Fredric March began a career in banking but in 1920 found himself cast as an extra in films being produced in New York. He starred on the Broadway stage first in 1926 and would return there between screen appearances later on. He won plaudits (and an Academy Award nomination) for his send-up of John Barrymore in The Royal Family of Broadway. Four more Academy Award nominations would come his way, and he would win the Oscar for Best Actor twice: for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and The Best Years of Our Lives. He could play roles varying from heavy drama to light comedy, and was often best portraying men in anguish, such as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. As his career advanced he progressed from leading man to character actor.


After he and his wife Florence Eldridge appeared in the heavily panned play, "Yr. Obedient Husband" in 1938, they ran an ad in New York newspapers; a cartoon borrowed from the New Yorker magazine, it showed a a trapeze artist missing his partner. The caption read: "Oops! Sorry!" Children: Penelope ("Penny," b. 1932) and Anthony (b. 1934). Won two Tony Awards as Best Actor (Dramatic), the first in 1947 for his performance in Ruth Gordon's "Years Ago," an award shared with José Ferrer for "Cyrano de Bergerac," and the second, ten years later, in 1957, for his landmark performance in Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night." He was also nominated in the same category in 1962 for Paddy Chayefsky's "Gideon." Shares the distinction with actors José Ferrer, Helen Hayes and Ingrid Bergman of being the first winners of acting Tony Awards when the annual event was established in 1947 For many years he maintained his primary residence in New Milford, Connecticut. After his death, the property was subsequently leased to playwright Lillian Hellman as well as to Henry Kissinger. "We did 'Long Day's Journey...' for two years - that was enough! I've had the theater. It becomes a damn bore night after night.". March and his second wife were both active supporters of the Democratic Party. He is the first actor to win an academy award for a horror film. The next would not be until Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs (1991).