Peter McCrea, son of Hollywood film legends Joel McCrea and Frances Dee, will speak again at the Community Room of the Easton Public Library on Thursday, March 17 at 7 p.m. The talk was originally scheduled for January 11.
Each year since 2016, McCrea has treated us with colorful stories, bringing these tales to life and making us feel as if we’re personally meeting Will Rogers, Amelia Earhart, Greta Garbo and the dozens of other 20th Century icons who were part of the lives of his famous parents.
Unlike many Hollywood notables, Joel and Frances McCrea balanced their highly successful movie careers with another ambition: to run a successful ranch just outside of Los Angeles. Happily married for 57 years, the couple were an anomaly among big screen stars.
Frances Dee’s career started in the early 30s when she appeared in “Little Women” with Katherine Hepburn and “Of Human Bondage” with Bette Davis, and went on to appear in over 50 features.
Joel McCrea worked with almost every great leading lady, including Barbara Stanwyck, Ginger Rogers, Veronica Lake, Jean Arthur, and 7-year-old Shirley Temple. He was a favorite of director Preston Sturges, and worked with a wide range of great directors, including Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, William Wyler and Sam Peckinpah.
Joel McCrea and Frances Dee each have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and were both honored for lifetime achievement by the American Cinema Awards foundation. Joel won a Golden Globe, and was awarded a Career Achievement Award from the L.A. Film Critics Association. He was also elected to the Cowboy Hall of Fame of great western actors.
Peter McCrea will be joined by film historian Jon Sonneborn, followed by a screening of one of the films Joel McCrea and Frances Dee starred in together, the Academy Award nominated 1937 western “Wells Fargo.”
Admission is free and the public is welcome.
