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.

When Dee was seven years old, her family moved to Chicago, Illinois. 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

{| 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

|Party Guest

|Uncredited

|-

|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

|Edna Baker

|

|-

|An American Tragedy

|Sondra Flinchley

|

|-

|Caught

|Kate Winslow

|

|-

|Rich Man's Folly

|Ann Trumbull

|

|-

|Nice Women

|Jerry Girard

|

|-

|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

|Doris Brandt

|

|-

|King of the Jungle

|Ann Rogers

|

|-

|The Silver Cord

|Hester

|

|-

|Headline Shooter

|Jane Mallory

|

|-

|One Man's Journey

|Joan Stockton

|

|-

|Little Women

|Margaret "Meg" March

|

|-

|Blood Money

|Elaine Talbart

|

|-

|rowspan=4|1934

|Keep 'Em Rolling

|Marjorie Deane

|

|-

|Coming Out Party

|Joyce 'Joy' Stanhope

|

|-

|Finishing School

|Virginia Radcliff

|

|-

|Of Human Bondage

|Sally Altheny

|

|-

|rowspan=2|1935

|Becky Sharp

|Amelia Sedley

|

|-

|The Gay Deception

|Mirabel Miller

|

|-

|rowspan=2|1936

|Half Angel

|Allison Lang

|

|-

|Come and Get It

|Restaurant Patron

|Uncredited

|-

|rowspan=2|1937

|Souls at Sea

|Margaret Tarryton

|

|-

|Wells Fargo

|Justine Pryor MacKay

|

|-

|1938

|If I Were King

|Katherine de Vaucelles

|

|-

|1939

|Coast Guard

|Nancy Bliss

|

|-

|rowspan=2|1941

|So Ends Our Night

|Marie Steiner

|

|-

|A Man Betrayed

|Sabra Cameron

|

|-

|1942

|Meet the Stewarts

|Candace Goodwin

|

|-

|rowspan=2|1943

|I Walked With a Zombie

|Betsy Conell

|

|-

|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

|Susan Arnold

|

|-

|1953

|Mister Scoutmaster

|Helen

|

|-

|1954

|Gypsy Colt

|Em MacWade

|

|-

|2006

|Far as the Eye Can See

|Grandma

|Short

|}

References

  • francesdeemccrea.com
  • Frances Dee Biography and obituary
  • Photographs of Frances Dee