Anne Francine
{{Short description|American actress and cabaret singer (1917–1999)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Anne Francine
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption = Anne Francine (left) with Barbara Eden
| birth_name = Anne Hollingshead Francine
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1917|8|8}}
| birth_place = Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1999|12|3|1917|8|8}}
| death_place = Lawrence and Memorial Hospital, New London, Connecticut, U.S.
| resting_place = Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| occupation = Actress, singer
| years_active = 1954–1988
}}
Anne Hollingshead Francine (August 8, 1917 – December 3, 1999) was an American actress and cabaret singer.{{cite news| title=Anne Francine, 82, Actress and Cabaret Singer| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/12/07/arts/anne-francine-82-actress-and-cabaret-singer.html |newspaper=The New York Times| date=1999-12-07| url-access=subscription}}
Biography
Francine was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to Philadelphia socialite parents Albert and Emilie Francine. She was raised in the Main Line region of suburban Philadelphia. She won an amateur singing contest and began performing as a cabaret singer in the 1930s at the Coq Rouge. Other notable engagements included the Copacabana and the Algonquin. She sang abroad in London and Paris in the 1940s. Her signature songs were The Lamp is Low and Raggedy Ann.{{cite news |last1=Jones |first1=Kenneth |title=Anne Francine, Actress and Cabaret Star, Dead at 82 |url=https://www.playbill.com/article/anne-francine-actress-and-cabaret-star-dead-at-82-com-85797 |journal=Playbill |access-date=8 October 2021}}
She made her Broadway debut in 1954 with Shirley Booth in By the Beautiful Sea. She stepped in for Bea Arthur as Vera Charles in the 1966 Broadway production of Mame, starring Angela Lansbury. She and Lansbury reprised their characters in the 1983 revival. She last appeared on Broadway in 1987 as Mrs. Harcourt in the Lincoln Center revival of Anything Goes, starring Patti LuPone.{{cite news| first=Stephen| last=Holden| title=Reviews/Music; Anne Francine Spoofs Herself In Cabaret Act| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/11/arts/reviews-music-anne-francine-spoofs-herself-in-cabaret-act.html| newspaper=The New York Times| date=1988-06-11| url-access=subscription}}
She portrayed the role of villain Flora Simpson Reilly in the American television series Harper Valley PTA.{{cite news |last1=Patton |first1=Larry |title=Crocodile Dundee Cast: Let's Catch Up With Them |url=https://www.horizontimes.com/worldwide/crocodile-dundee/26 |newspaper=Horizon Times |date=19 March 2018 |access-date=8 October 2021}}
In 1979, she starred as the Evil Queen in the musical adaption of the 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Her film work included Fellini's Juliet of the Spirits (1965), Stand Up and Be Counted (1972), Savages (1972), and Crocodile Dundee (1986).
She taught cabaret singers at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center in Waterford, Connecticut even after losing her ability to speak after a stroke in 1992.
File:Michael Ehret mausoleum.jpg]]
She died in a Connecticut hospital on December 3, 1999, after suffering a stroke and was interred in the Michael Ehret mausoleum on "Millionaire's Row" at Laurel Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia.{{cite web |title=Laurel Hill's Women in the Performing Arts |url=https://laurelhillcemetery.blog/2020/07/30/laurel-hills-women-in-the-performing-arts/ |website=Laurel Hill Cemetery Blog |access-date=8 October 2021}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Juliet of the Spirits | Psychodramatist | |
| 1972 | Stand Up and Be Counted | Mabel Hammond | |
| 1972 | Mission Impossible | Maude Brophy | TV Episode: "Committed" |
| 1972 | Savages | Carlotta, a Hostess | |
| 1986 | Crocodile Dundee | Fran |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0290022}}
- [https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47de-da8f-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 The New York Public Library Digital Collections - Anne Francine]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Francine, Anne}}
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:20th-century American singers
Category:20th-century American women singers
Category:Actresses from Philadelphia
Category:American film actresses
Category:American stage actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:Burials at Laurel Hill Cemetery (Philadelphia)
Category:American cabaret singers
Category:Musicians from Atlantic City, New Jersey