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Mary Brian

Film Actress / Stage Actress / Television Actress | * 02/17/1906 († 96, 12/30/2002) | Corsicana (United States of America (USA))
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. ()

Mary Brian (born Louise Byrdie Dantzler), 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.

Photo of Mary Brian
Most frequent genres for this person: Comedies | Drama | Romance / Love

Known for these Movies & Shows

Awards & Nominations for Mary Brian

Star On Hollywood Walk of Fame
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Movies with Mary Brian as Actress(68)

as Anne Hogan1947 Dragnet
as Frau Obermueller, the Mayor's Wife1945 I Was a Criminal
as Doris Lane1943 Calaboose
as Frances 'Frankie' Ricks1937 Affairs of Cappy Ricks
as Doris Kimbell1937 Navy Blues
as Jennie Mullins1936 Three Married Men
as Sally Barnaby1936 Spendthrift
as Linda Allen1936 Killer at Large
as Frances Clayton1936 The Amazing Quest of Ernest Bliss
as Suzanne1936 Once in a Million
as Yvette Lamartine1935 Charlie Chan in Paris
as Hope Wolfinger1935 Man on the Flying Trapeze
as Gloria Van Dayham1934 College Rhythm
as Mary Vernon1934 Monte Carlo Nights
as Elizabeth Vandergrift1934 Ever Since Eve
as Sally Upton1933 Moonlight and Pretzels
as June Dale1933 Girl Missing
as Ruth Waters1933 Hard to Handle
as Molly Collins1933 One Year Later
as Elsa Kranzmeyer1933 Song of the Eagle
as Diane Cromwell1933 The World Gone Mad
as Mary Fulton1933 Fog
as Ruth Evans1932 The Unwritten Law
as Mary Harper1932 Manhattan Tower
as Gladys Price1932 Blessed Event
as Janet Porter McClenahan1932 It's Tough to Be Famous
as Peggy Grant1931 The Front Page
as Evelyn1931 The Runaround
as Poppy Faire1931 Captain Applejack
as Millie1931 Homicide Squad
as Sue Vancey1931 Gun Smoke
as Gwen Cavendish1930 The Royal Family of Broadway
as Barbara Calhoun1930 Only the Brave
as Josie Lazarus1930 The Kibitzer
as Cynthia Brown1930 The Social Lion
as Sweetheart (Dream Girl)1930 Paramount on Parade
as Ruth Hammond1930 The Light of Western Stars
as Ruth Morgan1930 Burning Up
as Barbara Tanner1930 Only Saps Work
as Molly Stark Wood1929 The Virginian
as Celia Fields1929 The Man I Love
as Eunice1929 Black Waters
as Lucy Jeffers1929 River of Romance
as Judith Wheater1929 The Marriage Playground
as Alice Deane1928 Forgotten Faces
as Marie Burke, The Cigarette Girl1928 Partners in Crime
as Lucy Watson1928 Under the Tonto Rim
as Lillums Lovewell1928 Harold Teen
as Mary Beagle - Old Man Beagle's Daughter1928 The Big Killing
as Mary Malone1927 Knockout Reilly
as Elizabeth Finch1927 Running Wild
as Sheila1927 Shanghai Bound
as Alice Stoddard1927 Man Power
as Victorine Tallefer1926 Paris at Midnight
as Mary Abbot1926 Brown of Harvard
as Isabel Rivers1926 Beau Geste
as Hallie Purdy1926 The Enchanted Hill
as Betty Bartlett-Cooper1926 Behind the Front
as Betty Ricks1926 More Pay - Less Work
as Molly Taylor1926 Stepping Along
as Minnie Wade1925 The Air Mail
as Girl1925 He's a Prince!
as Wendy Darling1924 Peter Pan

TV Shows/Series with Mary Brian as Actress(1)


Full Name: Mary Brian
Born: Saturday, 02/17 1906 (February) in Corsicana (United States of America (USA))
Died: Monday, 12/30 2002 (December) in Del Mar (aged: 96)
Zodiac sign: Aquarius (Chinese zodiac sign: Horse)
Languages: English (EN, native language)
Spouses (current/former): George Tomasini
Other names for Mary Brian (nicknames, foreign languages etc.):
"The Sweetest Girl in Pictures (nickname)"
Mary Brian frequently works together with these people:
Richard Arlen (11x, Actor)
George Irving (7x, Actor)
Jack Oakie (5x, Actor)
Walter Brennan (5x, Actor)
Grover Jones (5x, Crew)
Guy Oliver (5x, Actor)
Herbert Brenon (5x, Crew)
Charles Rogers (4x, Actor)
Neil Hamilton (4x, Actor)
Sam Hardy (4x, Actor)
Helen Gailey (1x, Crew)
WatchPlayStream ID: PEOPLE:86925, Added: 05/26/2018, Last updated: 03/14/2024