Brian, Mary (1906–2002)

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Brian, Mary (1906–2002)

American actress. Born Louise Byrdie Dantzler, Feb 17, 1906, in Corsicana, Texas; died Dec 30, 2002, in Del Mar, California; m. briefly to artist Jon Whitcomb, May 4, 1941–Aug 8, 1941; m. film editor George Tomasini, 1947 (died Nov 22, 1967).

One of the most amiable actresses in pictures, was an unfamiliar face when she played Wendy in Paramount's Peter Pan (1924); attended high school on Paramount lot while making as many as 7 feature films a year, including the silents Beau Geste (1926), Harold Teen (1928) and The Virginian (1929); appeared in such notable talkies as Royal Family of Broadway (1930) and The Front Page (1931); also co-starred with James Cagney in Hard to Handle (1933) and W.C. Fields in The Man on the Flying Trapeze (1935); had a brief stint on tv (1955), as the mother of Janet Waldo in "Meet Corliss Archer" series; turned hobby of painting celebrities into a profitable sideline.

See also Women in World History.