Frances Bay (1919 - 2011)

Actress.  Petite, soft spoken, and kindly elderly character actress.  Best remembered for her role as Adam Sandler’s grandmother in the 1996 film “Happy Gilmore,” and for her guest appearance as ‘Mabel Choate’ the woman  from whom Jerry Seinfeld stole a loaf of marble rye bread on “Seinfeld.”  Born in Canada, she acted locally for many […]

Frances Chaney (1915 - 2004)

Radio and televison actress. Her budding movie career died when she was blacklisted along with 10 other Hollywood actors who were jailed in 1950 for contempt of Congress upon refusing to answer whether they were Communists. After years appearing on popular radio series like Topper, Gangbusters and Mr. District Attorney she became unemployed. She had […]

Frances Cress Welsing (1935 - 2016)

Frances Cress Welsing (born Frances Luella Cress; March 18, 1935 – January 2, 2016) was an American Afrocentrist psychiatrist. Her 1970 essay, The Cress Theory of Color-Confrontation and Racism (White Supremacy), offered her interpretation on the origins of what she described as white supremacy culture. She was the author of The Isis Papers: The Keys to […]

Frances Crofts Darwin Cornford (1886 - 1960)

English Poet. Because of the similarity of her Christian name and her husband’s, she was known to her family before her marriage as “FCD” and after her marriage as “FCC” and her husband Francis Cornford was known as “FMC”. Her father Sir Francis Darwin, a son of Charles Darwin, yet another ‘Francis’, was known to […]

Frances Dee (1909 - 2004)

The younger daughter of Francis “Frank” Marion Dee and his wife, the former Henriette Putnam, Frances Marion Dee was born in Los Angeles, California, where her father was working as a civil-service examiner. She grew up in Chicago, Illinois, where she attended Shakespeare Grammar School and Hyde Park High School, where she went by the nickname […]

Frances Drake (1912 - 2000)

Frances Drake (October 22, 1912 – January 18, 2000) was an American actress, best known for playing Eponine in Les Misérables (1935). Frances Drake was born in New York City as Frances Morgan Dean to a wealthy family. She was educated at Havergal College in Canada and was in London visiting relatives when the stock market […]

Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett (1849 - 1924)

Author. Born Francis Eliza Hodgson at Cheetham Hill, Manchester, England. Her father died in 1853, leaving a widow and five children. Mrs. Hodgeson tried to continue running her husband’s wholesale firm but ultimately failed in part due to the effects of the American Civil War. With the promise of support from a maternal uncle, the […]

Frances Elizabeth Bavier (1902 - 1989)

Actress, most noted for her performance as “Aunt Bee” on the Andy Griffith Show TV series. She appeared in 10 films and 4 television series. Born in New York City, she began her acting career in April 1925, on Broadway, in the play “The Poor Nut.” During World War II, she travelled with the USO […]

Frances Elizabeth Bavier (1902 - 1989)

Actress, most noted for her performance as “Aunt Bee” on the Andy Griffith Show TV series. She appeared in 10 films and 4 television series. Born in New York City, she began her acting career in April 1925, on Broadway, in the play “The Poor Nut.” During World War II, she travelled with the USO […]

Frances Farmer (1913 - 1970)

Frances Farmer was born in Seattle, Washington, the daughter of Lillian (née Van Ornum 1873-1955) and Ernest Melvin Farmer. In 1931, while attending West Seattle High School, she entered and won $100 from The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, a writing contest sponsored by Scholastic Magazine, with her controversial essay “God Dies”. It was a […]

Frances Faye (1912 - 1991)

Born as Frances Cohen, Frances Faye’s showbiz career began at the age of 15 in nightclubs where she first became a star. She appeared in one Bing Crosby film; Double or Nothing singing “After You”. She wrote the song “Well All Right” recorded by the Andrews Sisters. Faye made her solo recording debut in 1936. […]

Frances Faye (1911 - 1991)

Singer, Songwriter, Actress. Born Francis Cohen in Brooklyn, New York, she was a second cousin of actor Danny Kaye whom began her career as a cabaret show tune singer and pianist. In the 1930s to 1960s, she recorded dozens of albums to include “Frances Faye”, “Frances Faye Sings Folk Songs”, “Frances Faye Sings the Blues” […]

Frances Folsom Cleveland (1864 - 1947)

Frances Clara Folsom was born in Buffalo, New York, the daughter of Oscar Folsom, a lawyer and descendant of the earliest settlers of Exeter, New Hampshire, and Emma Harmon. All of Frances Cleveland’s ancestors were from England and settled in what would become Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, eventually migrating to western New York. […]

Frances Ford Seymour (1908 - 1950)

Actress. A New York Socialite and descendant of Massachusetts Governor Samuel Adams, and the second President of the United States John Adams. Married for a time to actor/producer Henry Fonda, with whom she had two kids, Jane and Peter Fonda, also to become screen stars. (bio by: MC)  Family links:  Parents:  Eugene Ford Seymour (1870 […]

Frances Foster (1924 - 1997)

Actress. A native of Yonkers, New York,  she is best known for her role as ‘Vera’ in the daytime television series “The Guiding Light”, which she played from 1985 to 1994. Some of her acting credits include roles in the motion pictures “A Piece of the Action” (1977),  “Malcolm X” (1992),  “Crooklyn” (1994),  “Clockers” (1995), […]

Frances Gifford (1920 - 1994)

Actress. A pretty brunette who appeared in numerous B-movies of the 1940s, she is probably best remembered as the half-naked Nyoka Meredith of Republic’s 1941 serial “Jungle Girl”. Born Mary Frances Gifford, she was raised in Long Beach, was a good enough student to apply to the UCLA Law School at 16, was signed to […]

Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk (1517 - 1559)

Lady Frances Brandon was born in Hatfield, Hertfordshire and spent her childhood in the care of her mother. She was close to her aunt Catherine of Aragon, first wife of her uncle King Henry VIII, and a childhood friend of her first cousin, the future Queen Mary I. Lady Frances received permission from the King […]

Frances Heenan “Peaches” Browning (1910 - 1956)

Actress. She played ‘Gold Digger’ roles on stage. She married Edward West (“Daddy”) Browning, a wealthy real estate broker when she was 15 years old (he was 51). They separated after six months and upon his death in 1934, she was awarded his entire estate.  Family links:  Spouses:  Edward West Browning (1874 – 1934)  Bernard […]

Frances Howard Goldwyn (1903 - 1976)

Actress.  Credited as Frances Howard during her acting career, she appeared mostly on Broadway, but did make a few films in the 1920s and 1930s, most notably “Shock Punch,” “The Swan,” and “Too Many Kisses” all in 1925. Her last film role was in “Mary Burns, Fugitive” in 1935.  Best known as wife of Hollywood […]

Frances Langford (1913 - 2005)

Frances Langford grew up in the Mulberry, Florida area, a tiny community near Lakeland. She attended Lakeland High School. Langford originally trained as an opera singer. While a young girl she required a tonsillectomy that changed her soprano range to a contralto. As a result, she was forced to change her vocal style to a […]

Frances Marion (1888 - 1973)

Frances Marion worked as a journalist and served overseas as a combat correspondent during World War I. She documented women’s contribution to the war effort on the front lines, and became the first woman to cross the Rhine after the armistice. On her return home, she moved to Los Angeles and was hired as a […]

Frances Marion Zucco (1931 - 1962)

British-born film actress of the 1950s. Daughter of famed character actor George Zucco. (bio by: A.J. Marik)  Family links:  Parents:  George Zucco (1886 – 1960)  Stella Francis Zucco (1900 – 1999)  Spouse:  James Richard Maguire (1933 – 2002)* *Calculated relationship

Frances Mary Buss (1827 - 1894)

Frances Mary Buss (16 August 1827 – 24 December 1894) was a headmistress and an English pioneer of women’s education. The daughter of Robert William Buss, a painter and etcher, and his wife, Frances Fleetwood, Buss was one of six of their ten children to survive into adulthood. Her grandparents, whom she was visiting in Aldersgate, […]

Frances Newton (1965 - 2005)

Frances Elaine McLemore Newton (April 12, 1965 – September 14, 2005) was executed by lethal injection in the state of Texas for the April 7, 1987 murder of her husband, Adrian, 23, her son, Alton, 7, and daughter, Farrah, 21 months.  All three victims were shot with a .25 caliber pistol which belonged to a […]

Frances Raeburn (1924 - 1976)

Actress. Born Mildred Frances Anne Hedrick in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, she made her film debut in “Joe Smith, American” (1942). Nick named ‘Bubba’, her other credits included “Seven Sweethearts” (1942), “Calling Dr. Gillespie” (1942), “The Canterville Ghoust” (1944) and “Swing Out, Sister” (1945). She died of a heart attack in Los Angeles County, California. (bio […]

Frances Rafferty (1922 - 2004)

Actress, Dancer, World War II pinup girl. She was best known for her role as ‘Ruth Henshaw,’ the daughter of Spring Byington in the 1950s TV series “December Bride.” She appeared in numerous B-movies in the 1940s including “Girl Crazy” with Mickey Rooney, “Abbott and Costello In Hollywood,” and “Curly.”

Frances Reid (1914 - 2010)

Born in Wichita Falls, Texas, to banker Charles William and Anna May (Priest) Reid,[6] Reid grew up in Berkeley, California. Her acting career started in 1938 with a bit part in the movie Man-Proof.  Reid’s Broadway debut was as Juliette Lecourtois in Where There’s a Will There’s a Way at the John Golden Theatre in […]

Frances Robinson (1916 - 1971)

Actress. American motion picture figure who appeared in many films of the 1930s through the 1970s. Appeared with Ginger Rogers and Ray Milland in the 1944 comedy “Lady in the Dark.” (bio by: A.J. Marik)  Family links:  Parents:  James Arad Ladd (1879 – 1925)  Alice Ellen Grime Ladd (1883 – 1974)  Sibling:  Clyde W. Ladd […]

Frances Strain Biesel (1898 - 1962)

Noted Artist. She and her husband Fred Biesel had been students of the School of the Chicago Art Institute. She was a member of the group “The Ten” sometimes referred to “Ten Artists” that exhibited mostly at Marshall Field’s in Chicago from 1920 through the early 1940s. She also exhibited at the Chicago Art Institute […]

Frances Westerman Bergen (1922 - 2006)

Actress. The wife of entertainer Edgar Bergen and mother of actress Candice Bergen. She started her career as a model in New York. She was “the Chesterfield Cigarette Girl” and “the Ipana Girl” in magazines and on billboards. At age 19 she caught the eye of her future husband at one of his shows. He […]