Mary Ella Dees (June 3, 1911 – August 4, 2005) was an American stage and screen actress with mostly minor roles. The most notable moment of her career came when Dees served as a stand-in double for the deceased Hollywood star Jean Harlow who had died during the filming of Saratoga (1937), enabling the completion of the film.
Biography and career Born in Syracuse, New York, on June 3, 1911,Born on June 3, 1911, not in September 1911 as per the Social Security Death Index, under name DEES, MARY E (SS# 569-18-8259) the daughter of a successful lawyer, Dees was for a time raised in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.Guide to actress Mary Dees' scrapbooks MSS.2562-001, University of Alabama, accessed 2011-01-02. She worked for a short time as a typist before moving to Hollywood in 1932. She was named Miss America in Hollywood in 1932, an accomplishment that led director Jack Conway to give her a bit part in Red Headed Woman. That film starred Jean Harlow, who befriended Dees. She advised the newcomer to study dancing, helped her to shop for "the right clothes" and helped to pay for Dees's gowns.
Dees was a dancer and bit-part actress when, in 1937, after the sudden death of Harlow, she was cast by MGM boss Louis B. Mayer as a four-minute stand-in for the star, who was acting opposite Clark Gable on the film Saratoga, which was still in production.The Guardian obituary for Mary Dees, September 22, 2005; accessed January 2, 2011.
Dees had parts in The Last Gangster (1937), The Women (1939), as well as a number of Three Stooges shorts, which included Hoi Polloi (1935), and numerous Marx Brothers comedies.
Later career Dees appeared in her last film role in 1946, in the Marx Brothers film A Night in Casablanca. She continued to act on stage in repertory theatre until 1985.
Death Dees died on August 4, 2005, in Lake Worth, Florida, aged 94, after a long illness.South Florida Sun-Sentinel article with photo, August 10, 2004
Filmography Year Title Role Notes1931 Flying High Chorus Girl Uncredited1933 Dinner at Eight Minor Role Uncredited1933 Footlight Parade Chorus Girl Uncredited1934 Let's Talk It Over Woman at Beach Uncredited1934 The Man with Two Faces Theatregoer Uncredited1934 Kid Millions Paulette Uncredited1935 Gold Diggers of 1935 Chorus Girl Uncredited1935 Redheads on Parade Redhead Uncredited1935 Two-Fisted Minor Role Uncredited1936 Anything Goes Chorus Girl Uncredited1936 Born to Dance Chorine Uncredited1937 Saratoga Carol Clayton (after Jean Harlow's Death) Uncredited1937 Bad Guy Girl Uncredited1937 The Last Gangster Virginia Bauche Uncredited1938 The Shopworn Angel Babe #1 Uncredited1939 The Women Girl Uncredited1946 A Night in Casablanca Minor Role Uncredited, (final film role)
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