Biography

Fredric March

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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>

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.
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.
He entered the banking business in New York in 1920, working at what was then known as First National City Bank (now Citibank) when a ruptured appendix nearly killed him. While he was recuperating, his landlady (a former actress) related anecdotes from her days in the theater and he was so enchanted that he decided to pursue his real dream and become an actor.

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.