Karl Dane - Death

Death

By the end of 1933, Dane had purchased a stake in a hot dog stand outside MGM Studios. The business failed, as it was shunned by his former friends. Dane then tried to find work with his former studio as an extra or carpenter but was turned away. He had been seeking a job that would pay $5 a day.

On April 13, Dane was pickpocketed of all the money he had: $18. On 14 April, he was to meet with a young woman named Frances Leake, supposedly to see a movie and cheer him up. However, he never showed and Leake became worried. She immediately arrived at his apartment (at 626 South Burnside Avenue) and with the assistance of the landlady, they were able to open the door. There they found Dane, clad in a shirt, trousers and slippers. He was slumped in his chair with a revolver at his feet. Leake fainted at the scene. When she was revived, Leake found Dane's final note on a nearby table, next to a scrapbook he had always kept, filled with his old studio contracts and rave reviews. The short note read, "To Frances and all my friends-goodbye." Dane had committed suicide by shooting himself in the head. He was 47 years old.

No one came forward to claim his body. Police tagged his body with the note, "May have relatives in Denmark. Hold for awhile". For the next few days, authorities attempted to find his family, even placing ads in major Copenhagen newspapers. However, the Gottliebs did not find out about Dane's death until weeks later. Fellow Danish actor Jean Hersholt stepped forward and insisted MGM pay for a funeral and burial. MGM agreed, and on 18 April a funeral was held open to the public. There were around 50 attendees. Hersholt was a pallbearer, as well as Tom O'Brien. Dane was interred at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery.