Frances Marion Dee (November 26, 1909 – March 6, 2004) was an American actress. Her first film was the musical Playboy of Paris (1930). She starred in films An American Tragedy (1931), Little Women (1933) and Becky Sharp (1935). She is perhaps also known for starring in the 1943 Val Lewton psychological horror film I Walked With a Zombie.
Early life The younger daughter of Francis "Frank" Marion Dee and his wife, the former Henriette Putnam, Frances Marion Dee was born in Los Angeles, California, where her father worked as a civil service examiner.Her birth name is given as Frances Marion Dee in the California Birth Index, 1905-1995, accessed via ancestry.com on January 13, 2011Frank Dee's occupation is given in the 1910 U.S. Federal Census for Los Angeles, California, in which he is listed with his wife, Henriette, and daughters Margaret and Frances. In the 1920 U.S. Federal Census for Chicago, Illinois, Frank Dee is listed as an employment manager at a packing company. In the 1930 U.S. Federal Census for Indianapolis, Indiana, he was living as a lodger in a boarding house and working as a secretary at a public utility. All census records accessed on ancestry.com on January 13, 2011.
When Dee was seven years old, her family moved to Chicago, Illinois. She attended Shakespeare Grammar School and Hyde Park High School, where she went by the nickname of Frankie Dee.
After graduating from Hyde Park High in 1927, of which she was vice president of her senior class, as well as voted Belle of the Year, she spent two years at the University of Chicago, where she participated in dramatic activities, then returned to California.
Career
Following her sophomore year in 1929, she went on summer vacation with her mother and older sister to visit family in the Los Angeles area. She began working as a movie extra as a lark. Her big break came when she was still an extra; she was offered the lead opposite Maurice Chevalier in Playboy of Paris.
The audience appeal established in two films opposite Paramount stars Charles "Buddy" Rogers and Richard Arlen led to the co-starring role of Sondra Finchley, opposite Phillips Holmes and Sylvia Sidney, in Paramount Pictures's prestigious and controversial production of An American Tragedy, directed by Josef von Sternberg.
Dee's additional screen credits included June Moon, Little Women, Of Human Bondage, Becky Sharp, and Payment on Demand. She co-starred with her husband Joel McCrea in the Western Four Faces West (1948). She retired after production of Gypsy Colt in 1953.
Personal life Dee met actor Joel McCrea on the set of the 1933 film The Silver Cord. The couple married on October 20, 1933, after a whirlwind courtship, and remained married until McCrea's death in 1990. During their lifetime together, the McCreas lived, raised their children, and rode their horses on their ranch in what was then an unincorporated area of eastern Ventura County, California. They ultimately donated several hundred acres of their personal property to the newly formed Conejo Valley YMCA for the city of Thousand Oaks, California. Dee, like McCrea, was a Republican. Joel McCrea died on their 57th wedding anniversary.
Dee was honored at the 1998 Memphis Film Festival in Tennessee. In 2004, Frances Dee McCrea died in Norwalk, Connecticut due to complications from a stroke at the age of 94. Filmography Year Title Role Notes1929Words and MusicCo-EdUncredited1930True to the NavyGirl at TableUncreditedA Man from WyomingNurseUncreditedManslaughterParty GuestUncreditedMonte CarloReceptionistUncreditedFollow ThruWoman in Ladies' Locker RoomUncreditedPlayboy of ParisYvonne PhillbertAlong Came YouthElinor Farrington1931June MoonEdna BakerAn American TragedySondra FlinchleyCaughtKate WinslowRich Man's FollyAnn TrumbullNice WomenJerry GirardWorking GirlsLouise Adams1932This Reckless AgeLois IngalsSky BrideRuth's FriendUncreditedThe Strange Case of Clara DeaneNancy DeaneLove Is a RacketMary WodehouseThe Night of June 13Ginger BlakeIf I Had a MillionMary WallaceUncredited1933The Crime of the CenturyDoris BrandtKing of the JungleAnn RogersThe Silver CordHesterHeadline ShooterJane MalloryOne Man's JourneyJoan StocktonLittle WomenMargaret "Meg" MarchBlood MoneyElaine Talbart1934Keep 'Em RollingMarjorie DeaneComing Out PartyJoyce 'Joy' StanhopeFinishing SchoolVirginia RadcliffOf Human BondageSally Altheny1935Becky SharpAmelia SedleyThe Gay DeceptionMirabel Miller1936Half AngelAllison LangCome and Get ItRestaurant PatronUncredited1937Souls at SeaMargaret TarrytonWells FargoJustine Pryor MacKay1938If I Were KingKatherine de Vaucelles1939Coast GuardNancy Bliss1941So Ends Our NightMarie SteinerA Man BetrayedSabra Cameron1942Meet the StewartsCandace Goodwin1943I Walked With a ZombieBetsy ConellHappy LandAgnes March1945Patrick the GreatLynn Andrews1947The Private Affairs of Bel AmiMarie de Verenne1948Four Faces WestFay Hollister1951Payment on DemandEileen BansonReunion in RenoMrs. Doris Linaker1952Because of YouSusan Arnold1953Mister ScoutmasterHelen1954Gypsy ColtEm MacWade2006Far as the Eye Can SeeGrandmaShort
References
External links
francesdeemccrea.com Frances Dee Biography and obituary Photographs of Frances Dee