Frances Drake (born Frances Morgan Dean; October 22, 1912 – January 18, 2000) was an American actress best known for playing
Eponine in ''
Les Misérables
''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century.
In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...
'' (1935).
Early years
Drake was born in New York City as Frances Morgan Dean to a wealthy family. She was educated at
Havergal College in Canada and at age 14 "she was sent to school in England, under her grandmother's wing."
[ ] She was there when the stock market crashed in 1929.
Career
Needing to make money for the first time in her life, Drake became a dancer and stage actress and found that film paid even better. In 1933, she explained: "I met an actor in London – Gordon Wallace, who was in
Eva Le Gallienne's repertory company for a while – and he asked me to form a dance team with him. We danced, and a stage producer asked us to take parts in a play. Then I was invited to make films in England."
She returned to the United States in 1934
[Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books. . P. 358.] and was offered a contract by
Paramount, which changed her name to Frances Drake (after the studio initially wanted her new name to be Marianne Morel
[ to avoid confusion with the then-popular star Frances Dee). She was coached by ]opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libre ...
singer and actress Marguerite Namara while continuing in film. She was often typecast in "damsel in distress" roles and appeared in proto-horror and proto-sci-fi films opposite stars like Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, and Peter Lorre.[
]
Personal life
On February 12, 1939, Drake married Cecil Howard (1908–1985), second son of Henry Howard, 19th Earl of Suffolk. Howard disapproved of her career, and she retired from the screen when he received his inheritance.[ After Howard's death in 1985, she married David Brown in 1992; he died in 2009.
]
Recognition
She has a star in the Motion Picture section of the Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Calif ...
, located at 6821 Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywo ...
.
She has a school named after her in Leominster, Massachusetts.
Death
Drake died in Irvine, California
Irvine () is a master-planned city in South Orange County, California, United States, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Irvine Company started developing the area in the 1960s and the city was formally incorporated on December 28, 197 ...
, on January 18, 2000, aged 87. She is interred in Section 8 Garden of Legends in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, California.
Filmography
* '' The Jewel'' (1933) - Jenny Day/Lady Joan
* '' Meet My Sister'' (1933) - Helen Sowerby
* ''Bolero
Bolero is a genre of song which originated in eastern Cuba in the late 19th century as part of the trova tradition. Unrelated to the older Spanish dance of the same name, bolero is characterized by sophisticated lyrics dealing with love. It ha ...
'' (1934) - Leona
* '' The Trumpet Blows'' (1934) - Chulita
* '' Ladies Should Listen'' (1934) - Anna Mirelle
* '' Forsaking All Others'' (1934) - Connie Barnes Todd
* '' Transient Lady'' (1935) - Dale Cameron
* '' Les Miserables'' (1935) - Eponine
* ''Mad Love __NOTOC__
Mad Love may refer to: Books
*''Mad Love'' (French ''L'amour fou''), collection of poems by André Breton
*'' The Batman Adventures: Mad Love'', an Eisner and Harvey award-winning comic by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm
* Mad Love (publisher), ...
'' (1935) - Yvonne Orlac
* '' Without Regret'' (1935) - Mona Gould
* '' The Invisible Ray'' (1936) - Diana Rukh
* '' The Preview Murder Mystery'' (1936) - Peggy Madison
* '' Florida Special'' (1936) - Marina Landon
* '' And Sudden Death'' (1936) - Betty Winslow
* ''I'd Give My Life
''I'd Give My Life'' is a 1936 American drama film directed by Edwin L. Marin and written by George O'Neil based upon the play '' The Noose''. The film stars Guy Standing, Frances Drake, Tom Brown, Janet Beecher, Robert Gleckler, and Helen L ...
'' (1936) - Mary Reyburn
* '' Midnight Taxi'' (1937) - Gilda Lee
* '' You Can't Have Everything'' (1937) - Pamela Beaumont
* '' She Married an Artist'' (1937) - Sally Dennis
* '' Love Under Fire'' (1937)
* '' There's Always a Woman'' (1938) - Anne Calhoun
* '' The Lone Wolf in Paris'' (1938) - Princess Thania of Arvonne
* '' It's a Wonderful World'' (1939) - Vivian Tarbel
* '' I Take This Woman'' (1940) - Lola Estermont
* '' The Affairs of Martha'' (1942) - Sylvia Norwood (final film role)
References
External links
*
*
*
Photographs of Frances Drake
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Frances
Actresses from New York City
American film actresses
Actors from Orange County, California
1912 births
2000 deaths
Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Howard family (English aristocracy)
20th-century American actresses
Havergal College alumni