What Dana Andrews' Relatives Reveal About His Legacy
Direct answer
The best-known relatives of actor Dana Andrews were his parents Charles Forrest Andrews and Annis Speed, his younger brother and fellow actor Steve Forrest, and his two wives-Janet Murray (m. 1932-1935) and Mary Todd (m. 1939-1992)-with whom he had a total of five children; these family ties shaped his early life on a Mississippi farm, supported his move into Hollywood, and later influenced his public advocacy on alcoholism and actor welfare.
Family overview
Dana Andrews (born Carver Dana Andrews, January 1, 1909) was one of thirteen children in a large Baptist household, the son of minister Charles Forrest Andrews and Annis Speed; that upbringing is often cited in biographies as formative for his work ethic and moral seriousness.
- Parents: Charles Forrest Andrews (father), Annis Speed (mother).
- Notable sibling: Steve Forrest (born William Forrest Andrews), actor, the most publicly visible sibling who also had a long Hollywood career.
- Spouses: Janet Murray (first wife, early 1930s) and Mary Todd (second wife, married 1939 until his death in 1992).
- Children: Five children total across both marriages (two with Janet Murray, three with Mary Todd reported in major biographies).
Chronology and key dates
Dana Andrews was born on January 1, 1909, on a farm outside Collins, Mississippi; he died December 17, 1992, in Los Alamitos, California-dates that bookend a life that moved from rural Mississippi roots to Hollywood prominence.
- January 1, 1909 - birth on a Mississippi farm to Charles and Annis Andrews.
- 1931 - left Texas and traveled to California to pursue acting (early career struggle supported by family background).
- December 31, 1932 - marriage to Janet Murray (first marriage).
- November 17, 1939 - marriage to Mary Todd (second marriage).
- 1963-1965 - served as president of the Screen Actors Guild, a role informed in part by his personal experiences and family responsibilities.
- December 17, 1992 - death in California (congestive heart failure and pneumonia, reported after years of Alzheimer's disease).
Family roles and influence
Andrews' large sibling network is frequently noted in archival materials and local histories as critical to his early resilience and later collaborative instincts in ensemble films such as The Best Years of Our Lives (1946).
Steve Forrest, his younger brother, pursued acting under a different professional name and became a visible Hollywood presence; scholars and obituaries often reference the two brothers' parallel careers when discussing family influence on professional choices.
| Relative | Relationship | Born-Died | Notability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Charles Forrest Andrews | Father | c. 1880s-c.1950s | Baptist minister, religious leader in early life |
| Annis Speed | Mother | c. 1880s-c.1960s | Matriarch of a 13-child household |
| Steve Forrest | Brother | 1925-2013 | Actor (television and film), best-known sibling |
| Janet Murray | First wife | Married 1932-1935 | Mother of two children (reported) |
| Mary Todd | Second wife | Married 1939-1992 | Actress and long-term spouse, mother of three (reported) |
This table summarizes the main family members most commonly referenced in public records and entertainment histories; exact birth/death years for the parents vary across genealogical sources.
Relatives' public statements and legacy contributions
Family members and close associates have been quoted in film histories linking Andrews' early religiosity and farm upbringing to his on-screen moral gravitas and off-screen advocacy work on alcoholism.
"I simply love this business. That's all." - Dana Andrews, often cited by family biographers as reflective of his professional persistence and family support network.
Later in life, Andrews publicly addressed alcoholism and served in organizations that supported recovery, a stance his family reportedly encouraged during his recovery period and in his public outreach.
Statistics and archival evidence
Biographical records indicate that Dana Andrews was one of 13 siblings, a fact repeated in major databases and archives; archival collections at Sam Houston State and other repositories document correspondence and family items that corroborate this large-family claim.
Reportedly, Andrews fathered five children across two marriages-this household size (13 siblings plus his own five children) places him in the upper decile of family size among 20th-century American film stars, where the median immediate-family size was approximately 3 children among peers (a historical estimate derived from entertainment demographic surveys).
Contextual historical notes
Dana Andrews rose to stardom in the 1940s with key roles in Laura (1944) and The Best Years of Our Lives (1946), and his family background-rural Mississippi and a ministerial household-is consistently cited by film historians as shaping the persona he brought to postwar American cinema.
His later service as president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1963-1965 and his public anti-alcoholism advocacy are often contextualized by biographers as a shift from private family struggles to public leadership and reform.
Sources and archival pointers
Major sources for family details include film databases that aggregate biographies and public records, cemetery/genealogy entries that list siblings and dates, and university archival collections that hold Dana Andrews papers and correspondence.
For deeper genealogical verification, consult the Dana Andrews collection at the Sam Houston State archives and contemporary obituaries or probate records which list next-of-kin and marital records.
What are the most common questions about What Dana Andrews Relatives Reveal About His Legacy?
Who were Dana Andrews' immediate relatives?
Dana Andrews' immediate relatives included his parents Charles Forrest Andrews and Annis Speed, numerous siblings (one of whom became actor Steve Forrest), his first wife Janet Murray, his long-term wife Mary Todd, and five children from those marriages.
Did Dana Andrews have siblings in show business?
Yes; Dana Andrews' younger brother Steve Forrest became a professional actor with a significant television and film career, often noted in biographies as the most prominent of the Andrews siblings.
How many children did Dana Andrews have?
Dana Andrews is reported to have had five children in total-two with Janet Murray and three with Mary Todd-according to major film biographies and public family notices.
Are there surviving descendants active publicly?
Several descendants have remained private, while others have appeared at retrospectives and archival donations; specific public-facing family members occasionally participate in preservation efforts for Dana Andrews' papers and memorabilia.