- Born
- Died
- Birth nameErnest Frederick McIntyre Bickel
- Nickname
- Freddie
- Height5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
- Fredric March began a career in banking but in 1920 found himself cast as an extra in films being produced in New York. He starred on the Broadway stage first in 1926 and would return there between screen appearances later on. He won plaudits (and an Academy Award nomination) for his send-up of John Barrymore in The Royal Family of Broadway (1930). Four more Academy Award nominations would come his way, and he would win the Oscar for Best Actor twice: for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946). He could play roles varying from heavy drama to light comedy, and was often best portraying men in anguish, such as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman (1951). As his career advanced he progressed from leading man to character actor.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Bill Takacs <kinephile@aol.com>
- SpousesFlorence Eldridge(May 30, 1927 - April 14, 1975) (his death, 2 children)Ellis Baker(May 3, 1925 - January 17, 1927) (divorced)
- ParentsJohn F. BickelCora Brown
- The final Hyde make-up in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931) was so extreme that it almost permanently disfigured him. After filming was completed, he was hospitalized for three weeks. His co-star Rose Hobart said, "Fredric March was lucky he wasn't ruined for life.".
- Served in the United States Army during World War I as an artillery lieutenant.
- It seems that nobody but Jesse L. Lasky wanted to make The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944). He fought for years to convince Warner Bros. to back a screen biography of the noted writer. Director Irving Rapper was not interested in making the film until he learned his friend March was first choice to star. March had been suggested by Twain's only living daughter, Clara Clemens Gabrilowitch, who informed Lasky that she would not help with the picture unless March played her father. But even with such a stirring endorsement, March had his doubts. He only accepted the role after the makeup department shot a test in which he played Twain at 65. When a picture of March in makeup was released to the papers, Twain's daughter thought somebody had discovered another archival photo of her father.
- He singled out The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) as his favorite movie role and "Long Day's Journey into Night" as his favorite stage play. He considered work in television "an awful experience".
- In 1949, he was targeted for blacklisting by the House Un-American Activities Committee because of his supposed "leftist" politics.
- Keep interested in others; keep interested in the wide and wonderful world. Then in a spiritual sense, you will always be young.
- I liked the name Frederick Bickel and I wish now I had left it as it was. After all, Theodore Bikel, whose name was similar though spelled differently, didn't change his, and he did all right.
- Co-starring with Greta Garbo hardly constituted an introduction.
- [commenting on the fact that he and Wallace Beery, who both won Best Actor Oscars for 1931-32 due to a tie, had recently adopted children] It seems a little odd that we were both given awards for the best male performance of the year.
- Stardom is just an uneasy seat on top of a tricky toboggan. Being a star is merely perching at the head of the downgrade. A competent featured player can last a lifetime. A star, a year or two. There's all that agony of finding suitable stories, keeping in character, maintaining illusion. Then the undignified position of hanging on while your popularity is declining.
- Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night (1967) - $15 .000
- Seven Days in May (1964) - $100 .000
- Another Part of the Forest (1948) - $100 .000
- Bedtime Story (1941) - $100 .000
- Trade Winds (1938) - $75,000 + percentage of the profit
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