Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Fredric March


Fredric March was born Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel on August 30, 1897 in Racine, Wisconsin, the son of the son of Cora Brown Marcher and John F. Bickel.

Fredric March began his career as a banker, but an emergency appendectomy caused him to reevaluate his life, and in 1920 he began working as an extra in movies, first appearing in The Great Adventure (1921).

Frederic March made his Broadway debut in 1926. He would devote as much time to Broadway as to movies. He would eventually win two Tony Awards. One for the play Years Ago (1947) written by Ruth Gordon and his second for his performance in Long Day's Journey Into Night (1957).

His first major break in films came in 1930 in which he played Tony Cavendish in The Royal Family of Broadway. This role would earn March his first Academy award nomination for Best Actor.

In 1931, Fredric March established himself in Hollywood with this performance in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, earning his first Academy Award for Best Actor.

During the 1930s, he starred in many movies including A Star is Born (1937), Death Takes a Holiday (1934), Les Miserables (1935), Anna Karenina (1935) and Anthony Adverse (1936). He earned his third Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his perfomance in A Star is Born.

The 1940s brought fame with roles in The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944), One Foot in Heaven (1941), I Married A Witch (1942), The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), and An Act of Murder (1948). He received his second Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in The Best Years of Our Lives.

During the 1950s, he starred in Death of a Salesman (1951), Executive Suite (1954), The Bridges at Toko Ri (1954) and The Desperate Hours (1955). He would receive his fifth Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for his performance in Death of a Salesman.

During the 1960s he starred in Inherit the Wind (1960), The Young Doctors (1961), and Hombre (1967). His final role was in 1973, in The Iceman Cometh.

Fredric March was married twice. The first time to Ellis Baker (May 3, 1925 - 1927, divorced). March later married actress Florence Eldridge in 1927, they would remain married until his death. They had two adopted children.

Fredric March and his wife Florence would appear together in The Studio Murder Mystery (1929), Les Miserables (1935), Another Part of the Forest (1948), An Act of Murder (1948), Christopher Columbus (1949) and Inherit the Wind (1960). On televsion, she appeared with him in the Producer's Showcase (1954).

Fredric March passed away on April 14, 1975 from complications of prostate cancer.

Fredric March was one of most talented leading men, in a career that spanned nearly fifty years. He earned Academy Award nominations in three consecutive decades.




Anna Karenina




The Best Years of Our Lives




Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde




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