Search
Anne Francis Profile
|
|
Photo gallery |
| (Anne Lloyd Francis) |
|
| 16 September 30 | is born in Ossining, New York |
| ? | begins modeling as a child, before the age of 5 |
| c. 37 | is on radio at age 7 |
| 41 | is the first child star who has a television program |
| ? | is on Broadway in Lady in the Dark playing a 12-year-old |
| 45 | is signed by MGM at age 15 |
| c. 48 | after only one movie, Summer Holiday, she returns to New York |
| ? | is in summer stock |
| ? | producer Harry Danziger casts her after screen-testing newcomer Grace Kelly |
| October 51 | columnist Harrison Carroll writes: "Now that Anne Francis turned 21, her mother is going back to New York. She has been here with Anne since February." |
| March 52 | columnist Hedda Hopper tells the inside story of why Ava Gardner replaced Anne in Snows of Kilimanjaro. "The part was first written for Ava, but she went on suspension for turning down a picture at Metro. Since 20th couldn't borrow her under those conditions, Anne was announced for the role. Ava's suspension was suddenly lifted, making her eligible for work at 20th; and that studio snagged her quickly." |
| leaves Hollywood for a two-week visit with her parents in New York. "While there she'll look up her old radio pals, including Stuart Daniels, to whom she was once reportedly engaged. Her current big moment, however, is Bam Price." |
|
| April 52 | is reported giving private lessons in public to Bam Price, who's a theater arts student..." |
| 30 April 52 | she and Dale Robertson are off to New York to promote their Lydia Bailey and to "lend glamour to the press junket for the world premiere of their flicker in Haiti on May 4" |
| ? | she and fellow actor William Marshall will fly 8,000 miles to attend the premiere of Lydia Bailey in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, part of a four-day Haitian festival to celebrate its 150th year of independence |
| May 52 | falls from a horse during a parade commemorating the screening of Lydia Bailey in Haiti. "When the film was in production a year ago she suffered another riding accident and it almost cost her her first starring role." |
| dances the native meringue with Haitian President and Military Council of Government leader Paul Eugène Magloire at the Lydia Bailey ball given by Magloire at his neon-lit National Palace in Port-au-Prince. Her Lydia Bailey co-star William Marshall is noted striding through the palace. Columnist Leonard Lyons reports that the dance ended at dawn, after which the Haitian Air Force flew the guests across the mountains to the north and then by car to the ruins of Sans Souci, the ancient palace of the first king Henri Christophe, where horses were waiting for a 7-mile climb to the citadel. The rain fell in torrents. |
|
| Mid-May 52 | is pictured hobbling from the plane upon her return from Haiti |
| columnist Dorothy Kilgallen writes: "Film actress Anne Francis collapsed at LaGuardia Airport just before take off time. The doctors blamed it all on the strenuous week she just spent in Haiti. Anne had to attend two parades and four parties in addition to the opening night whoopie, and took a mean kick from a donkey during a sightseeing tour of the island." |
|
| 17 May 52 | marries Bamlet Lawrence Price, Jr. at the Harvard Military Chapel. He's 26; she's 21. The ceremony is performed by Reverend John Gill. Price, a World War II Army Air Force pilot, is studying for a master's degree at the University of California at Los Angeles. |
| June 52 | is named queen of Health Week |
| October 52 | is tearful over the reports that she's being dropped by 20th Century-Fox |
| 53 | as queen of the California Relays, she slips during the awards presentation and breaks her foot |
| February 53 | her husband suffers a severe back injury when he crashes into a tree while skiing in the Sierra Nevada mountains. "Miss Francis, who was with him at the time of the accident, had to walk two miles to summon an ambulance..." |
| November 53 | the press tags her the "Mona Lisa Blonde" |
| a fan magazine poll proves that she's a favorite of the younger set. Her studio will star her in Hawk of the Desert. |
|
| c. November 53 | is among the Deb Stars introduced to television audiences by Bob Hope. Other Deb Stars this year are Kim Novak, Elaine Stewart and Taina Elg. |
| January 54 | the press reports that she "who was supposed to get the stardom push after Lydia Bailey, has said adieu to her Fox contract..." |
| announces: "In some ways, I'm happy to be out. The free-lance market is pretty good these days." She and Price have plans for a TV show together, "among other things." |
|
| March 54 | she and Price are pictured at a Mocambo opening with Byron Palmer |
| May 54 | she and actor Aldo Ray become campaign leaders to raise money to build a chapel in memory of Father Maguire, who originated the famous phrase "Praise The Lord And Pass The Ammunition" |
| July 54 | her husband suffers a siege of pneumonia that affects the heart muscles and lungs. "Anne is still shaky over the three days in which medics could not say whether Price would pull through..." |
| October 54 | her husband hits the news as producer of One Way Ticket, a feature film about juvenile drug addiction, now permitted by recent changes in the film censorship code |
| February 55 | travels throughout Texas to promote Bad Day at Black Rock |
| Early March 55 | files for divorce from Price in Santa Monica, California, charging mental cruelty |
| 2 April 55 | columnist Erskine Johnson wonders: "Anne Francis has been incommunicado to the press since she filed for divorce from Bam Price. The split is a genuine puzzler. She played nurse to him for months during an illness that almost took his life less than a year ago." |
| 6 April 55 | obtains an interlocutory divorce decree from Price plus one twin bed and $4,000 she says she loaned Price, who gets the other bed. The court approves a property settlement and grants the divorce after she testified Price said it was "important for my character" to do without a maid. At the time she was working 12 hours a day at her studio, she says. "He seemed to feel all actors had a rather easy life. He seemed to feel that actors weren't worth much." She asks no alimony. Price will die at age 74 in 1996 Los Angeles. |
| Early April 55 | poses as a reminder for the Internal Revenue Service that income tax returns have to be filed by midnight, April 15 |
| June 55 | is on hand to kiss the winner of the Ricks Memorial Trophy Race, which runs from Ontario, California, to Detroit, Michigan |
| her gowns for Forbidden Planet are forbidden by "the blue pencil boys, and the studio has to order a whole new wardrobe..." |
|
| July 55 | is Grace Kelly's stand-in in some of The Swan tests |
| August 55 | celebrates her single status by dating actor John English |
| is reported "up in the air over Lieutenant Jimmy Loew, a Hamilton Field jet pilot..." |
|
| aboard Varig's Super Constellation, she is among Hollywood people off on a publicity tour of the Dominican Republic. She, Walter Pidgeon, Barbara Rush, Jeanne Crain and Paul Brinkman, and Vera Allen are the guests of Flor d'Oro Trujillo, the dictator's daughter, who hosts the reception at the Hotel Jaragua in Cuidad Trujillo. |
|
| September 55 | columnist Walter Winchell thinks she might "get the Oscar for the most torrid summer romance - with John English..." |
| attends the Italian party at Ciro's to raise money for the Mental Health Fund with young actor John Lupton, her first date since her separation from Price |
|
| Early October 55 | columnist Louella Parsons writes: "The various young men who call Anne Francis for dates might like to know that her current escort is Bill Holmes, champion judo expert from the Los Angeles sheriff's office." |
| Mid-October 55 | shows up at Frascati's in a skin-tight gold leotard with an overdress of cellophane, which she later removes in the powder room |
| dates actor Liam Sullivan |
|
| October 55 | columnist Mike Connolly reports: "Anne Francis, Bam Price's ex, and Fleischman Yeast heir Bill Holmes, Shirley Buchanan's ex, are near the point of no return..." |
| December 55 | Winchell thinks she and "Ben Cooper of Rose Tattoo are A Many Splendored Thing..." |
| Mid-January 56 | her ex, Bam Price, and actress Claudia Boyer, ex of Richard Boyer, heir to an adding machine fortune, announce they will marry in April when he's legally free following his divorce from Anne |
| April 56 | she and actor Brad Dexter are "a twosome around town..." |
| May 56 | causes a traffic jam in front of the Beverly Hilton hotel while posing for publicity shots in a bikini |
| 31 May 56 | she and fellow actress Ann Miller are on hand to great visiting Indonesian president Sukarno when he tours the MGM lot with his 12-year-old son Guntur. Afterwards the Sukarnos visit Disneyland and a high school. |
| July 56 | columnist Mike Connolly thinks she and Brad Dexter "are 130 in the shade..." |
| is pictured posing with Leo VI, the MGM lion, who was in Forbidden Planet and is in her current picture, The Great American Pastime |
|
| she and Natalie Wood will grace the upcoming annual Star and Tribune Aquatennial, which is held at Minneapolis, Minnesota |
|
| August 56 | her director in The Great American Pastime, Herman Hoffman, is reported her first serious heart interest since her divorce from Price. Hoffman's 47; she's 26. |
| December 56 | Parsons knows: "The fairheaded lady in the life of MGM director Herman Hoffman is Anne Francis, who has made two pictures with him and is about to start on her third, The Mystery of Misty Creek, which is an off-beat western originally published in The Saturday Evening Post." |
| Early July 57 | is among the show people gracing the Reno, Nevada, Rodeo. Others are Mr. and Mrs. Russell Rouse (Beverly Michaels), and Rod Cameron. Anne, Rouse and Glenn Ford receive the Silver Spurs Award, "the Oscar of the Westerns." |
| August 57 | she and Buddy Bregman, "Hollywood's hottest composer-conductor" discover each other in New York. They date at the Composer for three nights running. |
| October 57 | Hedda Hopper writes: "I hear Anne Francis' boyfriend, Buddy Bregman, convinced her she had a worthwhile voice and scouted up a contract for her with Safari records. She'll do two albums a year - the first to be standards and jazz - and will begin cutting records this week. Anne, now a freelance actress, wants to do some gutsy live shows on TV playing the type of roles Louie de Rochemont started her off with. She was great in them." |
| September 58 | is seen at Dino's with Herman Hoffman |
| October 58 | will play the title role in the pilot for the "Claudia" TV series |
| November 58 | is reported dating a dentist |
| is expected to go on disc jockey Johnny Grant's annual Christmas tour |
|
| December 58 | she, Johnny Grant and a group of Hollywood entertainers will play the Pacific Command for three weeks |
| Early January 59 | Winchell notes her moonlighting with Christopher Plummer at the Metropole |
| Mid-January 60 | columnist Harrison Carroll knows: "It must be love. Anne Francis's admirer, Beverly Hills dentist Dr. Robert Abeloff, flew to New York to see her..." |
| 30 January 60 | marries Dr. Robert Abeloff in Las Vegas, Nevada, after what friends describe a sudden decision. They have known each other for about two years. He's 34; she's 29. It's the second marriage for both; Abeloff's first wife was the former Barbara Landau. The couple plans a delayed Hawaiian honeymoon. |
| September 60 | is turned down for a Walt Disney film because she played a call girl in Girl of the Night |
| 19 November 60 | files for divorce from Abeloff in Los Angeles to end her less than one-year marriage. She charges extreme cruelty. |
| February 61 | attends the gala premiere of Civic Light Opera Association's zesty production of The Merry Widow at the Long Beach Auditorium |
| 1 / 21 May 62 | her daughter Jane Elizabeth is born in Los Angeles |
| 26 February 63 | she and Abeloff separate again |
| 17 July 63 | files suit for divorce from Abeloff, again charging cruelty and asking $1,350 monthly support pending the divorce trial |
| 29 August 63 | loses a bid of temporary alimony on grounds she's making more money than Abeloff. She testifies that she earned $10,000 in the last three weeks although she is not now employed. Abeloff testifies that he earned little more than $10,000 a year in 1961 and 1962, although his present income is $32,000 annually. "It appears," says Superior Court Judge Arnold Praeger, "that this lady makes more money than her husband. Alimony and attorney fees are not a matter of right when a wife has sufficient income to pay." Abeloff's 38; she's 32. |
| April 64 | is among Edie Adams' guests at her 35th birthday party at a Manhattan restaurant. Sydney Chaplin and Jack Carter also help slice the cake. |
| June 64 | plans to go to New York to attend Max Shulman's wedding and catch Barbra Streisand in Funny Face |
| 14 December 64 | wins a divorce from Abeloff in Los Angeles Superior Court testifying that he was "impossible to please" |
| February 66 | Winchell writes that she plans "a spring holiday abroad to forget the heartaches. The two loves in her life proved fickle..." |
| April 66 | Winchell informs that "the Donnelly Rhodes-Virginal Harrison marriage was tearful news to Hollywood's Anne Francis..." |
| July 68 | forms her own company to produce Rodeo |
| 11 October 69 | Margaret West is born in Los Angeles |
| 28 May 70 | Santa Monica Superior Court approves her adoption of 7month-old Margaret "Maggie" West. She shows up in court accompanied by her own daughter, 8-year-old Janey / Janie Abeloff. The adoption is among the first in the state granted to an unmarried person. Anne resides in Santa Monica |
| June 70 | she and her daughters reside in Brentwood, California, in a little one-story house at the end of a cul-de-sac surrounded by a high sloping wall |
| February 78 | is reported being a single parent of two daughters, Maggie, 8, and Janie, 15 |
| 02 | resides in Palm Desert, California |
| 2 January 11 | dies from pancreatic cancer at a retirement home in Santa Barbara, California |
| Sources: The Complete Directory to Prime Time TV Stars by Tim Brooks, The New York Times, The Post-Standard, Ironwood Daily Globe, The Monessen Daily Independent, The Newark Advocate and American Tribune, Humboldt Standard, The Lowell Sun, Fitchburg Sentinel, The Marion Star, Mansfield News-Journal, The Lima News, The Bridgeport Telegram, East Liverpool Review, Redlands Daily Facts, The Modesto Bee, Nevada State Journal, Pottstown Mercury, Appeal-Democrat, Indiana Evening Gazette, The News, The Daily Register, The Portsmouth Herald, Traverse City Record-Eagle, The Independent Record, Pasadena Independent, Kingsport News, The Monessen Daily Independent, The Vidette-Messenger, Oakland Tribune, Sunday Times Signal, Reno Evening Gazette, Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, Bucks Courier County Times, The Gettysburg Times, Syracuse Herald-Journal, Manitowac Herald-Times, Syracuse Post-Standard, Movieland, Screen, Movie Life, Photoplay, Silver Screen, www.Ancestry.com | |
| Recommended Books: The Encyclopedia of Sixties Cool by Chris Strodder | |
| Links: Filmography Spooky Tom's Nightmare Mansion JSR Pages: Anne Francis Brian's Drive-In Theater: Anne Francis | |