Anthony Dion Fay Had a Troubled Life as Barbara Stanwyck's Son – What Happened to Him?

Anthony Dion Fay's life progressed tragically from birth, with his biological mother first giving him up for adoption when he was an infant. Although he was then adopted by the late Hollywood starlet Barbara Stanwyck, things didn't get much better.

Anthony Dion Fay took his first breath in Los Angeles on February 5, 1932. After his birth mother gave him up as an infant, actress Barbara Stanwyck assumed the maternal role of caring for him as his adoptive mother.

However, Barbara's reported reasons for taking Anthony in didn't arise from a desire to have children; she wanted to save her tumultuous marriage to Frank Fay. When the former couple divorced, Barbara won custody of Anthony, but his life's struggles were only beginning.

Anthony Dion Fay Was Abandoned by His Parents Twice

When Anthony entered the lives of Barbara and Frank, his adoptive father, their marriage was already on the rocks. Frank was reportedly abusive toward Anthony's mother, with his influence on her being described as "suffocating and total," and he battled alcohol abuse.

Barbara thought completing the picture with Anthony might save her relationship with Frank. Unfortunately, Anthony's presence never remedied the union, as it progressively worsened thereafter.

Like Barbara, Anthony also suffered the bitter end of Frank's drunken rage until his mother finally filed for divorce. Although there was a custody battle for him, his father had allegedly "lost interest" in the youngster by its end.

Still, Barbara had no experience with children and had been abandoned by her own mother; her lack of affection for Anthony became more evident as the years went by, as she never developed a relationship with him.

As he grew older, Anthony developed a delinquency that Barbara didn't appreciate. When his mother remarried Robert Taylor, he reportedly got in the way of that union. Yet despite the alleged intrusion, Robert said Anthony wasn't a "bad kid," but he did get bad grades.

As his mother's affection lessened, Anthony had at least one person who cared for him: his Uncle Buck. When Anthony was 12, he suffered a severe injury during summer camp and was hospitalized.

Although the doctors tried reaching his mother, she never came to see him, let alone return the doctor's calls. Three years later, as his reported delinquency increased, Barbara and Robert sat him down to discuss his future.

Anthony Dion Fay Took the Blame for His Rift with His Mom

After she sent him to a military school in Indiana, Anthony never saw his mother again, except for a brief lunch date arranged by his uncle in 1952. During an interview in 1960, he admitted to being a lousy student who never cared much for his education.

Anthony understood that Barbara didn't expect him to "be a genius," but she wanted him to take advantage of his schooling opportunities. He later discovered that she was willing to send him to any college he desired and felt some remorse not only for his disinterest but for their lack of a bond, as he said:

"I'm sorry now that I didn't take advantage of the offer. I guess it was more my fault than it was hers. How we each went our separate ways."

Anthony Dion Fay Worked in a Motel & Never Saw His Mom Again

In 1960, at 28 years old, Anthony was arrested for selling pornographic books to teenagers. He was married by then and had a son, and lived modestly while working at a motel. Barbara never attended his wedding but gifted the newlyweds with a bathroom set.

Anthony said he invited her, but she never made it. When he welcomed his son with his wife, she sent them baby furniture and $100. Still, Anthony found it upsetting that Barbara never met her only grandson.

She reportedly kept a photo of Anthony in her closet but still maintained little to no affection for her adoptive son. Even when others mentioned Anthony, she would say allegedly he was "long gone" and change the subject. On their last encounter, Anthony recalled:

"As politely as a stranger I asked about her career. As politely and distantly as the movie queen she was she answered and inquired how I had been."

Afterward, though she never told him directly, Barbara made it clear that she didn't want anything to do with Anthony. When he called his Uncle Buck to ask if he could come home and see her, he recalled him responding:

"He told me to forget it, to forget that Barbara Stanwyck was my mother. He said, 'She wants nothing to do with you.'"

Even on her deathbed, those feelings remained the same, as she left specific instructions that he wasn't allowed to see her under any circumstances. Anthony still hoped that he would reconcile with his mother, but after receiving those instructions, and her death, those hopes dissolved.

Anthony Dion Fay Passed Away in 2006 without Fanfare

Anthony took his last breath in Van Nuys, Los Angeles County, on May 17, 2006, at age 74, near his birthplace; however, the cause of his death and his burial details remain unknown.

Anthony's mother had died of congestive heart failure sixteen years before, in January 1990, at age 80. The late starlet, who had been in over 80 films, including "The Lady Eve," "Stella Dallas," and "Double Indemnity," took her last breath at St John's Hospital and Health Center.

Like the late actors Sidney Poitier and Betty White, Barbara was not only known for being a movie star, but she had built a reputation as a "self-reliant," "self-assured," and "gutsy" woman with a distinct husky voice and "cool exterior." Though Anthony never knew her love, many remembered her having a "warm heart."