Frances Drake (actor)
Encyclopedia
Frances Drake was an American
actress, is best known for playing Eponine in Les Misérables
(1935).
, her parents moved to Canada when she was four. She was educated in Canada and went to England in 1928, and was appearing as a nightclub dancer in London when she made her first film appearances under her birth name of Frances Dean, including Meet My Sister
(1933) and The Jewel
(1933). Offered a contract by Paramount
she returned to America in 1934, she began coaching with opera
singer and actress Marguerite Namara
while continuing in film.
On February 12, 1939, she married Hon. Cecil Howard (1908–1985), second son of Henry Howard, 19th Earl of Suffolk
, and shortly after retired from the screen. After Howard's death in 1985, she married David Brown in 1992; he died in 2009.
She is interred in Section 8 Garden of Legends in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, CA.
She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
, located at 6821 Hollywood Boulevard
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress, is best known for playing Eponine in Les Misérables
Les Misérables (1935 film)
Les Misérables is a 1935 American drama film based upon the famous Victor Hugo novel of the same name. It was adapted by W. P. Lipscomb and directed by Richard Boleslawski...
(1935).
Life and career
Born in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, her parents moved to Canada when she was four. She was educated in Canada and went to England in 1928, and was appearing as a nightclub dancer in London when she made her first film appearances under her birth name of Frances Dean, including Meet My Sister
Meet My Sister
Meet My Sister is a 1933 British comedy film directed by Jean Daumery and starring Clifford Mollison, Constance Shotter and Enid Stamp-Taylor...
(1933) and The Jewel
The Jewel
The Jewel is a 1933 British crime film directed by Reginald Denham and starring Hugh Williams, Frances Drake and Jack Hawkins. A family heirloom is stolen, and the family attempt to recover it.-Cast:* Hugh Williams ... Frank Hallam...
(1933). Offered a contract by Paramount
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
she returned to America in 1934, she began coaching with opera
Opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
singer and actress Marguerite Namara
Marguerite Namara
Marguerite Namara was a classically trained American lyric soprano whose varied career included serious opera, Broadway musicals, film and theater roles, and vocal recitals, and who counted among her lifelong circle of friends and acquaintances many of the leading artistic figures of the first...
while continuing in film.
On February 12, 1939, she married Hon. Cecil Howard (1908–1985), second son of Henry Howard, 19th Earl of Suffolk
Henry Howard, 19th Earl of Suffolk
Henry Molyneux Paget Howard, 19th Earl of Suffolk, 12th Earl of Berkshire was a British peer, styled Viscount Andover until 1898....
, and shortly after retired from the screen. After Howard's death in 1985, she married David Brown in 1992; he died in 2009.
She is interred in Section 8 Garden of Legends in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, CA.
She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
, located at 6821 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard
-Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001...
.
Partial filmography
- BoleroBolero (1934 film)Bolero is a musical drama film starring George Raft and Carole Lombard. The movie was a rare chance for Raft to star and to play a dancer, which had been his profession in New York City, rather than a gangster. The film takes its title from the Maurice Ravel composition Boléro .-Plot:The film...
(19341934 in film-Events:*January 26 - Samuel Goldwyn purchases the film rights to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz from the L. Frank Baum estate for $40,000.*February 19 - Bob Hope marries Dolores Reade...
) - The Trumpet BlowsThe Trumpet BlowsThe Trumpet Blows is a film directed by Stephen Roberts, featuring George Raft as a Mexican matador, Adolphe Menjou as a retired bandito clearly based on Pancho Villa, and Frances Drake as Chulita, the woman they both want to marry....
(1934) - Ladies Should ListenLadies Should ListenLadies Should Listen is a 1934 American comedy film directed by Frank Tuttle.-Cast:*Cary Grant as Julian De Lussac*Frances Drake as Anna Mirelle*Edward Everett Horton as Paul Vernet*Rosita Moreno as Marguerite Cintos*George Barbier as Joseph Flamberg...
(1934) - Forsaking All OthersForsaking All OthersForsaking All Others is a 1934 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by W.S. Van Dyke, and starring Joan Crawford, Clark Gable and Robert Montgomery. In this "comedy of errors", three friends of long-standing are involved in a love triangle. The screenplay was written by Joseph L....
(1934) - Mad LoveMad Love (1935 film)Mad Love is a 1935 American horror film adaptation of Maurice Renard's story The Hands of Orlac. Directed by German-émigré film maker Karl Freund, the film stars Peter Lorre as Dr. Gogol, Frances Drake as Yvonne Orlac and Colin Clive as Stephen Orlac. The plot revolves around Doctor Gogol's...
(19351935 in film-Events:*Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .*Seven year old Shirley Temple wins a special Academy Award.*The Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment started in order to educate the Bantu peoples.-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:...
) - Les MiserablesLes Misérables (1935 film)Les Misérables is a 1935 American drama film based upon the famous Victor Hugo novel of the same name. It was adapted by W. P. Lipscomb and directed by Richard Boleslawski...
(19351935 in film-Events:*Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .*Seven year old Shirley Temple wins a special Academy Award.*The Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment started in order to educate the Bantu peoples.-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:...
) - The Invisible Ray (19361936 in filmThe year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.*November 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon...
) - And Sudden Death (1936)
- Midnight Taxi (19371937 in filmThe year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US....
) - Love Under Fire (1937)
- There's Always a WomanThere's Always a WomanThere's Always a Woman is a 1938 comedy mystery film starring Joan Blondell and Melvyn Douglas as married detectives investigating a murder...
(19381938 in filmThe year 1938 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*January — MGM announces that Judy Garland would be cast in the role of "Dorothy" in the upcoming Wizard of Oz motion picture. Ray Bolger is cast as the "Tinman" and Buddy Ebsen is cast as the "Scarecrow". At Bolger's insistence,...
) - It's a Wonderful World (19391939 in filmThe year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...
) - I Take This WomanI Take This Woman (1940 film)I Take This Woman is a 1940 drama film starring Spencer Tracy and Hedy Lamarr.-Cast:*Spencer Tracy as Dr. Karl Decker*Hedy Lamarr as Georgi Gragore Decker*Verree Teasdale as Madame "Cesca" Marcesca*Kent Taylor as Phil Mayberry...
(19401940 in filmThe year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....
) - The Affairs of MarthaThe Affairs of MarthaThe Affairs of Martha is a 1942 romantic comedy film directed by Jules Dassin. A young maid, Marsha Hunt, falls in love with Jeff Sommerfield and the two marry on impulse before he leaves for an anthropological trip. Before he leaves, he asks her to get the marriage annulled, but she does not do so...
(19421942 in filmThe year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...
)