Frances Lee

Frances Lee

Born: May 5, 1906
Died: November 5, 2000
in Eagle Grove, Iowa, USA
From Wikipedia

Frances Lee was born as Myrna Tibbetts (some sources indicate Merna Tibbetts) in Eagle Grove, Iowa. She initially began pursuing a career as a teacher but began taking dance lessons, which led to her being spotted by Gus Edwards, who owned a theater in New York City. Edwards persuaded Lee to perform at his theater, and she joined the cast of The Ziegfeld Follies in 1923, when she was hired by Al Christie to perform in his Christie Comedies.

Moving to Hollywood in the mid-1920s to pursue acting, she received her first film role in 1924, starring in Hello and Goodbye, a comedy short film. That brought her to the attention of the studios and launched her into a very successful and busy silent film career. In 1925 she had roles in three films, and in 1926 her number of films jumped to seven. She was a frequent guest at the home of Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks and became friends with other notable Hollywood legends, to include Rudolph Valentino until his death in 1926. In 1927 she had roles in five films and was selected as one of thirteen girls to be WAMPAS Baby Stars, which that year included silent film star Sally Phipps and actress Barbara Kent.

The year 1928 was a big year for her. She starred in nine films, the most memorable of which was Sweeties with Bobby Vernon. Her biggest year by far was 1929, when she starred in ten films, including the lead role in Stage Struck Susie opposite Eddie Barry and Divorce Made Easy starring alongside Marie Prevost and Douglas MacLean. That year, she married Alexander Bennett, brother to Australian silent film actress Enid Bennett. Their wedding was attended by such famous Hollywood legends as Enid Bennett's husband, film producer Fred Niblo; actresses Gloria Swanson and Greta Garbo; and actors Rod La Rocque and John Gilbert.

She retired from film acting after 1935, living with her husband in Beverly Hills, California. She began working in interior design and studied for and received a degree in teaching. She and her husband lived in Brentwood, where she began one of the early Head Start programs at Knox Presbyterian Nursery School. She also taught dance, society behavior, and etiquette at the Elisa Ryan Studio, where she instructed the daughters of President Richard M. Nixon. In 1972 she and Alex moved to Cardiff-by-the-Sea.

She worked as a children's librarian at the Rancho Sante Fe Library until only

a few years before her death.

She died on November 5, 2000, in Cardiff-by-the-Sea,

California, aged 94.

Movies for Frances Lee...

Flirtation Walk
Title: Flirtation Walk
Character: Blonde (uncredited)
Released: December 1, 1934
Type: Movie
A private stationed in Hawaii gets involved with the general's engaged daughter. In order to avoid a scandal, the pair break up, but meet again years later when he's at West Point producing the annual play that turns out to star her.
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These Thirty Years
Title: These Thirty Years
Character: Mae Lercombe
Released: May 23, 1934
Type: Movie
The rise of Henry Ford of the Ford Motor Company.....
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Her Splendid Folly
Title: Her Splendid Folly
Character: Natalie
Released: October 7, 1933
Type: Movie
Solomon Ginsberg is the President of International Pictures Corporation and hires Joan McAllister, an unemployed stenographer, to double for his star, Laura Girard. While on a location trip, Laura is killed in an automobile accident, and in order to save the money already invested in the film Ginsberg, aided by the film's leading-man, Wallace Morely, with whom Joan is more than a little infatuated, persuades Joan to assume the identity of the dead actress, whose death is being concealed.
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Phantom Thunderbolt
Title: Phantom Thunderbolt
Character: Judy Lane
Released: March 4, 1933
Type: Movie
A cowboy called The Thunderbolt Kid comes to the aid of a town that is being threatened by outlaws who don't want a railroad to go through the town.
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The Tabasco Kid
Title: The Tabasco Kid
Character: Mary Jones
Released: January 30, 1932
Type: Movie
A timid accountant for a California cattle ranch and a lookalike dashing bandit become rivals for the beautiful daughter of a wealthy rancher.
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Down with Husbands
Title: Down with Husbands
Character: Mrs. Henry Sweet
Released: March 8, 1930
Type: Movie
When their wives go on strike, two husbands form an organization they call the "Husbands Protective League".
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Show of Shows
Title: Show of Shows
Character: Performer in 'Ladies of the Ensemble' Number (uncredited)
Released: November 21, 1929
Type: Movie
Now hear this. The studio that gave the cinema its voice offered 1929 audiences a chance to see and hear multiple silent-screen favorites for the first time in a gaudy, grandiose music-comedy-novelty revue that also included Talkie stars, Broadway luminaries and of course, Rin-Tin-Tin. Frank Fay hosts a jamboree that, among its 70+ stars, features bicyclers, boxing champ Georges Carpentier, chorines in terpsichore kickery, sister acts, Myrna Loy in two-strip Technicolor as an exotic Far East beauty, John Barrymore in a Shakespearean soliloquy (adding an on-screen voice to his legendary profile for the first time) and Winnie Lightner famously warbling the joys of Singing in the Bathtub. Watch, rinse, repeat!
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Divorce Made Easy
Title: Divorce Made Easy
Character: Eileen Stanley
Released: July 6, 1929
Type: Movie
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Stage Struck Susie
Title: Stage Struck Susie
Character: Susie
Released: May 4, 1929
Type: Movie
Eddie Barry bewilders himself backstage at a show.
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Naughty Baby
Title: Naughty Baby
Character: Peggy
Released: April 6, 1929
Type: Movie
A gorgeous showgirl is hired as a lingerie model at a fashion show......
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The Carnation Kid
Title: The Carnation Kid
Character: Doris Whitely
Released: March 2, 1929
Type: Movie
It's a case of mistaken identity in this comedy that centers around a country bumpkin mistaken for a Chicago hitman.
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Nifty Numbers
Title: Nifty Numbers
Character: Doris
Released: December 29, 1928
Type: Movie
Fourth release in the "Confessions of a Chorus Girl" comedy series.
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Chicken à la King
Title: Chicken à la King
Character: Babe Lorraine
Released: June 9, 1928
Type: Movie
A married tightwad learns to loosen up by living the life of a playboy.
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Good as Gold
Title: Good as Gold
Character: Jane Laurier
Released: June 12, 1927
Type: Movie
Buck Brady is the son of a prospector whose valuable claim was stolen when Buck was a child. Brady grows up with revenge on his mind and retaliates by holding up the mine's payroll messengers. Until, that is, he falls in love with Janet, the new owner.
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Duck Out
Title: Duck Out
Character: Maggie
Released: February 13, 1927
Type: Movie
At a magic show put on by Blondini the magician, a member of the audience is invited up to participate. He gets into all sorts of shenanigans, tripping over the stage curtain, sending ducks up through the wrong trapdoors. He can hardly believe his eyes when a girl is sawn in half!
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Dummy Love
Title: Dummy Love
Released: August 15, 1926
Type: Movie
Evelyn's uncle gives a party to announce her engagement to the suitor he has approved, but she decides to elope with Oscar. Oscar pal goes along to help, but his sweetheart sees them and thinks he is the one eloping with Evelyn.
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Page Me
Title: Page Me
Released: February 28, 1926
Type: Movie
Comedy Short