Franc Dillon (June 1890 - unknown) was a film journalist during the period of classical Hollywood cinema and the golden age of Hollywood. Dillon was a socialite, clubwoman, and friend of actor Harold Lloyd and his wife Mildred Davis Lloyd, helping them launch the Beverly Hills Little Theatre for Professionals that was part of a national little theatre movement. It became an important showcase for young actors hoping to be discovered, and for New York stage veterans who wanted to be seen in Hollywood. As a publicist and advertising executive, she negotiated with film production companies to guarantee some of the earliest product placements in films.
Early life She was born Franc (possibly Frances) Newman in June, 1890, in Michigan, the daughter of Florence Ada Grousbeck (1863-1951) and Frank W. "F. W." Newman (1859–1890). Some sources give her maiden name as Franc Tait, the surname of her mother's second husband, William Walter Tait (1870-1934).State of California, County of Los Angeles, Marriage License, October 14, 1914."United States Census, 1910," FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MLBH-8WG: Entry for W. W. Tait and Florence A. Tait, 1910. Franc may have lowered her age by four or five years when she moved to Los Angeles, because the 1930 census shows a claimed birth date of 1895 rather than 1890. Her marriage license says she was born in 1891, but that year is not possible if she was the blood daughter of F. W. Newman, who died in 1890.U. S. Federal Census, 1930. She had a brother, Houk Erbine Newman, and three half siblings, Florence Eleanor Tait, John David Tait, and William Walter Tait Jr.
Journalism She published regular features in a dozen of the leading movie magazines of the day, including Photoplay, Modern Screen, and Picture Play.See table. She was often in the society pages, for example in the Los Angeles Times as a frequent name in Myra Nye's "Society of Cinemaland" column, or the page "Of Interest to Women."Multiple items found on newspapers.com. Dillon's decision to write about a new talent and how to showcase that person could have an effect on how they were received. She was also a correspondent for newspapers across the country promoting Hollywood to the masses, for example publishing a two-page spread in what was then known as the Atlanta Constitution showing movie stars like Al Jolson, Ann Dvorak, and Joel McCrea engaging in farm work to show that they could relate to everyday people. From 1928 to 1935 she was also a Hollywood correspondent and columnist for the Brooklyn Standard-Union, later the Times-Union. In 1949 she was named the editor of Western Family, a women's magazine, but by 1957 her name had dropped off of the masthead.
Publicity profession The publicity field, along with society and gossip columns, gave women a measure of power and control in a town more conventionally run by men. With screenwriter Katherine Albert of MGM and others she led the Women's Association of Screen Publicists (WASPs), a group that formed in October 1924. In 1928 Dillon was listed in The Film Spectator as working for the Charles S. Dunning publicity firm. Sometimes she hosted events that might now be called publicity stunts, such as having a 1928 peanut-shelling party at her home where the WASPs worked their way through 300 pounds of them to benefit charity. Later, in the late 1930s and 1940s she worked for the J. Walter Thompson advertising company as part of a noted all-woman team headed by Maxine Smith.
Clubwoman Women in Hollywood also formed clubs which gave them collective strength. One of Dillon's earliest clubs was a branch of the Soroptimists, formed in 1922 when the international organization was just a year old. In 1927 she was listed in Film Year Book as vice president of the WASPs, with Elizabeth Riordan as president. She was founding president of the Screen Women's Press Club (SWPC), beginning in 1930. They often met in the Munchers Club, a café on the Fox movie studio lot. SWPC should not be confused with the Hollywood Women's Press Club founded in 1928 by Louella Parsons and Myra Nye, although the groups overlapped and were sometimes considered functionally the same. She was also chair of the Publicity Club, which met at the Nickodell on Argyle, a famous old Hollywood restaurant.
Personal life On October 24, 1914 she married silent film actor Edward Dillon, known as Mary Pickford's first leading man, who also directed for D. W. Griffith for nine years. Actor John T. Dillon was her brother-in-law. It is unknown when the marriage ended, but in the 1930 census Franc Dillon is listed as divorced at age 35, with her mother living in her home. Edward Dillon died of a sudden heart attack in 1933, and news reports said she went to his funeral. In the 1940 census she is listed as widowed rather than divorced.U. S. Federal Census, 1940.
She was quite small in stature, for The Clubwoman yearbook of 1928 described a style show, with many women in costume, where "Little Franc Dillon in bell hop attire was flying about seating folk." Similarly, society columnist Lucille Leimert called her a "pint-sized Hollywood career girl."
In 1931 she showed a one-year-old white, black, and tan wire fox terrier with the show name Sidlaw Bandit Queen.
Her date of death is not yet known. The most recent reference for her is in the Los Angeles Times, 15 June 1954, when she would have been 60.
Partial list of feature articles (in progress) +YearPublicationTitleNotes1925Not listedTom Mix's Fight for ThomasinaTom Mix1932-03PhotoplayA Gallant MotherMae Marsh1932-09Movie ClassicIs Marlene Dietrich Being Frightened Away from America?Marlene Dietrich1932-09Motion PictureHarold Lloyd's Wife--The World's Champion HousekeeperMildred Davis Lloyd1932-10Modern ScreenWatching Out For the BabiesDorothy Jordan, Loretta Young, etc.1932-11Modern ScreenExposing Andy ClydeAndy Clyde1933-04New MovieIntimate Facts About Marlene's WardrobeMarlene Dietrich1934-01New MovieYouth Looks AheadLoretta Young1934-01New MovieAdvance News of New Films in the MakingElizabeth Young, et al1934-05Motion PictureHollywood is Ruining Me As an ActressGloria Stuart1934-06Movie MirrorMarion Davies: Angel of MercyMarion Davies1934-10Movie ClassicGeorge Brent Is On His Own Now, and Likes It!George Brent1934-11Movie ClassicHollywood's Big SurpriseKetti Gallian1935-02ScreenlandGeorge Brent's FutureGeorge Brent1935-02Picture PlayGay Spender No MoreReginald Denny1935-02Motion PictureA Miracle is FilmedRobert E. Cornish1935-02Modern ScreenI Chaperone the CrowdHollywood's younger set1935-03Picture PlayWho Is This Man?Samuel Hinds1935-05Picture PlayA Wife the Sun Shines OnVerree Teasdale1935-07Picture PlayThe Sweetest Story Ever ToldWedding of chorus girl and boy1935-07Modern ScreenHow Are Joel and Frances Getting Along?Joel McCrea and Frances Dee1935-09Modern ScreenHow Can You Help Liking Her?Edna May Oliver1935-10Modern ScreenStar WorrierBette Davis1935-11Picture PlayDashing AdventurerRay Milland1935-12Picture PlayDestiny Beckoned, She FollowedOlivia de Havilland1935-12Modern ScreenShirley Temple. Saver of Lives.Shirley Temple1936-01Modern ScreenLittle Man, What Next?Freddie Bartholemew1936-02Modern ScreenTom's Rules for Sidestepping TroubleTom Brown1936-03Modern ScreenHe's a Travellin' ManGeorge O'Brien1936-05Modern ScreenSentimental RoughneckGeorge Raft1936-07Modern ScreenNot Subject to ChangeLuise Rainer1936-08Modern ScreenTumbling to the TopJoe E. Brown1936-09Modern ScreenOn the Set With Romeo and JulietNorma Shearer and Leslie Howard1936-10Modern ScreenHer Guiding StarsMerle Oberon1936-10Radio StarsAt Home With One Man's FamilyOne Man's Family (radio show)1936-12ScreenlandBlack Sheep StanderLionel Stander1936-12Modern ScreenFreedom's a Flop!Tom Brown1936-12Radio StarsHe's Got Plenty of Umphhh!Smith Ballew1937-02Modern ScreenWhen He's Wrong, He's Right!Melvyn Douglas1937-05Radio StarsFrancia of the RanchoFrancia White1937-07Modern ScreenHighlighting GeneGene Raymond1937-09Modern ScreenShe's Taking it EasyClaudette Colbert1937-10Modern ScreenPublic Cowboy No. 1Gene Autrey1938-03Picture PlayHe Didn't Wait for LuckPatric Knowles1938-03Modern ScreenIt's Fun to be Broke!Beverly Roberts1938-04Modern ScreenBob Speaks UpRobert Kent1938-05Modern ScreenThat Thing Called TemperamentHerbert Marshall1938-09Modern ScreenShe's Not AfraidGloria Dickson1939-02HollywoodWomen Worry Men (as explained by George Brent)George Brent1939-06HollywoodBeing Broke HelpsDennis O'Keefe1939-09HollywoodCagney Changes His MindJames Cagney1940-08Motion PictureStill Pulling Them InJeffrey Lynn1941-04Screen LifeTrouble at HomeMary Martin
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