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Fredric March

Fredric March

Fredric March (Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel) (August 31, 1897 - April 14, 1975) was an Academy Award winning American actor.

March was born in Racine, Wisconsin. He began as a banker, but an emergency appendectomy caused him to reevaluate his life, and in 1920 he began to be cast as an extra in movies made in New York. He appeared on Broadway in 1926, and won an Oscar nomination in 1930 for The Royal Family of Broadway, in which he played a role based upon John Barrymore.

March won the Oscar in 1932 for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and again in 1946 for The Best Years of Our Lives. March was one of the few actors to resist the studios, and was able to pick and choose his roles, in the process also avoiding typecasting. By this time, he was working on Broadway as often as in Hollywood, and his screen career was not as prolific as it had been.

Perhaps his greatest late-in-life role was in Inherit the Wind in 1960, opposite Spencer Tracy.

Throughout his life, he was a proponent of liberal political causes, and was a steady supporter of the Democratic Party. He died in Los Angeles, California).

He was married to the actress Florence Eldridge from 1927 until his death.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2004.

Fredric March Facts

Birth NameErnest Frederick McIntyre Bickel
OccupationActor
BirthdayAugust 31, 1897
SignVirgo
BirthplaceRacine, Wisconsin, USA
Date of deathApril 14, 1974 (age 76)
Height5' 10" (1m78)  How tall is Fredric March compared to you?
Awards1952 Golden Globe Awards: Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama (for Death of a Salesman)
1947 Academy Awards: Best Actor (for The Best Years of Our Lives)
1932 Academy Awards: Best Actor (for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)

Selected Filmography

Inherit the Wind
Seven Days in May
Hollywood on Parade
The Bridges at Toko-Ri
I Married a Witch
The Best Years of Our Lives
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