Eunice Fay McKenzie (February , â€" April , ) was an American actress
and singer. She starred in silent films as a child, and then sound
films as an adult, but perhaps she is best known for her leading roles
opposite Gene Autry in the early s in five horse opera features. She
was also known for her collaborations with director Blake Edwards on
five occasions. She also appeared on Broadway, radio and television,
having appeared on screen at ten weeks old in . She was still
appearing on screen at the time of her death, with her latest project
opposite her son Tom Waldman Jr. in the comedy Kill a Better
Mousetrap, based on a play by Scott K. Ratner, filmed in the summer of
and not yet released at the time of her death. She was briefly billed
as Fay Shannon.McKenzie was born on February , , in Hollywood,
California, to show business parents, film actor Eva (née Heazlitt)
and Irish American actor/director Robert McKenzie. Her father had a
stock company called the McKenzie Merry Makers, and was both an actor
and director in stage productions and films. His company included such
actors as Broncho Billy Anderson, Ben Turpin, and Victor Potel. When
she was ten weeks old, she appeared in an uncredited part in the film
Station Content () as Kitty's baby (played by Gloria Swanson). She
appeared in four other silent films as a child: A Knight of the West
() as Fray Murten, When Love Comes () as Ruth, The Judgment of the
Storm () as a Heath Twin, and The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln ()
as a young Sarah Lincoln (Abraham Lincolns stepmother). Fay's sister
Ida Mae McKenzie, cousin Ella McKenzie, and brother-in-law Billy
Gilbert, were also actors. Ida Mae also played the character of Sarah
Lincoln in The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln, in the part of the
film where she had become a teenager.In the mid-s, McKenzie took a
ten-year break from acting in order to focus on her education. She
attended the Beverly Hills High School. She returned to films in in
Student Tour as Mary Lou. That year she made her first short Western
film, Sundown Trail, with wally Wales. McKenzie later recalled,
and singer. She starred in silent films as a child, and then sound
films as an adult, but perhaps she is best known for her leading roles
opposite Gene Autry in the early s in five horse opera features. She
was also known for her collaborations with director Blake Edwards on
five occasions. She also appeared on Broadway, radio and television,
having appeared on screen at ten weeks old in . She was still
appearing on screen at the time of her death, with her latest project
opposite her son Tom Waldman Jr. in the comedy Kill a Better
Mousetrap, based on a play by Scott K. Ratner, filmed in the summer of
and not yet released at the time of her death. She was briefly billed
as Fay Shannon.McKenzie was born on February , , in Hollywood,
California, to show business parents, film actor Eva (née Heazlitt)
and Irish American actor/director Robert McKenzie. Her father had a
stock company called the McKenzie Merry Makers, and was both an actor
and director in stage productions and films. His company included such
actors as Broncho Billy Anderson, Ben Turpin, and Victor Potel. When
she was ten weeks old, she appeared in an uncredited part in the film
Station Content () as Kitty's baby (played by Gloria Swanson). She
appeared in four other silent films as a child: A Knight of the West
() as Fray Murten, When Love Comes () as Ruth, The Judgment of the
Storm () as a Heath Twin, and The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln ()
as a young Sarah Lincoln (Abraham Lincolns stepmother). Fay's sister
Ida Mae McKenzie, cousin Ella McKenzie, and brother-in-law Billy
Gilbert, were also actors. Ida Mae also played the character of Sarah
Lincoln in The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln, in the part of the
film where she had become a teenager.In the mid-s, McKenzie took a
ten-year break from acting in order to focus on her education. She
attended the Beverly Hills High School. She returned to films in in
Student Tour as Mary Lou. That year she made her first short Western
film, Sundown Trail, with wally Wales. McKenzie later recalled,
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