Kay Earley Doubleday was born in the picturesque northern Caribbean coastal town of Tela, Honduras, where her father, a railroad construction engineer, worked for the Tela Railroad Company, a subsidiary of the United Fruit Company, which later became Chiquita Brands International. This company played a significant role in Central America, controlling vast territories and transportation networks, and held a monopoly on the banana industry.
In 1933, just after Doubleday's birth, the company moved its headquarters to New Orleans. Her family relocated there in 1936, and she spent her childhood in this vibrant city, where she appeared in several local theater productions. Upon graduating from high school at the Academy of the Holy Angels in 1951, she moved to New York to pursue her passion for acting.
Soon after, she traveled to London, where she auditioned for and was accepted into the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. After a year, she graduated and spent a short time in Rome before returning to New York in 1954. There, she began taking acting lessons from renowned playwright and actor Michael V. Gazzo, who later gained fame for his role in The Godfather Part II (1974).
In 1956, she enrolled in the esteemed Actor's Studio under the guidance of Lee Strasberg, who also appeared in The Godfather Part II (1974),as mafia kingpin Hyman Roth. It was during her time at the Actor's Studio that she met her first husband, actor and writer Clyde Ware. They had a son, but the marriage ended in 1961 when Ware moved to Hollywood to pursue a successful screenwriting career.
Doubleday then married again in 1962 to actor Archie Smith, with whom she had a son. They moved to Seattle and acted together in the Seattle Repertory Theater for several years. Tragedy struck in February 1970 when their son was killed in a car accident near Lake Sammamish State Park. The couple's pain was eased a bit when Doubleday gave birth to a daughter about a year later.
The family moved to Pennsylvania and were involved with the Penn State Theater Department. In the early 1980s, they relocated to Denver and became resident actors with the Denver Theater Company. In May 1995, Doubleday passed away in the arms of her beloved husband Archie Smith.
