Frances Drake(1912-2000)

Actress

Paris, France: a demented surgeon's obsession with a British actress leads him to secretly replace her concert pianist husband's train-wreck-mangled hands with those of a guillotined murderer. . . with a gift for knife-throwing.

Play trailer2:03

Mad Love (1935)

Frances Drake was born on 22 October 1912 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Mad Love (1935), The Preview Murder Mystery (1936) and The Invisible Ray (1936). She was married to David Brown and Lt. Cecil John Arthur Howard. She died on 18 January 2000 in Irvine, California, USA.

IMDbProStarmeter See rank

Awards
- 1 win total

Photos47

+ 41

Known for

Mad Love

7.2

Yvonne Orlac

1935

The Preview Murder Mystery

6.4

Peggy Madison

1936

The Invisible Ray

6.5

Diana Rukh

1936

Forsaking All Others

6.4

Connie Barnes Todd

1934

Credits

IMDbPro

Actress

The Affairs of Martha
6.6
- Sylvia Norwood
- 1942
I Take This Woman
6.4
- Lola Estermont
- 1940
It's a Wonderful World
6.8
- Vivian Tarbel
- 1939
There's Always a Woman
6.7
- Anne Calhoun
- 1938
The Lone Wolf in Paris
6.0
- Princess Thania of Arvonne
- 1938
She Married an Artist
4.3
- Sally Dennis
- 1937
Love Under Fire
5.6
- Pamela Beaumont
- 1937
Midnight Taxi
6.4
- Gilda Lee
- 1937
I'd Give My Life
6.0
- Mary Reyburn
- 1936
And Sudden Death
5.7
- Betty Winslow
- 1936
Florida Special
6.3
- Marina Landon
- 1936
The Preview Murder Mystery
6.4
- Peggy Madison
- 1936
The Invisible Ray
6.5
- Diana Rukh
- 1936
Without Regret
5.2
- Mona Gould
- 1935
Mad Love
7.2
- Yvonne Orlac
- 1935

Videos1

Trailer 2:03

Theatrical Trailer

Personal details

Alternative name
- Frances Dean
Height
- 5′ 2½″ (1.59 m)
Born
- October 22, 1912
- New York City, New York, USA
Died
- January 18, 2000
- Irvine, California, USA(natural causes)
Spouses
Other works
Made stage debut in London in "Potash and Perlmutter," which ran eight weeks at the Caiety Theatre.
Publicity listings
- 3 Articles
- 5 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Trivia
Dark-haired American-born actress who went to finishing school in Arundel, England. After dancing in London nightclubs, she spent her apprenticeship on stage (e.g., "The Little Earthquake" in 1933, as a cockney maid) and in minor British films. She made her Hollywood debut in Bolero (1934) and was thereafter typecast as damsels in distress, opposite horror stars Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and Peter Lorre. Paramount changed her name to Frances Drake because her birth name, Frances Dean, was too similar to that of one of their stars, Frances Dee.

Quotes
[In a 1986 interview] Charles Laughton was very interesting to watch. Before he went into a scene, he'd go through these gyrations, and huff and puff... I don't know what it did for him, but he was quite amusing to watch! He was often very effective, wasn't he? Marvelous!