She is referenced twice in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). During the Floorshow, Frank says, 'Whatever happened to Fay Wray/that delicate, satin-draped frame/as it clung to her thigh, how I started to cry/cause I wanted to be dressed just the same'; and in the opening song: 'then something went wrong/for Fay Wray and King Kong/they got caught in a celluloid jam'.
She is regarded as Hollywood's first "scream queen". This was due to the 1932-1933 season when she made the early Technicolor thrillers Doctor X (1932) and Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) (both at Warner Brothers with Lionel Atwill). She also costarred in The Vampire Bat (1933) at Majestic (again with Atwill) and at RKO she made The Most Dangerous Game (1932) and, of course, King Kong (1933).
She spent time with and became friends with Peter Jackson, a major fan, while he was in the process of developing his remake of 'King Kong'. Before she passed on, Wray also met and became friendly with Naomi Watts, whom she also approved to play the part that Wray originated, 'Ann Darrow'.
She was "almost" a vegetarian and always stuck to her rule not to eat late at night. She woke up long before sunrise and spent a lot of time writing.
She was friends with Laraine Day.
Sideline: playwright ("Angela Is Twenty-Two" and "The Meadowlark").
Third husband, Dr. Sanford Rothenberg, was a brain surgeon.
Was guest of honor in 1991, at the 60th birthday of the Empire State Building in New York City.