Phyllis Crane on AllMovie

A veteran of vaudeville from the age of seven, Canadian-born starlet Phyllis Crane (née Phyllis Francis) signed with Columbia Pictures in 1934. Mainly seen in bit parts as chorus girls and maids in the studio's mainstream fare, the brunette Crane was much better served by the busy short subject department. As one of the scores of pretty girls used as foils for the unit's slapstick comics, Crane appeared in most of the early Three Stooges comedies, from Men in Black (1934) to A Pain in the Pullman (1936). Providing a bit of cheesecake to the anarchic proceedings Crane in effect served the same purpose as the later and much more appreciated Christine McIntyre. But while fellow Stooge starlet Lucille Ball went on to bigger and better things, Crane continued to toil in the rough-and-tumble shorts department. She left films for good in 1937.