In case people haven’t heard already, the object of King Kong’s affections has gone to the Mann’s Chinese Theater in the sky.  Here are a few links:
NPR:Â Actress Fay Wray Dies at 96
San Francisco Chronicle:Â Mick LaSalle on Fay Wray
I saw the original 1933 King Kong just a few weeks ago, and inadvertently renewed my childhood crush on her all over again. I’d forgotten what a good actress she was, the way she expressed an ongoing struggle between tenacity and vulnerability. For many years after, she had to reconcile herself to the shadow that King Kong cast over her career, and finally did so with charm and aplomb. In fact she’d even become friends with director Peter Jackson when he took the reins of the King Kong remake. She might not be here, but she’s radiant somewhere.
A quick postscript: I prefer to keep Afterhell as non-partisan as possible, but I had to throw this bit of synchronicity in. While I was writing up this entry, the second hour of the Al Franken Show started with a horror-oriented intro complete with John Carpenter’s theme for Halloween. Oh man, I hope they do that again when October 31 comes around!