Frances Dee (born November 26, 1909 (sources used to cite 1907 as her year of birth while she was alive); died March 6, 2004) was an actress. She was born Frances Marion Dee in Los Angeles, California, where her Army officer father was stationed, and grew up in Chicago, Illinois, where she attended Shakespeare Grammar School and Hyde Park High School, where she went by the nickname of Frankie Dee. After graduating from Hyde Park High in 1927, of which she was Vice President of Her Senior Class, as well as voted Belle of the Year, she spent two years at University of Chicago before her family returned to California.
In 1929, her father was transferred back to Los Angeles, California, and (as a lark) she began working in movies as an extra. She met actor Joel McCrea on the set of the 1933 film The Silver Cord. The attractive couple married on October 20, 1933, after a whirlwind courtship and remained married until McCrea's death in 1990.
Joel McCrea died on his 57th wedding anniversary; he was survived by his wife and their three sons, including the actor Jody McCrea. His and Dee's estate was estimated at $50,000,000 (USD)
Frances Dee McCrea died in Norwalk, Connecticut due to complications from a stroke at the age of 94.
