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 (Original Broadway Cast Recording) successful singer, winner of the 1963 Grammy Award for Album of the Year and Best Female Vocal Performance and with her 3 first solo albums charting in the Billboard Top 200. The album peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in June 1964. and went to win its composers the Grammy for Best Score From an Original Cast Show Album, beating "Hello, Dolly!". All music written by Jule Styne; lyrics by – Bob Merrill Funny Girl (Original Broadway Cast Recording) Funny Girl (Original Broadway Cast Recording) is the original Broadway cast recording of the musical "Funny Girl", loosely based