William Frye, Agent, Producer and Hollywood Raconteur, Dies at 96

credit:wikipedia

William Frye, a man about the city in Hollywood, who produced General Electric Theater and Boris Karloff's thriller for television as well as films like The Trouble With Angels and Airport in 1975, has died. He was 96.

Frye died on November 3 of natural causes at his home in Palm Desert, California, following an obituary in the Los Angeles Times.

Frye collaborated with Cary Grant, Ronald Reagan, Ronald Reagan, Irene Dunne, Bette Davis, Olivia de Havilland, Loretta Young, Rosalind Russell, Bob Hope and Jimmy Stewart.

William's Biography
Frye was born in Lewiston, Maine, in the district of Androscoggin. He attended public schools there and graduated from Bowdoin College in Braunschweig in 1850. Frye studied law and was later admitted to the bar. He began practicing Maine in 1853 in Rockland, but later returned to Lewiston where he practiced law. Frye played a role in founding Bates College in Lewiston and served as a longtime trustee of the college. Frye received an LL.D. from Bates in 1881.

Frye served from 1861 to 1862 and again in 1867 in the House of Representatives of Maine. Later he was elected mayor of Lewiston and held that position from 1866 to 1867 when he became Attorney General. Frye left the attorney general in 1869. He was elected as a Republican in 1870 in the US House of Representatives. Frye served at the 42nd Congress and the five following congresses from March 4, 1871 to March 17, 1881, when he resigned after being elected Senator to fill the vacancy resulting from the resignation of James G. Blaine. He served for over 30 years in the Senate (18 March 1881 - 8 August 1911) and was re-elected in 1883, 1889, 1895, 1901 and 1907.

During his tenure in the Senate, Frye served as president pro tempore (54th-62nd Congress) during which time the vice presidency was vacant twice: November 21, 1899 - March 4, 1901, following the death of Garret Hobart, and September 14, 1901 - March 4, 1905, after Theodore Roosevelt took over the presidency, Frye retired a few months before his death as president pro tempore due to poor health, the election of his successor proved to be difficult for the Senate, as the Republicans then in the majority, They were split between progressive and conservative factions, each promoting their own candidate, and it took several months to reach consensus, and at the time of his resignation, he served longer in that position than anyone else, 15 years, 2 months, 21 days ,