10 MORE Forgotten Horror Movie Scream Queens
7. Fay Wray
Forget Jamie Lee Curtis or Neve Campbell... if one traces horror cinema and the term Scream Queen back to the very beginning we find Hollywood legend Fay Wray was the first actress in history to earn the legendary moniker.
However, a mistake most make is assuming Wray became a horror movie staple due to her shrieking turn in 1933's King Kong. The truth of the matter is that Kong was actually Wray's fourth out of five genre roles. Initially a role offered to Jean Harlow, Wray's calibre within the burgeoning genre and her impressive pipes won her the part.
Prior, Wray had starring turns in Doctor X, a very early take on the slasher movie formula and The Mystery Of The Wax Museum. Both pictures are considered landmark genre pieces almost ninety years later for being two of the first horror films shot in color. The latter picture would later be remade as House of Wax with Vincent Price.
Following King Kong's mammoth success, Wray would make only one more horror film, 1934's Black Moon, choosing more comedic and dramatic turns with her enhanced profile. However, the impact she and her five genre roles had on the horror landscape as a whole is absolutely undeniable.
Wray was the first actress to build a rapport with the public through a specific genre and is unquestionably the original Scream Queen.