Biography

The Manhattan-born McCay was the only child of Michael, a construction company owner who specialized in building schools, and his wife, Catherine (or Cathryn) McCay. She attended St. Walburga's Convent School and Barnard College, graduating from the latter in June 1949. After her father's sudden death, she and her mother ran his construction company for a period of time.

After graduation, she joined impresaria Margo Jones's Texas-based theatre company and graduated to repertory, where she essayed numerous roles. She studied with Lee Strasberg in New York, later helping to set up Strasberg's West Coast studio.

One of her first New York roles was in an off-Broadway production of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, opposite Franchot Tone; they reprised their roles in the 1957 film version of the play. Her role as Sonya earnedher the off-Broadway award "OBIE" for Best "Off-Broadway" Young Actress of the Year.

McCay accepted her first major role as the heroine Vanessa Dale on the soap opera Love of Life, which premiered in 1951. After four years, she left in 1955 to pursue other options. In 1958 she appeared on Perry Mason as defendant Stephanie Falkner in "The Case of the Long-Legged Models", and in 1959 as conwoman Melissa Maybrook in the Maverick episode "The Sheriff of Duck 'n' Shoot". Soon after, she was cast in an episode of the CBS anthology series, Appointment with Adventure. She appeared in four feature films in the late 1950s before landing a lead role in 1962 in the ABC television series Room for One More as Anna Perrott Rose, who had written a memoir about her family life as a foster mother. In 1962, McCay starred in the feature film, Lad, A Dog.

On February 4, 1963, she appeared as Sheriff Taylor's old girlfriend Sharon DeSpain in the "Class Reunion" episode of The Andy Griffith Show. On April 9, 1963, McCay appeared in the episode "Broken Honor" of NBC's Laramie; she and Rod Cameron played Martha and Roy Halloran, a farm couple who stumble upon $30,000 in money found inside a strong box on their property. The loot had been seized by bandits in a stagecoach heist and hidden away for later retrieval. Roy, who is wheelchair-bound, insists on keeping the money until Jess Harper, played by series regular Robert Fuller, arrives at their farm amid grave danger to all from the bandits.

McCay guest-starred on ABC's The Roaring 20s, The Greatest Show on Earth, and Jason Evers's Channing. In 1963, she appeared on NBC's Redigo, with Richard Egan, and on CBS's Perry Mason (as defendant Margaret Layton in "The Case of the Skeleton's Closet").

In 1964, she returned to daytime television as a lead on ABC's The Young Marrieds. When the show went off the air in 1966, she was written into the story line on ABC's General Hospital (as Iris Fairchild) until 1970. In the 1970s, McCay appeared in Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years, How the West Was Won, and The Lazarus Syndrome. She appeared in a 1975 television movie, John O'Hara's Gibbsville (also known as The Turning Point of Jim Malloy), and was a regular in the cast of the short-lived 1976 series Gibbsville.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she had a recurring role as Marion Hume in the CBS drama Lou Grant. She may be best known as matriarch Caroline Brady on Days of Our Lives. First appearing on the program in February 1983, she signed a long-term contract with the serial in 1985 and has appeared on a regular basis ever since.

Awards and nominations

List of acting awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Title	Result	Ref.
1956	Obie Award	Distinguished Performance by an Actress	Uncle Vanya	Won
1986	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Days of Our Lives	Nominated
1986	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Guest Performer in a Drama Series	Cagney & Lacey	Nominated
1987	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Days of Our Lives	Nominated
1991	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series	The Trials of Rosie O'Neill	Won
1993	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special	Woman on the Run: The Lawrencia Bembenek Story	Nominated
1994	Gemini Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role	Woman on the Run: The Lawrencia Bembenek Story	Nominated
2013	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Days of Our Lives	Nominated
2015	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series	Days of Our Lives	Nominated
2016	Daytime Emmy Award	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	Days of Our Lives	Nominated

Personal life

McCay has never married or had children. She resides in Los Angeles, California.

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Feature films

• Promises in the Dark (1979)
• Bustin' Loose (1981)
• Second Thoughts (1983)
• Daddy's Girl (1996)
• James Dean (2001)
• "Lad: A Dog (1962)". Turner Classic Movies
• Second Thoughts (1983)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]