Born Ernest Frederick McIntyre Bickel in Racine, Wisconsin; his stage name was a shortened version of his mother's maiden name, Marcher. Began a career in banking, but in 1920 he 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. Known as a distinguished stage actor and one of Hollywood's most celebrated, versatile stars of the 1930s and 40s, March's roles ranged from light comedy (THE ROYAL FAMILY OF BROADWAY, 1930) to horror (DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE, 1932) to drama (THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES, 1946). His classically trained voice and engaging good looks highlighted a number of period pieces, such as ANNA KARENINA (1935), but he seemed more at home playing contemporary characters like the fading actor in A STAR IS BORN (1937) and the exploitative reporter in the biting comedy NOTHING SACRED (1937). March's first wife (1924-?) was Ellis Baker. He was married to actress Florence Eldridge (d. 1988), opposite whom he appeared on stage and screen, from 1927 until his death. After their appearance in the heavily panned play Yr. Obedient Husband in 1939, they ran an ad in New York newspapers featuring a cartoon borrowed from The New Yorker magazine that showed a trapeze artist missing his partner. The caption read: "Oops! Sorry!" March appeared in the original Broadway productions of The Skin of Our Teeth (1942) and A Bell for Adano (1944). He won his first Tony Award as Best Actor in a Play for his performance in Ruth Gordon's Years Ago (1947) and won a second time ten years later for his landmark performance in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night.  Nominated for Actor 1930: THE ROYAL FAMILY OF BROADWAY  Actor 1931: DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (Tied with Wallace Beery in THE CHAMP.)  Nominated for Actor 1937: A STAR IS BORN  Actor 1946: THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES  Nominated for Actor 1951: DEATH OF A SALESMAN 5 nominations, 2 Awards