A veteran scene stealer known for her delightful dry, poker-faced delivery, Kay Medford was born Maggie O'Regan in New York City in 1914, the daughter of James and Mary (Kelly) O'Regan, of Irish stock. Kay attended both public and Catholic schools growing up, her parents both dying while she was in her teens. She quickly gravitated toward humor and show business as a respite from those sad times, and subsequently moved to Hollywood to try to break into films. All she managed were unbilled bit parts. To support herself she first became a waitress in a night club, even working up a club act of her own on her off time. Slowly she came around and evolved into one of New York and London's most enjoyable cabaret performers. This built-in reputation eventually led her to the Broadway musical stage in 1951, where at the age of 37 she played Cherry in "Paint Your Wagon." More popular shows made use of her reliable name, including "John Murray Anderson's Almanac" (1953), "Lullaby" (winning a Theatre World Award ) (1954), "Mr. Wonderful" (1956), "A Hole in the Head" (1957), and "Carousel" (1957). In 1960, Kay won the New York Drama Critic's Award for her hilarious turn as Dick Van Dyke 's emasculating mother in the classic musical "Bye, Bye Birdie." However, she lost out on the Mama role to Maureen Stapleton when it transferred to film. By this time Kay had patented her nosy, sardonic, overbearing Brooklynesque characters. It all culminated in the role of a lifetime as the Jewish mom in both the Broadway stage (1964) and film versions of Funny Girl (1968), the fictionalized biography of entertainer Fanny Brice . Kay was the only one in the cast who managed to keep up with Barbra Streisand and her star-making brilliance. Kay's spot-on, stone-faced comic timing grabbed a major share of laughs and earned her a well-deserved Oscar nomination. She was not utilized, however, and sorely missed in Streisand's sequel, Funny Lady (1975). Appearing frequently on TV with both comedic and dramatic roles, Kay continued in her busybody mama vein with Dean Martin on his long-running variety show. Kay fell ill in her final years and died of cancer in 1980 at age 65 in her Manhattan home.
Was nominated for Broadway's 1964 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actress (Musical) for "Funny Girl," a part she recreated in an Oscar-nominated performance in the film version of the same name, Funny Girl (1968).Was often cast as stereotypical Jewish mothers, something that always amused the devoutly Catholic Medford.
The life of comedienne Fanny Brice, from her early days in the Jewish slums of the Lower East Side, to the height of her career with the Ziegfeld Follies, including her marriage to and eventual divorce from Nick Arnstein.