Frances Bay Dead at 92: Remembering the 'Seinfeld' Actress
Frances Bay, the actress most known for being “Hollywood’s Grandma,” died Thursday at age 92 in Los Angeles after a battle with pneumonia.
For about the last few decades, Frances Bay played grandmotherly roles in television series including “Happy Days,” “The Jeffersons,” and “The Dukes of Hazzards.” She also stared in the movie “Foul Play” with Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn which some credit to being her breakout performance.
Bay who didn’t get into acting until her mid 50’s is most widely known for her scene-stealer in the NBC sitcom “Seinfeld.” The scene in which Bay and Jerry Seinfeld battled over a loaf of marble rye is considered by fans to be a memorable moment of the series.
In 2002, Bay was struck by a car and subsequently had to have her right leg amputated. The injury didn’t stop her from acting, with her last role being on ABC’s show “The Middle” as Aunt Ginny in 2010.
Co-star Patricia Heaton who worked with Bay on “The Middle” tweeted saying, “Our dear "Aunt Ginny", Frances Bay, has passed. I am so grateful to have worked with her. She was beautiful.”
Frances Bay has no immediate survivors.
