Background
Jay Bonafield was the son of Hugh William Bonafield (1876–1939) and Berta C. Montgomery Bonafield (1878–1965).
Jay Bonafield was the son of Hugh William Bonafield (1876–1939) and Berta C. Montgomery Bonafield (1878–1965).
Jay was educated in local schools, and left school after eighth grade, according to the 1940 United States Census.
Jay joined Pathé News in 1931. In 1941 he edited Frank Buck"s Jungle Cavalcade. In 1946 Bonafield was named vice president of Radio-Keith-Orpheum-Pathé in charge of non-newsreel productions.
In 1952 he was placed in charge of Radio-Keith-Orpheum short subjects.
He was executive vice president of Radio-Keith-Orpheum until he resigned in 1957 to open an independent production company. Bonafield was a producer of the first film Stanley Kubrick directed, Day of the Fight.