Fay Kanin (born May 9, 1917) is an American screenwriter, playwright and producer. Kanin was President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1979 to 1983.
Born Fay Mitchell to Bessie Kaiser Mitchell and David Mitchell in New York City, she was raised in Elmira, New York, where she won the New York State Spelling Championship at twelve and was presented with a silver cup by then Governor Franklin Roosevelt. She was encouraged to ...
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Fay Kanin (born May 9, 1917) is an American screenwriter, playwright and producer. Kanin was President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1979 to 1983.
Born Fay Mitchell to Bessie Kaiser Mitchell and David Mitchell in New York City, she was raised in Elmira, New York, where she won the New York State Spelling Championship at twelve and was presented with a silver cup by then Governor Franklin Roosevelt. She was encouraged to write for money by supplying small items to the Elmira Star Gazette. In high school she wrote and produced a children's radio show; then on full scholarship, she attended the private, all-female Elmira College where she divided her studies between writing and acting as well as editing the yearbook. Her mother would take her to visit Kanin's grandmother who lived in the Bronx, and it was there that she became devoted to the theater when she saw a matinée of Idiot's Delight starring Lunt and Fontaine.
Kanin longed to move to Los Angeles to get...
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