# Fredric March
**Fredric March** was the stage name of Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel (August 31, 1897 – April 14, 1975), an American actor whose career spanned theater, motion pictures, radio, and television for more than half a century[1](https://en.alegsaonline.com/art/119242). He won the [Academy Award for Best Actor](https://www.edgepedia.org/academy-award-for-best-actor) twice, for *Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde* (1931) and *The Best Years of Our Lives* (1946), and the Tony Award for Best Actor twice, and he was among the few Hollywood stars of his era to work largely as a freelance rather than under a long-term studio contract[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0545298/awards/) • [3](https://www.alexfilmsociety.org/newsletters/BEST_Years_VOT_V13_2.pdf).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Birth name and dates | Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel; born August 31, 1897, Racine, Wisconsin; died 1975, of cancer at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York[4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1471702/fredric-march-tuesdays-in-march) • [5](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/fredric-march/index.html) |
| Academy Awards | Best Actor: *Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde* (won 1932, tied with Wallace Beery for *The Champ*) and *The Best Years of Our Lives* (won 1947); nominated for *The Royal Family of Broadway*, *A Star Is Born*, and *Death of a Salesman*[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0545298/awards/) • [5](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/fredric-march/index.html) |
| Tony Awards | Best Actor in 1947 for Ruth Gordon's play *Years Ago* and in 1957 for a Broadway production of Eugene O'Neill's *Long Day's Journey Into Night*[3](https://www.alexfilmsociety.org/newsletters/BEST_Years_VOT_V13_2.pdf) |
| Other major honors | Golden Globe for *Death of a Salesman* (1952), Volpi Cup at Venice (1952), Silver Berlin Bear for *Inherit the Wind* (1960)[6](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-63/palmares/) |
| Career path | Banker turned actor: extra in films in 1920, Broadway lead in 1926, Paramount contract in 1928[7](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/theater-biographies/fredric-march) • [8](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0545298/) |
| Final role | Harry Hope in the four-hour 1973 film version of O'Neill's *The Iceman Cometh*, his 69th film[9](https://www.congress.gov/94/crecb/1975/04/15/GPO-CRECB-1975-pt8-5-1.pdf) |
## Early life and stage beginnings
March was born in [Racine, Wisconsin](https://www.edgepedia.org/racine-wisconsin), to a hardware teacher and a schoolteacher mother, and he attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison before beginning work as a banker[4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1471702/fredric-march-tuesdays-in-march). In 1920, apprenticed at the National City Bank in New York, he was cast as an extra in films being produced in the city, and he decided to pursue acting[7](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/theater-biographies/fredric-march) • [8](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0545298/). A bit part in the stage play *Deburau* in Philadelphia followed, and in 1926 he took his first Broadway lead in *The Devil in the Cheese*; he later toured with the Theatre Guild Repertory Company[7](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/theater-biographies/fredric-march).
During a run at the Historic Elitch Theatre in Denver, a venue where a season's work was then considered a credential for an actor, he met the actress Florence Eldridge and told the theater's operator, John Mulvihill, that he was in love with her and wanted to marry her[10](https://historicelitchtheatre.org/fredric-march/).
## Film career in the 1930s
His movie career began in 1929 with a featured role in *The Dummy*, an immediate success that brought requests from top female stars[9](https://www.congress.gov/94/crecb/1975/04/15/GPO-CRECB-1975-pt8-5-1.pdf). A 1928 contract with Paramount to make talking films started his studio work; when it ended in 1933, he moved to short two-film contracts and freelance status[7](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/theater-biographies/fredric-march). Through the decade he appeared opposite [Clara Bow](https://www.edgepedia.org/clara-bow), Ruth Chatterton, Claudette Colbert, Miriam Hopkins, and finally [Greta Garbo](https://www.edgepedia.org/greta-garbo) in *Anna Karenina* (1935)[9](https://www.congress.gov/94/crecb/1975/04/15/GPO-CRECB-1975-pt8-5-1.pdf).
**The dual role.** His performance as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in Rouben Mamoulian's 1931 Paramount film won him his first Academy Award for Best Actor, a result he shared with [Wallace Beery](https://www.edgepedia.org/wallace-beery) for *The Champ* (1931)[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0545298/awards/). His co-star Rose Hobart later said of the punishing Hyde make-up, "Fredric March was lucky he wasn't ruined for life"[8](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0545298/).
In *A Star Is Born* (1937) he played Norman Maine, an alcoholic actor opposite [Janet Gaynor](https://www.edgepedia.org/janet-gaynor), a deliberate break from his suave romantic leading-man image that the Los Angeles Times says stunned audiences; film historian David Shipman described the performance as "a gathering of horror stories about Hollywood crackups"[5](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/fredric-march/index.html) • [4](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1471702/fredric-march-tuesdays-in-march).
## The 1940s and 1950s
In *The Best Years of Our Lives* (1946), directed by [William Wyler](https://www.edgepedia.org/william-wyler), March played a middle-aged banker returning from World War II who struggles to readjust to civilian life, and he won his second Academy Award[5](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/fredric-march/index.html) • [11](https://filmstories.co.uk/features/old-movies-the-films-of-fredric-march/). The film, with [Myrna Loy](https://www.edgepedia.org/myrna-loy), Dana Andrews, Virginia Mayo, and [Teresa Wright](https://www.edgepedia.org/teresa-wright), became the most decorated of his films, with 8 wins from 8 nominations across the Oscars, Golden Globes, BAFTA, and other ceremonies in one awards database[12](https://www.whatsafterthemovie.com/person/fredric-march/top-movies).
On stage in the same period he won his two [Tony Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-awards): in 1947 for [Ruth Gordon](https://www.edgepedia.org/ruth-gordon)'s *Years Ago* and in 1957 for *Long Day's Journey Into Night*[3](https://www.alexfilmsociety.org/newsletters/BEST_Years_VOT_V13_2.pdf). According to the Historic Elitch Theatre account, he became one of only two performers ever to win both the Academy Award and the Tony Award twice[10](https://historicelitchtheatre.org/fredric-march/).
**Willy Loman.** March was a friend of playwright [Arthur Miller](https://www.edgepedia.org/arthur-miller), who favored him to create the role of [Willy Loman](https://www.edgepedia.org/willy-loman) in *Death of a Salesman* (1949), but director [Elia Kazan](https://www.edgepedia.org/elia-kazan) cast Lee J. Cobb instead; March played Loman in Columbia Pictures' 1951 film version, directed by László Benedek, winning the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Drama in 1952 and receiving an Oscar nomination for the role[3](https://www.alexfilmsociety.org/newsletters/BEST_Years_VOT_V13_2.pdf) • [5](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/fredric-march/index.html). His performance divided observers: critic Robert Hatch wrote that because March did not tone down his acting style for the camera, he appeared overly dramatic, even melodramatic, on film[13](https://digitalarchives.aum.edu/sites/default/files/2025-02/Thesis_001_Moody.pdf).
## Later career
March was one of the few actors to resist long-term studio contracts, working as a freelance and picking his roles to avoid typecasting; by the 1950s he was working on Broadway as often as in Hollywood[3](https://www.alexfilmsociety.org/newsletters/BEST_Years_VOT_V13_2.pdf). One of his favorite roles was the aging, opinionated lawyer modeled on [William Jennings Bryan](https://www.edgepedia.org/william-jennings-bryan) opposite his old friend Spencer Tracy in *Inherit the Wind* (1960), for which he won the Silver Berlin Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin International Film Festival[5](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/fredric-march/index.html) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0545298/awards/).
His last professional appearance was in the 1973 film version of O'Neill's *The Iceman Cometh*, as tough old Harry Hope; the role was his 69th film and won him praise[9](https://www.congress.gov/94/crecb/1975/04/15/GPO-CRECB-1975-pt8-5-1.pdf). On Broadway he had created the role of the brooding James Tyrone in the 1956 world premiere of *Long Day's Journey Into Night* in New York and Paris, drawing universal critical praise, including Brooks Atkinson's New York Times judgment that the performance would "stand as a milestone in the acting of an O'Neill play"[7](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/theater-biographies/fredric-march) • [9](https://www.congress.gov/94/crecb/1975/04/15/GPO-CRECB-1975-pt8-5-1.pdf).
## Reputation
Contemporaries described March as exceptionally reliable. John Frankenheimer, who directed him in *Seven Days in May* (1964) and *The Iceman Cometh* (1973), said he had "seen very hard-boiled technicians break into applause at the end of a scene by Freddie March" and that March "invented the term 'professional'"[5](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/fredric-march/index.html). The Congressional Record obituary called him an actor of "sometimes astonishing versatility" who played juvenile leads in the Broadway era of David Belasco and crusty older characters in later films[9](https://www.congress.gov/94/crecb/1975/04/15/GPO-CRECB-1975-pt8-5-1.pdf). Encyclopedia.com's survey of his career notes that in middle age he created a series of notable characterizations, building on a darker, repressed quality first visible in the Jekyll and Hyde double role[7](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/theater-biographies/fredric-march).
## References
1. [Fredric March: American stage and screen actor, Alegsaonline](https://en.alegsaonline.com/art/119242)
2. [Fredric March – Awards, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0545298/awards/)
3. [Desk Set: Perspective – Fredric March, Alex Film Society newsletter](https://www.alexfilmsociety.org/newsletters/BEST_Years_VOT_V13_2.pdf)
4. [Fredric March – Tuesdays in March, Turner Classic Movies](https://www.tcm.com/articles/1471702/fredric-march-tuesdays-in-march)
5. [Fredric March – Hollywood Star Walk, Los Angeles Times](https://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/fredric-march/index.html)
6. [Fredric March : Récompenses et nominations, AlloCiné](https://www.allocine.fr/personne/fichepersonne-63/palmares/)
7. [March, Fredric, Encyclopedia.com](https://www.encyclopedia.com/people/literature-and-arts/theater-biographies/fredric-march)
8. [Fredric March, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0545298/)
9. [Congressional Record – Senate, April 15, 1975](https://www.congress.gov/94/crecb/1975/04/15/GPO-CRECB-1975-pt8-5-1.pdf)
10. [Fredric March (1926), Historic Elitch Theatre](https://historicelitchtheatre.org/fredric-march/)
11. [Old movies: the films of Fredric March, Film Stories](https://filmstories.co.uk/features/old-movies-the-films-of-fredric-march/)
12. [Best Fredric March Movies, Ranked, What's After the Movie](https://www.whatsafterthemovie.com/person/fredric-march/top-movies)
13. [Thesis on Death of a Salesman film, AUM Digital Archives](https://digitalarchives.aum.edu/sites/default/files/2025-02/Thesis_001_Moody.pdf)
---
*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1940s to 1960s › Surnames M*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license