Mary Brian
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- February 17, 1906
- Died
- December 30, 2002 (aged 96)
- Birthplace
- Corsicana, Texas, USA
Biography
Mary Brian (born Louise Byrdie Dantzler, February 17, 1906 – December 30, 2002), was an American actress, who made the transition from silent films to sound films. Brian was dubbed "The Sweetest Girl in Pictures." After her showing in a beauty contest, she was given an audition by Paramount Pictures and cast by director Herbert Brenon as Wendy Darling in his silent movie version of J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan. There she starred with Betty Bronson and Esther Ralston, and the three of them stayed close for the rest of their lives. Ralston described both Bronson and Brian as 'very charming people'. The studio, who created her stage name for the movie and said she was age 16 instead of 18, because the latter sounded too old for the role, then signed her to a long-term motion picture contract. Brian played Fancy Vanhern, daughter of Percy Marmont, in Brenon's The Street of Forgotten Men, which had newcomer Louise Brooks in an uncredited debut role as a moll. Her first talkie was Varsity, which was filmed with part-sound and talking sequences, opposite Buddy Rogers. After successfully making the transition to sound, she co-starred with Gary Cooper, Walter Huston and Richard Arlen in one of the earliest Western talkies, The Virginian, her first all-talkie feature. In it, she played a spirited frontier heroine, schoolmarm Molly Stark Wood, who was the love interest of the Virginian. Brian co-starred in several hits during the 1930s, including The Royal Family of Broadway, Paramount on Parade, and The Front Page. After her contract with Paramount ended in 1932, Brian decided to freelance, which was unusual in a period when multi-year contracts with one studio were common. That same year, she appeared on the vaudeville stage at New York's Palace Theatre. Also in the same year, she starred in Manhattan Tower. When World War II hit in 1941, Brian began traveling to entertain the troops, ending up spending most of the war years traveling the world with the U.S.O., and entertaining servicemen from the South Pacific to Europe, including Italy and North Africa.Flying to England on a troop shoot, Mary got caught in the Battle of the Bulge and spent the Christmas of 1944 with the soldiers fighting that battle. She appeared in only a handful of films thereafter. Her last performance on the silver screen was in Dragnet, a B-movie in which she played Anne Hogan opposite Henry Wilcoxon. Over the course of 22 years, Brian had appeared in more than 79 movies. She played in the stage comedy Mary Had a Little... in the 1951 in Melbourne, Australia, co-starring with John Hubbard. Like many "older" actresses, during the 1950s Brian created a career for herself in television. Perhaps her most notable role was playing the title character's mother in Meet Corliss Archer in 1954. She also dedicated much time to portrait painting after her acting years.
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Noisy Silencers
Movie · as (archive footage)
Meet Corliss Archer
TV · 39 eps
Dragnet
Movie · as Anne Hogan
Calaboose
Movie · as Doris Lane
Danger! Women at Work
Movie · as Pert
I Escaped from the Gestapo
Movie · as Helen
I Was a Criminal
Movie · as Frau Obermueller, the Mayor's Wife
Affairs of Cappy Ricks
Movie · as Frances 'Frankie' Ricks
Navy Blues
Movie · as Doris Kimbell
The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss
Movie · as Frances Clayton
Three Married Men
Movie · as Jennie Mullins
Spendthrift
Movie · as Sally Barnaby
Killer at Large
Movie · as Linda Allen
Once in a Million
Movie · as Suzanne
Two's Company
Movie · as Julia Madison
Charlie Chan in Paris
Movie · as Yvette Lamartine
Man on the Flying Trapeze
Movie · as Hope Wolfinger
Monte Carlo Nights
Movie · as Mary Vernon
Ever Since Eve
Movie · as Elizabeth Vandergrift
Star Night at the Cocoanut Grove
Movie · as Self
College Rhythm
Movie · as Gloria Van Dayham
Moonlight and Pretzels
Movie · as Sally Upton
The World Gone Mad
Movie · as Diane Cromwell
Hard to Handle
Movie · as Ruth Waters
One Year Later
Movie · as Molly Collins
Girl Missing
Movie · as June Dale
Song of the Eagle
Movie · as Elsa Kranzmeyer
Fog
Movie · as Mary Fulton
Shadows of Sing Sing
Movie · as Muriel Ross aka Muriel Rossi
Blessed Event
Movie · as Gladys Price
The Unwritten Law
Movie · as Ruth Evans
Manhattan Tower
Movie · as Mary Harper
It's Tough to Be Famous
Movie · as Janet Porter McClenahan
The Front Page
Movie · as Peggy Grant
Homicide Squad
Movie · as Millie
The Runaround
Movie · as Evelyn
Captain Applejack
Movie · as Poppy Faire
Gun Smoke
Movie · as Sue Vancey
Hollywood Halfbacks
Movie
The Royal Family of Broadway
Movie · as Gwen Cavendish
The Light of Western Stars
Movie · as Ruth Hammond
Only the Brave
Movie · as Barbara Calhoun
Only Saps Work
Movie · as Barbara Tanner
Burning Up
Movie · as Ruth Morgan
The Social Lion
Movie · as Cynthia Brown
The Kibitzer
Movie · as Josie Lazarus
Paramount on Parade
Movie · as Sweetheart (Dream Girl)
The Virginian
Movie · as Molly Stark Wood
The Man I Love
Movie · as Celia Fields
The Marriage Playground
Movie · as Judith Wheater
The River of Romance
Movie · as Lucy Jeffers
Black Waters
Movie · as Eunice
Varsity
Movie · as Fay
Forgotten Faces
Movie · as Alice Deane
Partners in Crime
Movie · as Marie Burke, The Cigarette Girl
Harold Teen
Movie · as Lillums Lovewell
The Big Killing
Movie · as Mary Beagle - Old Man Beagle's Daughter
Under the Tonto Rim
Movie · as Lucy Watson
Someone to Love
Movie · as Joan Kendricks
Man Power
Movie · as Alice Stoddard
Shanghai Bound
Movie · as Sheila
Two Flaming Youths
Movie · as Mary Gilfoil
Running Wild
Movie · as Elizabeth Finch
Knockout Reilly
Movie · as Mary Malone
Her Father Said No
Movie · as Charlotte Hamilton
Beau Geste
Movie · as Isabel Rivers
Brown of Harvard
Movie · as Mary Abbot
Paris at Midnight
Movie · as Victorine Tallefer
Behind the Front
Movie · as Betty Bartlett-Cooper
More Pay - Less Work
Movie · as Betty Ricks
Stepping Along
Movie · as Molly Taylor
The Prince of Tempters
Movie · as Mary
The Enchanted Hill
Movie · as Hallie Purdy
The Street of Forgotten Men
Movie · as Mary Vanhern
The Air Mail
Movie · as Minnie Wade
The Little French Girl
Movie · as Alix Vervier
He's a Prince!
Movie · as Girl
Peter Pan
Movie · as Wendy Darling