Editing Frances Dee

{{Short description|American actress (1909–2004)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2015}}

{{distinguish|Francis Dee}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Frances Dee
| image              = Frances Dee ph636.jpg
| image_size         = 
| caption            = Dee in 1936
| birthname          = Frances Marion Dee
| birth_date         = {{birth date|1909|11|26}}
| birth_place        = [[Los Angeles, California]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{death date and age|2004|03|06|1909|11|26}}
| death_place        = [[Norwalk, Connecticut]]. U.S.
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Joel McCrea]]|1933|1990|end=died}}
| occupation         = Actress
| yearsactive        = 1930–1953
| children           = 3, including [[Jody McCrea]]
}}

'''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 the film ''[[An American Tragedy (film)|An American Tragedy]]'' (1931). She is also known for starring in the 1943 [[Val Lewton]] psychological horror film ''[[I Walked With a Zombie]]''. 
[[File:Frances Dee in Little Women trailer.jpg|thumb|right]]

==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.<ref>Her birth name is given as Frances Marion Dee in the ''California Birth Index, 1905-1995'', accessed via ancestry.com on January 13, 2011</ref><ref>Frank 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.</ref>

When Dee was seven years old, her family moved to Chicago, Illinois.<ref name="ot2">{{cite news|last1=Soanes|first1=Wood|date=June 17, 1934|title=Frances Dee and Joel McCrea See Future Felicity and Freedom Upon Ranch When Studios Begin to Pall|newspaper=Oakland Tribune |page=39|agency=Oakland Tribune|location=California, Oakland|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4673193/oakland_tribune/|access-date=March 19, 2016|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref><ref name=ot/> She attended Shakespeare Grammar School and [[Hyde Park Career Academy|Hyde Park High School]], where she went by the nickname of Frankie Dee.{{Citation needed |date=December 2023}} 

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,<ref name=ot/> then returned to California.

==Career==
[[File:FrancesDeeinBeckySharp.jpg|right|thumb|150px|Dee in ''[[Becky Sharp (film)|Becky Sharp]]'' (1935)]]
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 (film)|An American Tragedy]]'', directed by [[Josef von Sternberg]].

Dee's additional screen credits included ''[[June Moon]]'', ''[[Little Women (1933 film)|Little Women]]'', ''[[Of Human Bondage (1934 film)|Of Human Bondage]]'', ''[[Becky Sharp (film)|Becky Sharp]]'', and ''[[Payment on Demand]]''. She co-starred with her husband [[Joel McCrea]] in the Western ''[[Four Faces West]]'' (1948).

==Personal life==
Dee met actor [[Joel McCrea]] on the set of the 1933 film ''The Silver Cord''.<ref name="ot">{{cite news|last1=Bowers|first1=Emilie|title=Charming Frances Dee|newspaper=Oakland Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4672988/oakland_tribune/|agency=Oakland Tribune|date=March 3, 1935|location=California, Oakland|page=59|via = [[Newspapers.com]]|access-date = March 19, 2016}} {{Open access}}</ref> 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 [[Joel McCrea Ranch|their ranch]] in what was then an unincorporated area of eastern Ventura County, California.<ref name="VCS 2017-02-07">{{cite news|url=http://www.vcstar.com/story/news/local/communities/conejo-valley/2018/02/07/mccrea-familys-hollywood-legacy-lives-conejo-ranch/997848001/|title=McCrea family's Hollywood legacy lives on at Conejo ranch|newspaper=[[Ventura County Star]]|first=Robyn |last=Flans|date= February 7, 2018|access-date=8 February 2018}}</ref> 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 Party (United States)|Republican]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QfHXAAAAQBAJ&q=Kathryn+Grayson+Republican&pg=PA173|title=When Hollywood Was Right: How Movie Stars, Studio Moguls, and Big Business Remade American Politics|first=Donald T.|last=Critchlow|date=October 21, 2013|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521199186|via=Google Books}}</ref> Joel McCrea died on their 57th wedding anniversary. 

Dee was honored at the 1998 Memphis Film Festival in Tennessee.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.westernclippings.com/festivalfotos/filmfestivalfotos_20.shtml|title=Western Film Festival Photos--Gallery 9|website=www.westernclippings.com}}</ref> In 2004, Frances Dee McCrea died in Norwalk, Connecticut due to complications from a stroke at the age of 94.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/mar/10/guardianobituaries.film1|title=Obituary: Frances Dee|first=Ronald|last=Bergan|newspaper=The Guardian |date=March 10, 2004|via=www.theguardian.com}}</ref>
==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year
!style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title
!style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role
!style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes
|-
|1929
|''Words and Music''
|Co-Ed
|Uncredited
|-
|rowspan=7|1930
|''[[True to the Navy]]''
|Girl at Table
|Uncredited
|-
|''[[A Man from Wyoming]]''
|Nurse
|Uncredited
|-
|''[[Manslaughter (1930 film)|Manslaughter]]''
|Party Guest
|Uncredited
|-
|''[[Monte Carlo (1930 film)|Monte Carlo]]''
|Receptionist
|Uncredited
|-
|''[[Follow Thru]]''
|Woman in Ladies' Locker Room
|Uncredited
|-
|''[[Playboy of Paris]]''
|Yvonne Phillbert
|
|-
|''[[Along Came Youth]]''
|Elinor Farrington
|
|-
|rowspan=6|1931
|''[[June Moon (film)|June Moon]]''
|Edna Baker
|
|-
|''[[An American Tragedy (film)|An American Tragedy]]''
|Sondra Flinchley
|
|-
|''[[Caught (1931 film)|Caught]]''
|Kate Winslow
|
|-
|''[[Rich Man's Folly]]''
|Ann Trumbull
|
|-
|''[[Nice Women]]''
|Jerry Girard
|
|-
|''[[Working Girls (1931 film)|Working Girls]]''
|Louise Adams
|
|-
|rowspan=6|1932
|''[[This Reckless Age]]''
|Lois Ingals
|
|-
|''[[Sky Bride]]''
|Ruth's Friend
|Uncredited
|-
|''[[The Strange Case of Clara Deane]]''
|Nancy Deane
|
|-
|''[[Love Is a Racket]]''
|Mary Wodehouse
|
|-
|''[[The Night of June 13]]''
|Ginger Blake
|
|-
|''[[If I Had a Million]]''
|Mary Wallace
|Uncredited
|-
|rowspan=7|1933
|''[[The Crime of the Century (1933 film)|The Crime of the Century]]''
|Doris Brandt
|
|-
|''[[King of the Jungle (1933 film)|King of the Jungle]]''
|Ann Rogers
|
|-
|''[[The Silver Cord (film)|The Silver Cord]]''
|Hester
|
|-
|''[[Headline Shooter]]''
|Jane Mallory
|
|-
|''[[One Man's Journey]]''
|Joan Stockton
|
|-
|''[[Little Women (1933 film)|Little Women]]''
|Margaret "Meg" March
|
|-
|''[[Blood Money (1933 film)|Blood Money]]''
|Elaine Talbart
|
|-
|rowspan=4|1934
|''[[Keep 'Em Rolling]]''
|Marjorie Deane
|
|-
|''[[Coming Out Party]]''
|Joyce 'Joy' Stanhope
|
|-
|''[[Finishing School (1934 film)|Finishing School]]''
|Virginia Radcliff
|
|-
|''[[Of Human Bondage (1934 film)|Of Human Bondage]]''
|Sally Altheny
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1935
|''[[Becky Sharp (film)|Becky Sharp]]''
|Amelia Sedley
|
|-
|''[[The Gay Deception]]''
|Mirabel Miller
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1936
|''[[Half Angel (1936 film)|Half Angel]]''
|Allison Lang
|
|-
|''[[Come and Get It (1936 film)|Come and Get It]]''
|Restaurant Patron
|Uncredited
|-
|rowspan=2|1937
|''[[Souls at Sea]]''
|Margaret Tarryton
|
|-
|''[[Wells Fargo (film)|Wells Fargo]]''
|Justine Pryor MacKay
|
|-
|1938
|''[[If I Were King]]''
|Katherine de Vaucelles
|
|-
|1939
|''[[Coast Guard (1939 film)|Coast Guard]]''
|Nancy Bliss
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1941
|''[[So Ends Our Night]]''
|Marie Steiner
|
|-
|''[[A Man Betrayed (1941 film)|A Man Betrayed]]''
|Sabra Cameron
|
|-
|1942
|''[[Meet the Stewarts]]''
|Candace Goodwin
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1943
|''[[I Walked with a Zombie|I Walked With a Zombie]]''
|Betsy Conell
|
|-
|''[[Happy Land (film)|Happy Land]]''
|Agnes March
|
|-
|1945
|''[[Patrick the Great]]''
|Lynn Andrews
|
|-
|1947
|''[[The Private Affairs of Bel Ami]]''
|Marie de Verenne
|
|-
|1948
|''[[Four Faces West]]''
|Fay Hollister
|
|-
|rowspan=2|1951
|''[[Payment on Demand]]''
|Eileen Banson
|
|-
|''[[Reunion in Reno]]''
|Mrs. Doris Linaker
|
|-
|1952
|''[[Because of You (1952 film)|Because of You]]''
|Susan Arnold
|
|-
|1953
|''[[Mister Scoutmaster]]''
|Helen
|
|-
|1954
|''[[Gypsy Colt]]''
|Em MacWade
|
|-
|2006
|''Far as the Eye Can See''
|Grandma
|Short
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons}}
*{{IMDb name|0214168}}
*{{IBDB name}}
*[http://www.francesdeemccrea.com/ francesdeemccrea.com]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060616083903/http://eeweems.com/val_lewton/cast_dee.html Frances Dee] Biography and obituary
*[http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=302 Photographs of Frances Dee]

{{Portal bar|Biography}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dee, Frances}}
[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:2004 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century American actresses]]
[[Category:21st-century American actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses from Norwalk, Connecticut]]
[[Category:American film actresses]]
[[Category:University of Chicago alumni]]
[[Category:Actresses from Chicago]]
[[Category:Actresses from Los Angeles]]
[[Category:California Republicans]]