Frances Lee

born: 05 May 1906 Eagle Grove, Iowa, United States of America

died: 10 October 1999 Cardiff-By-The-Sea, California, United States of America (age 93)

Attractive, extrovert former dancer, discovered during a stage performance by producer Al Christie in 1925.  She was subsequently cast as leading lady in his short comedy films.  Was considered for the female lead given to Fay Wray in King Kong (1933) before her film career promptly ended in 1935.  Later in life she was a charm and etiquette teacher to the daughters of Richard Nixon. †Some sources list a death date of 05 November 2000.

Real name: Merna Phyllis Tibbetts Height: 5'0"

Films listed on this page: complete Hal Roach filmography.

1

1932 The Tabasco Kid Mary Jones Acknowledgements: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1961-29950-10418-22?cc=1804002 https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-1942-29950-12156-28?cc=1804002 https://archive.org/stream/14thcensusofpopu836unit#page/n587/mode/1up (line 27) http://www.geni.com/people/Frances-Lee/6000000024222256077 http://www.newspapers.com/newspage/49572304/ (seen in Google search) http://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gl=ROOT_CATEGORY&rank=1&new=1&so=3&MSAV=1&msT=1&gss=ms_f-2_s&gsfn=Merna+Phyllis&gsfn_x=NN&gsln=Tibbetts&gsln_x=NN&cpxt=0&catBucket=rstp&uidh=000&cp=0 https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JBQH-P2Q  -- interestingly her SS Death Index entry gives her death date as 10 October 1999 Jesse Brisson (help and assistance) This page was last updated on: 15 March 2015