MARY BRIAN

Mary Brian (born Louise Byrdie Dantzler) was an actress from the 1920s to the 1950s. She was born in 1906 in Texas, and in 1923, her stage mother took her to Hollywood, determined to make her a star. After much effort, she was signed to appear in Peter Pan as Wendy, and that got her a five year movie contract. She was a "girl next door" type, and was nicknamed "The Sweetest Girl in Pictures". She had no problem making the transition to sound, but in the early 1930s, when flapper and vamp types became more popular, roles became fewer, and she took secondary parts. In 1936, she made a movie in England, and then went to Broadway, and in the 1950s, she had success on television. Some of her movies include: Brown of Harvard, Beau Geste, Man on the Flying Trapeze, and The Virginian. She passed away in 2002 at the age of 96.