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
Funny Girl (musical) until the show closed. The First National Tour gave top billing to Lillian Roth as Mrs. Brice, Anthony George as Nicky and Marilyn Michaels third billed as Fanny. The Australasian premiere season commenced March 4, 1966 at the Her Majesty's Theatre, Sydney. The production starred Jill Perryman as Fanny Brice. A 1996 United States National tour starred Debbie Gibson as Fanny Brice and Robert Westenberg as Nicky Arnstein. The planned 30-city tour started in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in October 1996, but ended prematurely in November 1996 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. In 1999, The Production Company produced "Funny Girl" in Melbourne, starring