The movie actress, Mary Brian was born on February 17, 1906 as Louise Byrdie Dantzler in Corsicana, Texas. Her father died when Mary was a month old, and the family wound up in Long Beach, California. At 16, Mary Brian participated in a beauty contest which she lost, but it did open the door for an interview with the movie director, Herbert Brenon. She would shortly appear in her first movie, "Peter Pan", and earn a long term contract. Mary Brian became a popular, and successful, movie actress who easily made the transition to sound. She would continue to perform, both on film and television, into the 1950's.

The actress had failed engagements twice, once to actor Cary Grant, and another to actor Dick Powell. Mary Brian was married twice. The first time was to magazine illustrator, Jon Whitcomb, whom she divorced in less than a year. She then married film editor George Tomasini in 1947. She would remain with him until his death.

Mary Brian, the movie actress who was once known as "the sweetest girl in pictures", passed away on December 30, 2002 at the age of 96. She left behind a respectable film legacy, the movies below only representing a small sampling of her filmography:

• The Air Mail (1925)
• Behind the Front (1926)
• Beau Geste (1926)
• High Hat (1927)
• Partners in Crime (1928)
• The Virginian (1929)
• Only Saps Work (1930)
• Hollywood Halfbacks (1931)
• Charlie Chan in Paris (1935)
• Dragnet (1947)