Fredric March

Fredric March was at the height of his fame as a Hollywood star in 1936 when this linen postcard was published showing his home in the Los Angeles exclusive gated community of Bel Air. William Wellman’s A Star is Born was filmed that year. March played the male lead and the role would assure his place among the Hollywood immortals. Like his industry colleagues, he found it impossible to resist the easy money to be made from celebrity endorsement and in 1938 he got very excited about the new DeSoto car with its streamline styling, handy shift and wide-range safety headlights. March was a lifelong Democrat and never succumbed to the rightward transition that afflicted so many of his fellow actors from Reagan to Heston and he remained a free agent, unsigned to any major studio. There are two cars parked outside his home – whether they are DeSotos is something best left to more expert eyes than mine.