Biography

Pansy Schenck

Jump to

She was born Pansy Wilcox, one of the six children of Kentucky optometrist and drugstore owner James Wilcox. Her siblings included actress Ruth Selwyn, who was married to producer-director Edgar Selwyn, one of the founders of the Goldwyn Studios, and director Fred M. Wilcox, who directed Lassie Come Home (1943) and Forbidden Planet (1956). She was also the sister-in-law of actress Norma Talmadge, who was married to her brother-in-law Joseph M. Schenck, and mother-in-law of actor Helmut Dantine, best known for appearing in Casablanca (1942). After a career as a showgirl, she became the second wife of Nicholas M. Schenck (Nicholas M. Schenck, the president of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer parent-company Lowe's Inc. and one of the pioneers of the movie industry. He also owned the Palisades Amusement Park in Fort Lee, New Jersey from 1911 until 1935, with his older brother Joseph, also a movie-industry executive.

The Schencks had three daughters: Marti, who married actor Helmut Dantine; Joanne, who gave her parents two grandchildren, Leslie and Kevin Frank Brandt; and Nicola, who was a nightclub chanteuse.
- IMDb mini biography by: Jon C. Hopwood

Born Pansy Wilcox, she was the sister of director Fred M. Wilcox, who directed Lassie Come Home (1943) and Forbidden Planet (1956), and actress Ruth Selwyn (born Ruth Wilcox), who was married to producer-director Edgar Selwyn, one of the founders of Goldwyn Pictures and who was instrumental in the establishment of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures. She was the mother-in-law of actor Helmut Dantine, of Casablanca (1942) fame. Pansy and her siblings were the children of James Wilcox, a Kentucky optometrist and drugstore owner, who was married six times, twice to one woman. His six children were from his first wife.
Daughter Nicola (Niki Dantine) was married to Helmut Dantine.

Suggest an edit or add missing content