It's fascinating to me how the fickleness of fame has treated some of the longtime stalwarts of the motion picture universe, and mistreated so many others. Take Bogart, Wayne, Grant and Stewart: all became stars in the 1930s, continued to work until they went to their last roundups and remain widely known today. Yet mention the names Ronald Colman, Charles Boyer, Paul Muni or Tyrone Power and the majority of people go blank. (Happily, though, not dedicated TCM watchers.)

All those fellows, and many others of their era, were among the biggest, most celebrated and widely known film stars of their time, although their fame, in the big picture, has since (to borrow the title of a movie from the era in which they all thrived) gone with the wind. It's something which should be fair warning to today's box-office kings and queens. As one celeb recently put it, "My theory about actors is we're all walking milk cartons--expiration dates everywhere."

It's one reason we're particularly keen this month to be bringing you a full platter of films starring the versatile, square-jawed and talented Fredric March--an actor certainly not as well remembered today as he should be. Few in his time were more famous or more respected than March but it's been years since his has been a household name, that despite the fact he kept working in top-tier, high-profile projects during six decades. By the 1930s, he had become a reigning matinee idol (and an Academy Award® winner), in the 1940s, he was one of the industry's most sought-after marquee names (and again an Academy Award® winner), in the 1950s, he was widely embraced as a character actor (with further attention from Oscar®), in the 1960s, he was getting co-star billing and meaty roles with the likes of Spencer Tracy, Sophia Loren and Paul Newman, and in the 1970s was still receiving major attention in major projects (his final movie was 1973's The Iceman Cometh).

During those many years, March worked in every genre: horror films such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1932) (which we'll be airing on TCM October 5), stirring dramas (the 1937 A Star Is Born, October 12), classic comedies (Lubitsch's Design for Living, October 19, and Wellman's Nothing Sacred, October 20) sweeping adventure tales (Anthony Adverse, October 26) and everything in between--including what many feel is the best movie ever made in Hollywood, William Wyler's 1946 The Best Years of Our Lives (airing October 12).

One reason people may not remember Fredric March's name is because it was never splashed across newspaper headlines or involved in infamous Hollywood scandals. He had one wife for nearly 50 years, actress Florence Eldridge, who teamed with her husband in seven films and nine Broadway plays when he wasn't working with some of the women you can watch him wooing this month on TCM, such as Greta Garbo, Kim Novak, Katharine Hepburn, Carole Lombard, Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer.

Doing memorable work was always his primary goal and on Tuesdays throughout this month we'll show you 26 examples of how well he succeeded. Viva March in October!

by Robert Osborne