Trivia

Sister-in-law of Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon.

Member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Writers Branch) [1999-]

Elected President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1979-1983 (the only woman elected since Bette Davis' brief stint as President in 1941).

Mother, with Michael Kanin, of film editor Josh Kanin.

Was nominated for Broadway's 1985 Tony Award as Best Book (Musical) for "Grind."

The daughter of David and Bessie (née Kaiser) Mitchell, she won the New York State Spelling Championship at age 12 for which Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt awarded her a silver cup.

Fay attended all-female Elmira College on a full scholarship, where she developed her writing and acting skills. When she saw a matinée of "Idiot's Delight" on Broadway starring Alfred Lunt and wife Lynn Fontanne, she became hooked on theater.

She wrote small items for he hometown paper, the Elmira Star Gazette, and while in high school she also wrote and produced a children's radio show.

Her older son, Joel, died in 1958 of leukemia.

Howard Hawks' "Bringing Up Baby" is her favorite film.