March, Fredric

March, Fredric, 1897–1975, American actor, b. Racine, Wis., as Frederick McIntyre Bickel. Equally distinguished on stage and screen, he won Academy Awards for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1947). Originally cast as the dashing hero because of his good looks, March's later roles took advantage of his powerful screen presence and his ability to express the weaknesses in seemingly self-assured professional men. His films include Anna Karenina (1935), Death of a Salesman (1952), Inherit the Wind (1960), and The Iceman Cometh (1973). He appeared on Broadway in O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night (1956) and in Gideon (1961).

Bibliography

See L. J. Quirk, The Films of Fredric March (1971).