Frances Dade

Frances Pemberton Dade (February 14, 1907 – January 21, 1968) was an American film and stage actress of the late 1920s and 1930s. Family Dade was born on February 14, 1907, to Frances Rawle Pemberton and Francis Cadwallader Dade Jr. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was grandniece to Confederate General John Clifford Pemberton and first cousin to athlete Hobey Baker. She studied for one year at the School of the Theater in New York. Career Dade acted at the Empire Theater in Toronto in 1928 and 1929, performing in a different play each week. Her other stock theater experience came in Alabama, Michigan, and New York. She did not like performing in touring companies, saying that the experience was "like traveling in a trunk". Dade moved to Hollywood, California in the late 1920s to pursue an acting career. She first caught the attention of Samuel Goldwyn as Lorelei Lee in the touring company of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. He gave her a contract, though she later went freelance. Her first film role was in 1928, when she had an uncredited role alongside stars Dorothy Boyd and Mabel Poulton in The Constant Nymph. She also appeared in such films as Raffles (1930) and Seed (1931).