Frances Marion Dee American actress Date of Birth: 26.11.1909 Country: USA

Biography of Frances Marion Dee

Frances Marion Dee, known simply as Jane Dee at the time, was born in Los Angeles. Her father, a military man, was soon transferred to Chicago, where Jane's acting career also began after another move by her father, this time back to Los Angeles. She started with small roles, not even being given credit in the film credits. Her film debut came in 1929, in the movie "Words and Music". Her beauty attracted attention, and she quickly made her way into "The Playboy of Paris" with Maurice Chevalier. A year later, she received one of the leading roles in Joseph von Sternberg's film adaptation of Theodore Dreiser's novel "An American Tragedy" - the role of a girl whose ambitions lead a young man to murder. Dee established her reputation as a talented actress, skillfully portraying various roles in comedies, dramas, and westerns. Early in her career, she usually played sensitive, kind-hearted girls, serving as a supporting character for more talented and popular actresses - such as Katharine Hepburn in "Little Women", Bette Davis in "Of Human Bondage", and Miriam Hopkins in "Becky Sharp". Eventually, Frances began to receive significant roles herself, such as her performance in "If I Were King" with Ronald Colman. One of the most memorable roles of her early career, before the Production Code, was in the film "Blood Money". In the 1990s, her films suddenly gained popularity among movie lovers, as there was a renewed interest in films from that era. This led to a new, younger wave of fans for Dee. Andrew Whitnick, the actress's biographer, recalled that when a friend of the actress began to discuss Frances' role as a prostitute in "Blood Money", she immediately interrupted him, stating that she played not a prostitute, but a masochistic nymphomaniac kleptomaniac. Dee met the love of her life, Joel McCrea, on the set of the film "The Silver Cord" in 1933. They also had the opportunity to work together on projects such as "Wells Fargo" and "Four Faces West". Joel and Frances were married in 1933 and lived in peace and harmony for fifty-seven years until the actor's death in 1990. Dee appeared in a number of David O. Selznick's films, but strangely enough, she did not get the chance to participate in the making of Selznick's best film, "Gone with the Wind". The reason for this was Frances' beauty - David had considered her as the most likely candidate for the role of Melanie Wilkes but then feared that the vibrant Dee would overshadow the main heroine played by Vivien Leigh. Olivia de Havilland instead got the role, which brought her an Oscar and marked the beginning of her successful career. Unfortunately, Dee never reached such heights, although she worked with incredible dedication. In 1953, Frances retired to fully devote herself to her husband and sons. She and McCrea lived on a ranch in Thousand Oaks, California. One of the greatest actresses of the Golden Age of Hollywood, Frances Marion Dee, passed away on March 6, 2004. The cause of death was complications from a stroke.