Actress Jane Frazee; Starred in 1940s Hollywood Musicals

Jane Frazee, a vivacious actress who made a series of light screen musicals in the 1940s, has died of pneumonia in Newport Beach.

The actress, who was 67, had been seriously ill since she suffered the first of a series of strokes in 1983. She died Friday in the Flagship Health Center.

Born Mary Jane Frehse in St. Paul, she and her sister, Ruth, sang and danced as The Frazee Sisters in nightclubs and presentation theaters around the country until 1940, when her sister married writer-producer Norman Krasna.

That same year Miss Frazee appeared in her first feature film, “Moonlight and Melody.”

In 1941, she starred opposite Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in the comedy duo’s second picture, “Buck Privates.” In 1942, while filming “Helzapoppin’ ” with comics Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson, she met the first of her four husbands, actor-director Glenn Tryon. The marriage lasted five years and produced her only child.

For the next 10 years she made more than 40 films, including “Moonlight in Havana,” “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” “Swing and Sway,” “Ten Cents a Dance,” “Calendar Girl” and more. Her last picture was “Rhythm Inn” in 1951.

In 1970, Miss Frazee moved to Newport Beach, where she sold real estate until her health failed.

She is survived by a son, Timothy Glenn Tryon, and her sister.