Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel 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.
Early in his career, director John Cromwell persuaded him to change his last name.
His first wife wanted him to use his middle name and her first name: McIntyre Ellis, but he could not abide a name like that. Finally, they settled on his idea, Fredric March, a shortened version of his mother’s maiden name (Marcher).
March was the first actor to receive an Academy Award for a horror film (“Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (1931)).
The next would not be until Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs (1991).
The final Hyde make-up in the film 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.”
In 1947, the highest awards for giving the best performances of the year in two distinct mediums went to March.
An Oscar for “The Best Years of Our Lives” (1946, below opposite Myrna Loy) and a Tony for “Years Ago.” When asked which he preferred making, movies or live theater, he remarked, “Pictures are physically tiring; the theater is mentally tiring.
Pictures last, the theater is built on sand. But I am grateful for my theater experience.” (IMDb)
Happy Birthday, Frederic March!