In Remembrance: Mary Brian Actress Mary Brian, considered one of the most attractive leading ladies of the `20s and `30s and survived the move from silent films to early talkies died on December 30, 2002 at her home in Del Mar, California of heart failure. She was 96. Born Louise Byrdie Dantzler on February 17, 1906 in Corsicana, Texas. Moving to Long Beach California with her family, she was discovered by a Paramount Studios talent scout in a local beauty contest.
Her illustrious career spanned nearly a quarter of a century and 82 films and brought her roles opposite such top notch leading men including Gary Cooper, Henry Fonda, James Cagney, Cary Grant and Fredric March.
She retired for a short time but reappeared in a few low budget films, her last being Dragnet in 1947. That same year she married film editor George Tomasine, who had worked with Alfred Hitchcock on the classics Rear Window (1954) and Psycho (1960). Brian later did some stage work and occasional television appearances and dedicated much of her free to portrait painting. -John Gibbon |