Frances Dade

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Frances Dade
Born(1907-02-14)February 14, 1907
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedJanuary 21, 1968(1968-01-21) (aged 60)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
OccupationActress
Spouse
Brock Van Avery
​
(m. 1932)​

Frances Pemberton Dade (February 14, 1907 – January 21, 1968)[1] was an American film and stage actress of the late 1920s and 1930s.

Family

Dade was born on February 14, 1907, to Frances Rawle Pemberton and Francis Cadwallader Dade Jr. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[2][3][4] She was grandniece to Confederate General

John Clifford Pemberton and first cousin to athlete Hobey Baker.[citation needed] She studied for one year at the School of the Theater in New York.[5]

Career

Dade acted at the Empire Theater in Toronto in 1928 and 1929, performing in a different play each week. Her other stock theater experience came in Alabama, Michigan, and New York. She did not like performing in touring companies, saying that the experience was "like traveling in a trunk".

Hollywood, California in the late 1920s to pursue an acting career. She first caught the attention of Samuel Goldwyn as Lorelei Lee in the touring company of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.[6] He gave her a contract,[7] though she later went freelance. Her first film role was in 1928, when she had an uncredited role alongside stars Dorothy Boyd and Mabel Poulton in The Constant Nymph. She also appeared in such films as Raffles (1930) and Seed (1931).[8]

In 1931, Dade was cast in the biggest role of her career as Lucy Weston in Dracula,[9] which starred Bela Lugosi and Helen Chandler. The scene with Bela Lugosi hovering over her prostrate body remains an indelible part of pop culture. Dade was also the first actress to ever play the character of Lucy in a motion picture.[7] That role would catapult her to brief notoriety, and would result in her being selected as one of thirteen WAMPAS Baby Stars, including Marian Marsh, Karen Morley, and Marion Shilling, that same year.[10][11]

Despite her performance in Dracula, Dade's film role offers dwindled. She starred in six films in 1931, three of which were

Broadway in Collision.[12]

Personal life and death

Dade retired from acting and married wealthy socialite Brock Van Every

nursing.[5]

In 1967, Dade was diagnosed with cancer, after which she lived with her daughter in Plainfield, New Jersey. Dade died at Birchwood Convalescent Center in Edison, New Jersey,[5] in 1968, at the age of 60.[14]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1930 He Knew Women Monica Grey
Raffles Ethel Crowley
Grumpy Virginia Bullivant
The Devil to Pay! Bidder for Bed Uncredited
1931 Dracula Lucy
The She-Wolf Faire Breen
Seed Nancy
Pleasure Joan Channing
Daughter of the Dragon Joan Marshall
Range Law Ruth Warren
1932 Scandal for Sale Manicurist Uncredited
Big Town Patricia Holman

References

  1. ISBN 978-1-4766-2599-7
    .
  2. ISBN 9781476602875
    . Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  3. ISBN 978-0-8063-5239-8
    .
  4. ISBN 978-0-8063-0947-7
    .
  5. ^ a b c d Wagner, Laura (Winter 2020). "Frances Dade". Films of the Golden Age (103): 44–45.
  6. ISBN 978-1-4299-9845-1
    .
  7. ^
    ISBN 978-1-59967-036-2
    .
  8. ISBN 978-0-86196-954-8
    .
  9. ^ Rhodes, Gary D.; Weaver, Tom; Lee, Michael; Colton, David (February 8, 2017). Dracula's Daughter. BearManor Media.
  10. ISBN 978-0-7864-0756-9
    .
  11. ^ "WAMPAS 1931 dissentention disrupts contest". Newspapers.com. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  12. ^ "Frances Dade". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on October 7, 2021. Retrieved October 7, 2021.
  13. ^ "Healdsburg Tribune 28 July 1932 — California Digital Newspaper Collection". cdnc.ucr.edu. Retrieved August 4, 2020.
  14. ^ "Clipped From Philadelphia Daily News". Philadelphia Daily News. January 23, 1968. p. 45. Retrieved August 4, 2020.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Frances Dade.
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