Carole Little grew up with a scream queen.
Fay Wray, who became an icon for her portrayal of blond and beautiful Ann Darrow in the original "King Kong," was Little's stepmother.
Even though Wray inspired generations of actresses and her most famous film inspired scores of filmmakers, Little, who has lived in Tucson since the '70s, says she never felt starstruck around Wray or the celebrities who spent time around her.
"California, it's all actors," she says. "You don't realize that you're living a different lifestyle until you go to another state."
Little remembers the first time she saw "King Kong."
"We thought it was kind of funny," she says, laughing. "It was so corny."
Years later, she showed it to her own daughter, explaining that the starlet in the film was "Grandma Fay."
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Her daughter disagreed, and Little reassured her that, yes, her grandmother was in the movie.
"Then she got very upset," Little says. "She said, 'Grandma Fay's not a monkey.' "
Little remembers lots of picture-taking whenever she was with Wray and a "lot of parties" attended by old Hollywood stars such as Robert Taylor, Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Mitchum.
Even though she never thought much of the celebrity, because she also was surrounded by it, Little says that she kept her stepmother's identity quiet when she moved to Arizona to attend Northern Arizona University.
"I just didn't mention it. I never thought why," she says. "I didn't feel comfortable saying, 'I'm Carole, and I'm Fay Wray's stepdaughter.' "
She understood that Flagstaff was very different from Los Angeles, where she lived a privileged life. Little's father was a prominent neurosurgeon and her stepfather a leading attorney.
Little describes Fay as dramatic and "always the actress." The two stayed in touch until Fay died in August 2004.
She thinks the new "King Kong" looks spectacular. She doesn't think Naomi Watts is as pretty as Wray, but she believes that the actress is supremely talented.
When she sees the previews, she thinks of Wray and her father.
"I feel her spirit and my father's spirit in me," she says. "I'm not sad because I think of what wonderful people they were."
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