Character actress Frances Bay dies at 92

Frances Bay, who found success as a character actress in middle age playing grandmother roles in the Adam Sandler movie "Happy Gilmore" and on TV's "Happy Days," died Thursday, according to her agent, Brian McCabe. She was 92.

Photos: Notable deaths of 2011

Bay, a Canadian who spent much of her life as a housewife, fulfilled her desire to become an actress in the 1970s, when she was in her mid-50s.

Her first movie role came in the 1976 Goldie Hawn-Chevy Chase comedy "Foul Play," and she began a string of TV guest roles on "The Jeffersons," "The Dukes of Hazzard" and as Fonzie's grandmother on "Happy Days."

She also played the "marble rye lady" on "Seinfeld" and acted in several David Lynch films, starting with "Blue Velvet."

A full obituary will follow at latimes.com/obituaries.

ALSO:

Gang member charged in toddler killing faces 305 years

Unclear why eucalyptus tree fell on car in O.C., killing driver

Guinness World Records: SoCal resident has state's longest tongue

-- Claire Noland

Photo: Frances Bay in 1986. Credit: Los Angeles Times