Wray was born in Canada, raised in the USA, and broke into films as a teenager with "Gasoline Love" (1923) She worked at Universal and Paramount in the silent era, and while at Paramount proved she was star material with Erich von Stroheim's "The Wedding March" (1928). Wray stayed with Paramount to make the transition into talkies, but it was with RKO, beginning in 1932, that she had her best shot. She played opposite Joel McCrea in "The Most Dangerous Game" (1932), running for her life as one of the visitors chased by a hunter with a thirst for human game. Despite becoming a household name with "King Kong", Wray was not able to capitalize on her success and her subsequent films in the 30s did not elevate her to first-tier stardom. When she married screenwriter Robert Riskin ("It Happened One Night", "Lost Horizon") in 1928, she retired from the screen. However, Wray was still active in the film community, in a social circle which included many writers and intellectuals. She co-wrote (with Sinclair Lewis and Wanda Tuchock) the feature "This Is the Life" (1944), about a chorine in love with an older man.
Wray returned to films as a character player in 1953 with "Small Town Girl", a film better known for Bobby Van's energetic dancing. After playing additional mother and matron roles, she quit films for good in the late 50s. But Wray continued to work on the small screen, notably as Paul Hartman's loving wife (despite his ineptness) in "Pride of the Family" (ABC, 1953-54), and in guest appearances on many of the anthology series of the decade. One of her last TV appearances was as Henry Fonda's landlady in the acclaimed TV drama "Gideon's Trumpet" (CBS, 1980). She has continued to appear occasionally in front of the cameras, usually in interviews for documentary programs centering on the Golden Age of Hollywood. Wray wrote her autobiography "On the Other Hand: A Life Story" in 1989, and became a regular and insightful interview subject in a variety of film and television documentaries chronicling Hollywood's Golden Age. The actress remained healthy and active well into her nineties, including continuing to drive. In 1998 she appeared on the broadcast of the 70th Academy Awards when host Billy Crystal conducted an impromptu interview with her in the crowd after a clip from "King Kong" featuring her was aired, and in 2003 she personally accepted the Legend In Film Award at the Palm Beach International Film Festival at age 95.
Over the decades, Wray came to terms with the original source of her fame and her reputation as one of Hollywood's original "scream queens" and grew to look fondly on her simian co-star and the magical cinematic accomplishments of "King Kong." After her death in 2004 at age 96, the Empire State Building dimmed its lights in her memory.