02, October 4, 1956, Secret Word 'Hand'). By the middle and late 1950s and 1960s, Spain appeared in Bonanza (Sue Ellen Terry in "The Sisters" in the first season chapter 14), Gunsmoke (in 1957 as the title character "Mavis McCloud" (S3E7) & in 1961 as "Bessie" a gang member and killer in "A Man A Day" (S7E14), Cheyenne, Rawhide, Whirlybirds, Hogan's Heroes, Perry Mason (Charlotte Lynch in "The Case of the Fiery Fingers"), Tombstone Territory (episode "Pick up the Gun"), The Millionaire, M Squad, Adventures in Paradise, The Texan, Riverboat, The Rat Patrol, Gomer Pyle, USMC, Gunsmoke (episode "Mavis McCloud" (1957) and episode "A Man a Day" (1961)), Playhouse 90, 77 Sunset Strip, Have Gun - Will Travel (episode "High Wire," 1957), Alfred Hitchcock Presents (episode "The Last Dark Step" (1959) and "The Cuckoo Clock" (1960)), Maverick (episodes "The Naked Gallows" with Jack Kelly (1957), "The Goose-Drownder" (1959), and "The Cactus Switch" with Roger Moore (1961)), Pony Express, The Restless Gun, The Fugitive, Bat Masterson and as Angela in Steve McQueen's Wanted: Dead or Alive (Season 2, Episode 18 (1959), as well as the "gold-digging" Amy Williams opposite Royal Dano in Season 2, Episode 3 which aired on 9/18/1959).... starred in 1961 on tales of Wells Fargo in an episode called 'The angry sky' season 6 of tales of Wells Fargo

Spain also appeared on the NBC interview program Here's Hollywood. In the 1950s and 1960s she continued to be seen frequently on television series such as Rawhide episodes, "Incident of the Valley in Shadow" (1959) and "Incident in the Middle of Nowhere" (1961) and "Incident of the Lost Woman" (1962), as well as Stoney Burke, Hogan's Heroes and The Fugitive.

In 1966, she played Calamity Jane in the episode "A Calamity Called Jane" of the syndicated series, Death Valley Days.

Death

Spain died of lymphatic cancer in Los Angeles in 1983 at age 50.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role
1957	Dragstrip Girl	Louise Blake
	The Abductors
	Teenage Doll	Helen
	The Crooked Circle	Carol Smith
1958	God's Little Acre	Darlin' Jill
1959	Al Capone	Maureen Flannery
	The Beat Generation	Francee Culloran
1960	The Private Lives of Adam and Eve	Lil Lewis / Lilith
1961	Hercules and the Conquest of Atlantis	Queen Antinea of Atlantis
1962	Black Gold	Julie
1963	Thunder Island	Helen Dodge
	The Great Space Adventure
1964	Flight to Fury	Destiny Cooper
	Cordillera
1965	Choque de Sentimentos
1966	The Gentle Rain	Nancy Masters
1967	Welcome to Hard Times	Jessie
1970	The Naked Zoo	Pauline
1971	The Todd Killings	Mrs. Mack
1974	The Godfather Part II	Mrs. Marcia Roth

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1955	Big Town		Episode: "Mental Health"
1956	The NBC Comedy Hour		Episode: Season 1, Episode 17
	Matinee Theatre		Episode: "Backfire"
	Cheyenne	Susan Doonevan	Episode: "The Long Winter"
	Conflict	Nancy Meadows	Episode: "The Magic Brew"
	Dragnet		Episode: "The Big Beer"
	Playhouse 90	Crystal Vail	Episode: "The Big Slide"
1957	Wire Service	Peggy	Episode: "Chicago Exclusive"
	Matinee Theatre		Episode: "On the Trail of the Klingsfeld"
	The Brothers	Tracey	Episode: "The Crush"
	The Web	Sadie	Episode: "Dead Silence"
	Gunsmoke	Mavis McCloud	Episode: "Mavis McCloud"
	Have Gun – Will Travel	Rena	Episode: "High Wire"
	Sugarfoot	Susie Tatum	Episode: "Quicksilver"
	Maverick	Ruth Overton	Episode: "The Naked Gallows"
1958	The Restless Gun	Helen Rockwood	Episode: "A Pressing Engagement"
	The Court of Last Resort		Episode: "The Court of Last Resort"
	Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer	Trina Greco	Episode: "A Grave Undertaking"
	The Millionaire	Aileen Evans	Episode: "The Tony Drummond Story"
	Perry Mason	Charlotte Lynch	Episode: "The Case of the Fiery Fingers"
	Tombstone Territory	Lisa Carew	Episode: "Pick up the Gun"
	Whirlybirds		Episode: "Blind Victory"
	M Squad	Ruth Reardon	Episode: "Accusation"
	Playhouse 90	Annamay Paul	Episode: "A Town Has Turned to Dust"
	Whirlybirds		Episode: "The Midnight Show"
	The Texan	Ann Dowd	Episode: "The Easterner"
	Pursuit	Andrea	Episode: "The Dark Cloud"
1959	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Leslie Lenox	Season 4 Episode 18: "The Last Dark Step"
	The Ten Commandments		Television film
	Bat Masterson	Julie Poe	Episode: "The Tumbleweed Wagon"
	77 Sunset Strip	Audrey Franklin	Episode: "Abra-Cadaver"
	The Restless Gun	Serena	Episode: "A Very Special Investigator"
	Schlitz Playhouse	Anna Carrick	Episode: "Ballad to Die For"
	Wanted Dead or Alive	Amy Williams	Episode: "The Matchmaker"
	Adventures in Paradise	Amy	Episode: "Paradise Lost"
	Rawhide	Winoka	Episode: "Incident of the Valley in Shadow"
	Bonanza	Sue Ellen Terry	Episode: "The Sisters"
	Maverick	Stella Legendre	Episode: "The Goose-Drownder"
1960	Wanted Dead or Alive	Angela	Episode: "Angela"
	The Detectives	Marcy Collins	Episode: "House Call"
	Markham	Lucille Barrett	Episode: "Deadly Promise"
	Laramie	Gloria Patterson	Episode: "Duel at Alta Mesa"
	The Alaskans	Janice Collier	Episode: "Peril at Caribou Crossing"
	Hawaiian Eye	Honey Shaw	Episode: "Birthday Boy"
	The Alaskans	Ellen Hawley	Episode: "The Bride Wore Black"
	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Madeleine Hall	Season 5 Episode 27: "The Cuckoo Clock"
	Moment of Fear		Episode: "Fire by Night"
	Naked City	Felice Reynolds	Episode: "A Succession of Heartbeats"
	Michael Shayne	Marge Jerome	Episode: "Call for Michael Shayne"
	Maverick	Angelica Garland	Episode: "Bolt from the Blue"
	The Deputy	Sally Tornado	Episode: "Sally Tornado"
	Laramie	Fran Ericson	Episode: "No Second Chance"
	Riverboat	Laurie Rawlings	Episode: "Duel on the River"
	Route 66	Paula Shay	Episode: "A Fury Slinging Flame"
1961	Maverick	Lana Cane	Episode: "The Cactus Switch"
	Gunslinger	Martha	Episode: "The Buried People"
	Adventures in Paradise	Julie	Episode: "Captain Butcher"
	The Untouchables	Julie Duvall	Episode: "Testimony of Evil"
	Rawhide	Barbara Fraser	S3:E22, "Incident in the Middle of Nowhere"
	Gunsmoke	Bessie	Episode: "A Man a Day"
1962	Cain's Hundred	Enid Lazzo	Episode: "Murder by Proxy: Earl Klegg"
	Ben Casey	Lisa Delman	Episode: "Odyssey of a Proud Suitcase"
	Dr. Kildare	Sally Winters	Episode: "The Roaring Boy-O"
	Hawaiian Eye	Barbara Mason	Episode: "Payoff"
	Tales of Wells Fargo	Marie Jarnier	Episode: "The Angry Sky"
	Rawhide	Lissa Hobson	Episode: "Incident of the Lost Woman"
1963	Laramie	Gladys	Episode: "Vengeance"
	Going My Way	Helen Bancroft	Episode: "The Slasher"
	Stoney Burke	Libby Ferris	Episode: "Cat's Eyes"
	The Greatest Show on Earth	Alicia	Episode: "The Hanging Man"
1964	Channing	Phyllis	Episode: "Swing for the Moon"
	Daniel Boone	Kathleen O'Hannrahan	Episode: "The Sisters O'Hannrahan"
	Dr. Kildare	Emily Buchanan	Episode: "Catch a Crooked Mouse"
1965	The Fugitive	Nora Keel	Episode: "Three Cheers for Little Boy Blue"
1966	A Man Called Shenandoah	Millie Turner	Episode: "The Accused"
	I Spy	Vanessa	Episode: "It's All Done with Mirrors"
	The Rat Patrol	Fay Morgan	Episode: "The Gun Runner Raid"
	Death Valley Days	Calamity Jane	Episode: "A Calamity Called Jane"
1967	Iron Horse	Marian Elwood	Episode: "Six Hours to Sky High"
	Mannix	Gladys	Episode: "A Catalogue of Sins"
	Gunsmoke	Willy	Episode: "Wonder"
1968	Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.	Lila St. Clair	Episode: "Gomer and the Queen of Burlesque"
	Hogan's Heroes	Myra	Episode: "How to Catch a Papa Bear"
1969	My Friend Tony		Episode: "Kidnap"
	Hogan's Heroes	Carla	Episode: "At Last - Schultz Knows Something"
1971	The Man and the City	Lois Niles	Episode: "I Should Have Let Him Die"
	Medical Center	Linda	Episode: "The Nowhere Child"
1972	Mannix	Mrs. Welch	Episode: "Cry Silence"
	Night Gallery	Molly Mitchell	Episode: "Rare Objects"
1974	Ironside	Alice Schmidt	Episode: "Class of '40"
	Police Woman	Mame Dorn	Episode: "Flowers of Evil"
1975	Caribe	Connie James	Episode: "Assault on the Calavera"
	Police Woman	Nadine Hummel	Episode: "The Hit"

Sources

• The Fremont Argus, "Fay Spain", May 17, 1975, Page 40.
• Reno Evening Gazette, "Fay Spain Comes Back To Reno", Friday, February 6, 1959, Page 22.

External links

• Fay Spain at IMDb 
• Fay Spain at Find a Grave