Fred Crane, 90, spoke first line in ‘Gone With the Wind’

Fred Crane spoke the first lines in the “Gone With the Wind” movie as one of the red-headed Tarleton twins flirting with Scarlett O’Hara before the Twelve Oaks barbecue.

His line doesn’t compare to Rhett Butler’s “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn,” but it did provoke one of Scarlett’s signature phrases: “Fiddle-dee-dee.”

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Bita Honarvar/2007 photo

Fred Crane, who played Brent Tarleton in ‘Gone With the Wind,’ was the last living, credited male actor in the 1939 film of the Pulitzer Prize novel.

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AP / New Line Cinema

A scene from ‘Gone With the Wind’ starring Viven Leigh (center) shows George Reeves (left) and Fred Crane (right).

Mr. Crane was 20 and not an actor when he was awarded the role of Brent Tarleton. On a whim, the New Orleans native had accompanied a cousin to her audition for the movie, he said in a 2007 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article. The casting director heard his Southern accent, and that’s what earned him the $50-a-week role.

Producer David O. Selznick, Mr. Crane said, “handed me a free ticket to a sort of immortality.”

“I’m just a small shard in a grand mosaic,” he said. “I’m the last man standing.”

Mr. Crane, 90, the last living male actor who had a credited role in the movie, died of complications from diabetes Thursday. He had lived in Barnesville and operated a bed and breakfast before selling it in 2007.

Claiming reasons of privacy, his wife, Terry Lynn Crane, would not reveal Mr. Crane’s city of residence, where he died or the cremation society in charge of arrangements. No service is planned.

In the classic 1939 movie, Mr. Crane’s first line was: “What do we care if we were expelled from college, Scarlett? The war is going to start any day now, so we’d have left college anyhow.”

Scarlett’s reply: “Fiddle-dee-dee. War, war, war. This war talk’s spoiling all the fun at every party this spring.”

Mr. Crane’s twin was played by George Bessolo, who changed his name to George Reeves and won fame as TV’s Superman. The barbecue scene had to be shot three times, Mr. Crane said — one reshoot because the twins’ red hair was too curly, and another because Scarlett, played by Vivien Leigh, was showing too much bosom. Mr. Crane appeared in four other scenes.

After “Gone With the Wind,” he played a bandito in a 1949 Cisco Kid movie called “The Gay Amigo.” He acted on television during the 1960s, but his main career was hosting a classical music radio show in Los Angeles for 40 years.

Olivia de Havilland, who played Melanie Wilkes, is the movie’s only remaining principal star. Other surviving cast members are Ann Rutherford (Careen O’Hara); Cammie King (Bonnie Blue Butler); Alicia Rhett (India Wilkes); Mickey Kuhn (Beau Wilkes); and other actors who played characters as infants, said Herb Bridges of Newnan, who built what was considered the world’s largest “Gone With the Wind” collection.

Evelyn Keyes, who played Suellen O’Hara, died July 4.

Mr. Crane did not attend the 1939 premiere of the movie in Atlanta and for most of his career did not capitalize on his role in the still-popular movie. He started making “Gone With the Wind” appearances after he retired from radio more than 20 years ago. He was a regular at Marietta’s Fourth of July celebrations, including this year’s Star Spangled Scarlett Weekend, and at GWTW-related museums, exhibits and events.

“He was just a very interesting person,” Mr. Bridges said. “He was just very loquacious, so entertaining in a beautiful radio voice.”

Mr. Crane turned on the charm and the stories for guests at his Barnesville B&B, Tarleton Oaks. At times, he would entertain guests on his gold harmonica playing “Dixie” or bits of Bach. In 2007, he auctioned off Tarleton Oaks and his “Gone With the Wind” memorabilia.

Though shed of his collection, he continued to enjoy his distinction in movie history. “He enjoyed it because he thrived on the fact he spoke the very first line in the movie,” Mr. Bridges said. “It was his claim to fame.”

Mr. Crane was married five times and is survived by four children in California; eight grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.