You may not know the name Frances Bay, but you definitely would recognize the actress who passed away in Los Angeles last Thursday at the age of 92. Some may know her from her work in Happy Gilmore or on Happy Days (those are the first two career mentions the L.A. Times cite); others may remember her as the woman Jerry steals a marble rye from in a classic episode of Seinfeld. But for geeks like myself (and likely my Biff Bam Pop pals David Ward and Ian Rogers), Ms. Bay will have a place in my heart for two specific roles.
The first is her appearance as Mrs. Pickman in John Carpenter’s hugely underappreciated 1995 film In The Mouth of Madness, where she plays the owner of a small hotel in the town of Hobb’s End. The second is her role as Mrs. Tremond/Chalfont in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks – acting alongside Lynch’s son Austin, she added a serious creepiness to the series as an inhabitant of the mysterious Black Lodge.
You can check out footage from her more popular appearances below, including her Seinfeld appearance. Rest in peace, Frances Bay.
Damn, I’m really sorry to hear about this. But it looks like she lived a long, interesting life. I can still picture her on “Twin Peaks,” lying in bed and staring ominously at Lara Flynn Boyle while she asks, “Do you see creamed corn on this plate?”