{{Short description|Irish actor (1872–1947)}} {{no footnotes|date=July 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}} {{Use Irish English|date=April 2014}} {{about||the English singer-songwriter|Bill Fay|the United States Tax Court judge|William M. Fay}} thumb|right|W.G. Fay: self-portrait '''William George Fay''' (12 November 1872 – 27 October 1947) was an actor and theatre producer who was one of the co-founders of the Abbey Theatre.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/how-the-abbey-theatre-really-began-1.1083651|title=How the Abbey theatre really began}}</ref>
Fay was born in Dublin, where he attended Belvedere College.<ref name="DIB">Ferriter, Diarmaid (2009). [https://www.dib.ie/index.php/biography/fay-william-george-wille-a3026 "Fay, William George (‘Wille’)"]. ''Dictionary of Irish Biography''. Retrirved 16 October 2024.</ref> He worked for a time in the 1890s with a touring theatre company in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. When he returned to Dublin, he worked with his older brother Frank, staging productions in halls around the city. Finally, they formed W. G. Fay's Irish National Dramatic Company, focused on the development of Irish acting talent. The brothers participated in founding the Abbey Theatre and were largely responsible for evolving the Abbey style of acting.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Genius of W. G. Fay|first=Gabriel|last=Fallon|date=20 July 2018|journal=The Irish Monthly|volume=75|issue=894|pages=505–508|jstor = 20515740}}</ref> After a falling-out with the Abbey directors in 1908, the brothers emigrated to the United States to work in theatre there.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/william-fay-40263|title=William Fay – Broadway Cast & Staff - IBDB|first=The Broadway|last=League|website=www.ibdb.com}}</ref>
He moved to London in 1914, working as an actor on stage and in films.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba8ccbbb5|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170426082213/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2ba8ccbbb5|url-status=dead|archive-date=26 April 2017|title=W.G. Fay}}</ref>
He played Johnnie, in the film, Spellbound (1941 film). One of his most notable film roles was as Father Tom in Carol Reed's Belfast-set ''Odd Man Out'' (1947), whose cast was dense with actors from the Abbey Theatre.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/477046/credits.html|title=BFI Screenonline: Odd Man Out (1947) Credits|website=www.screenonline.org.uk}}</ref> His memoir, ''The Fays of the Abbey Theatre'', appeared in 1935.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/faysoftheabbeyth006134mbp|title=FAYS OF THE ABBEY THEATRE|last1=W.G.FAY|last2=CATHERINE CARSWELL|date=20 July 2018|publisher=HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY|via=Internet Archive}}</ref> Willie Fay died in London in 1947, aged 74.
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- |1933|| ''The Blarney Stone'' || The Leader || |- |1934|| ''General John Regan'' || Golligher || |- |1937|| ''Storm in a Teacup'' || Michael Cassidy || |- |1937|| ''The Last Curtain'' || Milligan || |- |1941|| ''Spring Meeting'' || Johnny Mahoney || |- |1941|| ''This Man Is Dangerous'' || Mr. Eslick || |- |1941|| ''Spellbound'' || Johnny || |- |1946|| ''London Town'' || Mike || |- |1947|| ''Odd Man Out'' || Father Tom || |- |1947|| ''Temptation Harbour'' || Night Porter || Uncredited |- |1948|| ''Oliver Twist'' || Bookseller || (final film role) |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Bibliography== * Igoe, Vivien. ''A Literary Guide to Dublin''. (Methuen, 1994) {{ISBN|0-413-69120-9}} * Ryan, Philip B. ''The Lost Theatres of Dublin''. (The Badger Press, 1998) {{ISBN|0-9526076-1-1}} * {{cite TIWW |article=Fay, William George |page=77 }}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|0269620|}} * {{IBDB name|40263}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Fay, William}} Category:1872 births Category:1947 deaths Category:Abbey Theatre Category:Irish male stage actors Category:Irish male film actors Category:Male actors from Dublin (city) Category:People educated at Belvedere College Category:Theatre people from Dublin (city)