Frederica ‘Freddie’ Maas Dies at 111½; La Mesan Was Hollywood Screenwriter

Updated at 11:50 a.m. Jan. 7, 2012

Frederica Sagor “Freddie” Maas—a famed Hollywood screenwriter of the 1920s who worked with Clara Bow, Norma Shearer and Joan Crawford—died Thursday night at Country Villa nursing home in La Mesa, officials there and a family member confirm.

She was 111 years and 183 days old—and was the third-oldest Californian.

On her 111th birthday in July, when her guardian and grandnephew Tony Tovar reminded her of her milestone age, Maas gave it some thought.

“One hundred and eleven years old. 111,” she said. “Well, that’s enough.”

A small group of family members gathered to sing Happy Birthday, joined by fellow residents and staff members.

Tovar, who wasn’t expecting Maas to be very responsive, said she was much more alert in 2011 than 2010.

“She’s having an amazing moment of lucidity,” he said in July. “She’s wanting to say her goodbyes and saying who gets her books and everything. She doesn’t realize that all that stuff is already gone.”

Maas was born July 6, 1900, in New York City, and lived on her own until she was 96. She moved to San Diego more than 10 years ago to be closer to family, first residing in La Jolla’s Casa de Mañana before moving to La Mesa.

“What’s cool about where she stayed in La Jolla is that it had previously been the hotel where she went on her honeymoon,” Tovar said in July.

Tovar told U-T San Diego on Friday: “She was a very intelligent, very ambitious woman, and she lived the equivalent of several normal lifetimes, which was both a source of pride and sadness for her. ... She had to go through a couple rounds of outliving everyone she knew and worked with.”

Maas’ body has gone to UCLA for an autopsy, Tovar said, and her brain will be studied by researchers. Her remains will be returned to the family for cremation.

“She did not die of anything obvious,” Tovar told U-T San Diego. “She just ran down. That’s why they want to do the actual autopsy, to determine the cause of death.”

Her death originally was reported by Dr. Stephen Coles of the Los Angeles-based Gerontology Research Group. A supervisor at Country Villa La Mesa Healthcare Center on Lake Murray Boulevard confirmed her passing Friday.

The Hollywood Reporter said:

Because she was a woman, Maas was typically assigned work on flapper comedies and light dramas. Her efforts includes such other Bow films as Dance Madness (1926), Hula (1927) and Red Hair (1928); two films featuring Norma Shearer, His Secretary (1925) and The Waning Sex (1926); the Greta Garbo drama Flesh and the Devil (1926); and the Louise Brooks film Rolled Stockings. The Plastic Age starred Bow, Donald Keith and Gilbert Roland in a romantic campus comedy adapted from a best-selling novel by Maas and Eve Unsell. It was Bow’s biggest hit to date.

The oldest person who ever lived was Jeanne-Louise Calment, who was 122 when she died Aug. 4, 1997, in Arles, France.