Kay Medford high school and working as a nightclub waitress. She was the original "Mama" in "Bye Bye Birdie" on Broadway, garnering excellent reviews, but lost the film role to Maureen Stapleton. 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". She was cast in "Carousel" before she appeared onstage in "Funny Girl" as the mother of Fanny Brice (played by Barbra Streisand); for this performance she was nominated for a 1964 Tony Award for Featured Actress (Musical), and when she repeated the role in the
Fanny Brice of a Grammy Hall of Fame Award for her 1921 recording of "My Man". Brice's Broadway credits include "Fioretta", "Sweet and Low", and "Billy Rose's Crazy Quilt". Her films include "My Man" (1928), "Be Yourself!" (1930) and "Everybody Sing" (1938) with Judy Garland. According to film historian Richard Barrios, "My Man" is a lost film. Brice, Ray Bolger and Harriet Hoctor were the only original Ziegfeld performers to portray themselves in "The Great Ziegfeld" (1936) and "Ziegfeld Follies" (1946). Brice's first radio show was the Philco Hour in February 1930. Brice's first regular radio show was probably "The Chase and