Fredric March

Ernest Frederick Mclntyre Bickel). Born Aug. 31, 1897, in Racine, Wis.; died Apr. 14, 1975, in Los Angeles, Calif. American film actor.

March studied at Wisconsin State University. In 1920 he began his acting career in New York theaters. In 1929, March made his film debut and in the 1930’s became one of Hollywood’s leading actors. Among his best roles were Jean Valjean in Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables (1935), Al Stephenson in The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), Matthew Brady in Inherit the Wind (1960), Willy Loman in Miller’s Death of a Salesman (1961), the German financier in The Condemned of Altona (1962), and the American president in Seven Days in May (1963). March created complex, contradictory characters; he was noted for his skillful character portrayal and attention to man’s inner world.