Mary Brian, a film star and memorable ingenue who bridged the silent and early sound eras, died Monday in Del Mar, Calif. She was 96.
Between “Peter Pan” in 1924 and “Dragnet” in 1947, Ms. Brian appeared in 82 films. She was one of Hollywood’s romantic leading ladies from the mid-1920s through the late ’30s.
While she did not rank with such superstars as Clara Bow or Mary Pickford, she was a bankable contract player and a gratifying attraction at the box office. Her leading men included Gary Cooper, Lew Ayres, James Cagney, Cary Grant, William Haines and Dick Power.
Among her films still shown at film festivals and on television are “Peter Pan,” in which she played Wendy, and one of the earliest western talkies, “The Virginian.” Cooper was the title character in that 1929 film and Walter Huston was the villain. Ms. Brian portrayed Molly Wood, a schoolteacher who is the Virginian’s romantic interest.
She showed her mettle as juvenile lead or co-star in “Beau Geste” (1926), “Behind the Front” (1926), “Harold Teen” (1926) and “River of Romance” (1929).
Easily navigating the changeover to sound, she appeared in two 1931 evergreens, George Cukor’s “Royal Family of Broadway” and Lewis Milestone’s “Front Page.”
She played W.C. Fields’ daughter in several films, including “The Man on the Flying Trapeze” (1935).
In 1947 Ms. Brian married George Tomasini, a Hollywood film editor; he died in 1964. She is survived by a godson.
