Kay Medford

Margaret Kathleen Regan (September 14, 1919 – April 10, 1980), better known as Kay Medford, was an American actress. For her performance as Rose Brice in the musical Funny Girl and the film adaptation of the same name, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress respectively. Early years Medford was born in 1919. Her mother had been an actress with a Shakespearean stock group in Connecticut. She was orphaned in her teens. She adopted the name Kay Medford professionally, and began her career after graduating from high school and working as a nightclub waitress. Career Medford began entertaining professionally by performing at summer resorts in the Catskill Mountains. In 1949, she toured with a nightclub routine in which she did impersonations of Hollywood celebrities. Medford was the original Mae Peterson (Albert's mother) in Bye Bye Birdie on Broadway, garnering excellent reviews. Medford appeared in the Warner Bros. rock and roll film, Jamboree (1957). She made her Broadway debut in 1951 in the musical Paint Your Wagon.