Fran Ryan
{{Short description|American actress (1916–2000)}}
{{About|the American actress|the British journalist|Frances Ryan}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{More citations needed|date=March 2013}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Fran Ryan
| image = Fran Ryan actor.jpg
| birth_name = Frances Mary Ryan
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1916|11|29|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2000|01|15|1916|11|29|mf=yes}}
| death_place = Burbank, California, U.S.
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1922{{ndash}}1993
| spouse = {{Ubl
| {{Marriage|Walter Kenneth Wayne|1949|1951|reason=died}}
| {{Marriage|Howard Schafer|January 1953|May 1953|reason=died}}
}}
| children = 1
}}
Frances Mary Ryan (November 29, 1916{{snd}} January 15, 2000) was an American character actress featured in television and films. She was born in Los Angeles, California.
Career
Ryan began performing at the age of six at Oakland's Henry Duffy Theatre. She attended Stanford University for three years, and during World War II was a member of the USO entertaining troops.{{Cite news |title=Fran Ryan; Character Actress, Voice-Over Artist |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-jan-28-mn-58632-story.html |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=January 28, 2000}} She performed comedy, singing and acting on stage in California and Chicago, and launched her television career two decades later. Her television debut came in episode 43 of Batman, in 1966, followed by a bit part in Beverly Hillbillies. She also appeared in a 1972 episode of Columbo, Dagger of the Mind, as "uncredited woman at the airport."
Ryan's first supporting cast television role was as Aggie Thompson in the first several episodes of The Doris Day Show. The same season, she was offered the replacement role on the series Green Acres as Doris Ziffel from 1969 to 1971. Ryan replaced Barbara Pepper, who was in poor health. Ryan also starred on the long-running TV Western series Gunsmoke during its 20th and final season as Miss Hannah (Cobb). In 1987, she reprised the role of Miss Hannah in the TV movie Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge.
Ryan played the role of Rosie Carlson in the soap opera Days of Our Lives (1976–1979) and Sister Agatha in General Hospital in 1989. She also did voices for cartoons such as Hong Kong Phooey, Mister T, and Little Dracula. Fran starred on some TV shows for children, such as Sigmund and the Sea Monsters in 1975 as Gertrude Grouch, the 1970s children's show New Zoo Revue as Ms. Goodbody, the 1980s TV series No Soap, Radio as Mrs. Belmont, and the short-lived 1980s CBS TV series The Wizard as Tillie Russell from 1986 to 1987. Her last regular TV role was on The Dave Thomas Comedy Show.
Ryan also appeared in a series of commercials for Hungry Jack biscuits beginning in 1975.
She appeared in many feature films, including Big Wednesday (1978), as Frank and Jesse James' mother in The Long Riders (1980), Take This Job and Shove It (1981), Pale Rider (1985), Chances Are (1989), and a cameo appearance in 1981's Stripes, as a cab fare to Bill Murray as the cabbie, in the opening scenes of the film. Ryan made many guest appearances on TV shows, including Batman (episode 43), Adam-12,
The Brady Bunch, CHiPs, The Dukes of Hazzard, Quantum Leap, Night Court, Taxi, Baywatch, and The Commish.
Personal life
Fran's first husband, Walter Kenneth Wayne (whom she married in Fairbanks, Alaska, in 1949), died in a plane crash, in a plane he was piloting in January 1951, while Fran was pregnant with their first and only child. She gave birth to their son, Christopher, in April 1951. Fran remarried in January 1953 to Howard Schafer. Howard, too, perished in a plane crash in Oregon in May 1953 in a plane he was piloting. The wreckage of Howard's plane was not discovered until 15 years later in November 1968. The remains of Howard and his passengers were never found. All that was found at the crash site was a woman's shoe, four combs, and two pair of eyeglasses.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}
Death
Ryan died on January 15, 2000, at age 83. She was cremated and her ashes buried in 2004 in the family plot, alongside her mother Mary, at the Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Hayward, California.{{Cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Scott |title=Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FOHgDAAAQBAJ&q=Fran%20Ryan |date=2016 |page=654 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=9781476625997 |edition=3rd |language=en}}
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable" |
| style="text-align:center;"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |
| 1965
| Homeless Woman | Uncredited |
| 1970
|Scream, Evelyn, Scream! | The Old Woman | |
| 1971
| Farm Woman | |
| 1971
| Mrs. Purdham | Uncredited |
| 1974
| Mrs. Toklas | |
| 1975
| Mrs. Stockley | |
| 1976
| Registrar Clerk | Uncredited |
| 1978
| Cafe Owner | |
| 1978
| Lucy | |
| 1978
| Aunt Bertha | |
| 1979
| Adrian's Nurse | |
| 1980
| Mrs. Zerelda Cole Samuel | |
| 1981
| Colonel | |
| 1981
| Mrs. Hinkle | |
| 1981
| Marie Davis | |
| 1981
| Dowager in Cab | |
| 1981
| Flora | |
| 1982
| Judge | Uncredited |
| 1982
| Farmer Wilma | |
| 1982
| Belle Chance | |
| 1983
| Gert Long | |
| 1983
| Miss Dutchbok | |
| 1983
| Calvin's Wife | |
| 1985
| Lady in Car | |
| 1985
| Granny Plug | |
| 1985
| Ma Blankenship | |
| 1986
| Fainting Lady | |
| 1986
| Ma | |
| 1988
| Ma | |
| 1989
| Arlene | |
| 1989
| Mavis Talmadge | |
| 1993
| Mrs. Lucerne | |
=Television=
| class="wikitable" |
| style="text-align:center;"
! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Title ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Role ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |
| 1965
|The Front Line presented by Reader's Digest | Customer | Episode: "How To Be An Effective Supermarket Checker" |
| 1966
| Chairlady | Episode: "The Greatest Mother of Them All" |
| 1967
| Mrs. Sanders | Episode: "No Experience Necessary" |
| 1968
| Mrs. Meek | Episode: "The Housekeeper" |
| 1968
| Aggie Thompson | 10 episodes |
| 1969
| Mrs. Jones | Episode: "Love and Equity" |
| 1969
| Nurse Prifogle | Episode: "A Matter of Humanities" |
| 1969
| Rosie | Episode: "The Wonderful Old Saloon" |
| 1969
| Mrs. Beal | Episode: "Rules Is Rules" |
| 1969
| Mrs. Killian | Episode: "Log 142: As High as You Are" |
| 1970
| Switchboard Operator | Episode: "One of Our Hotels Is Growing" |
| 1970
| Mrs. Hunsaker | Episode: "To Move or Not to Move" |
| 1970
| Edna | Episode: "Trial of a PFC" |
| 1970
|Men at Law | Mrs. Kenton | Episode: "Where Were We, Waldo?" |
| 1970
| 1st Wife | Episode: "My Son, the Feminist" |
| 1969-1971
| Doris Ziffel / Minnie Holcombe | 7 episodes |
| 1971
| Third Witch | (segment "Witches' Feast"), Episode: "Death in the Family/The Merciful/Class of '99/Witches' Feast" |
| 1971
| Laundry Manager | Episode: "Guest of Honor" |
| 1972
| Minnie Dowd | Episode: "About Jesse James" |
| 1972
| Nurse | Episode: "Give My Regrets to Broadway" |
| 1972
| Widow Lucas | Episode: "A Visit to Upright" |
| 1972
| Dr. Helen Randall | |
| 1972
| Charge Nurse | Episode: "Five Days in the Death of Sgt. Brown" |
| 1972
| Ms. Goodbody | |
| 1972
|The Bold Ones: The New Doctors | E.R. Nurse | Episode: "A Very Strange Triangle" |
| 1972
| Woman at Airport | Uncredited, Episode: "Dagger of the Mind" |
| 1973
| Mom | Episode: "Exit Laughing" |
| 1974
|Hog Wild | Flora | TV movie |
| 1974
| | Voice |
| 1974
| voices | |
| 1973-1974
| Gertrude | 5 episodes |
| 1972-1975
| Hannah / Mrs. Keller | 6 episodes |
| 1975
| Mavis Bidwell | Episode: "The Long Way Home: Part 2" |
| 1975
| Ma Burker | Episode: "Ladies Day" |
| 1976
| Ma Buckingham | Episode: "See Jane Run" |
| 1976
| Mag Wood | Episode: "Seventy-Two Hours" |
| 1976
| Ellen Mott | TV movie |
| 1976
| Visions | Martha Stedman | Episode: "Liza's Pioneer Diary" |
| 1977
|Panic in Echo Park | | TV movie |
| 1977
| Miss Adeline Jeeter | 15 episodes |
| 1977
| Mrs. Hirsch, Homeless Woman | Episode: "Corporation" |
| 1977
| Woman Construction Worker | Episode: "Higher Ground" |
| 1977
|Deadly Game | Frieda Beezly | TV movie |
| 1977-1978
| | Episodes: "The Dress Designer" (1978) as Eve |
| 1978
|The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams | Gerty | Episode: "The Great Burro Race" |
| 1976-1978
| Landlady / Miss Bycroft / Stella | 3 episodes |
| 1978
| Nancy / Lady Driver | Episodes: "Trick or Trick" as Nancy |
| 1977-1978
| Belle Asher / Nurse Fager | 2 episodes |
| 1979
| Mrs. Holmes | Episode: "Hillary" |
| 1978-1979
| Martha | Episode: "The Big Move: Part 2" (1979) as Martha |
| 1979
| Melba | Episode: "Confederate Gold" |
| 1976-1979
| Rosie Carlson | 7 episodes |
| 1979
|Who's on Call? | Nurse Bremer | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1979
| Cook | TV movie |
| 1980
| May | Episode: "Wildcatters" |
| 1981
| Ma Harper | Episode: "Duke vs. Duke" |
| 1981
| Eula Mae Moonie | Episode: "The Hostage" |
| 1981
| Mrs. Roman | TV movie |
| 1982
| Toby's Mom | Episode: "Eighty-Eight Keys to Happiness" |
| 1982
| Molly Emerson | "Clayton's Condo" |
| 1982
|Taxi | Mrs. Elizabeth Weber | Episode: "Elegant Iggy" |
| 1982
| Mrs. Belmont | 5 episodes |
| 1982
|Life of the Party: The Story of Beatrice | Beatrice's Mother | TV movie |
| 1982
|Johnny Belinda | Aunt Aggie McAdam | TV movie |
| 1983
| Mother Superior | Episode: "The Monastery Show" |
| 1983
| Bridget | Episode: "Mother and Child Reunion" |
| 1983
| Matron | Episode: "Healthy Body, Unhealthy Mind" |
| 1983
|Ghost Dancing | Judge | TV movie |
| 1983
| voice | |
| 1983
| Maggie | Episode: "Marilyn" |
| 1983
| Cass | Episode: "Solitary Confinements" |
| 1983
| Sadie Bethune | Episode: "Night of the Beast" |
| 1983-1984
|Grace / Hilda | 2 episodes |
| 1984
|The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D. | Millie Clark | TV movie |
| 1984
| | Voice, Episode: "Happy Birthday, Scooby-Doo" |
| 1984
| Mary Minot | Episode: "The Rise and Fall of Paul the Wall" |
| 1985
| Nina Carrolle | TV miniseries |
| 1985
| Mother Maggie | TV movie |
| 1985
| Isabelle Peavey | Episode: "Love Thy Neighbor" |
| 1986
| Mrs. Abbott | Episode: "The Sitter" |
| 1986
| Mrs. Vassah | Episode: "In the Eye of the Beholder" |
| 1986
| Helen Webster | Episode: "Anniversary Waltz" |
| 1974-1986
| Flora / Mrs. Langendorf | 3 episodes |
| 1986
| Mrs. Murphy | Episode: "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" |
| 1986-1987
| Tillie Russell | 19 episodes |
| 1987
| Mike's New Secretary | Episode: "A Blinding Fear" |
| 1987
| Lil | Episodes: "Man's Best Friend: Part 1 and 2" |
| 1987
| Hannah | TV movie |
| 1987
| Lt. Col. Howard | Episode: "Grab Bag" |
| 1987
| Minnie Elizabeth Lundy | Episode: "Secrets" |
| 1988
| Mrs. Deferschmidt | Episode: "Duel" |
| 1988
| The Asp | Episode: "Nowhere to Run" |
| 1989
| Rose Mulligan | Episode: "The Sins of Castle Cove" |
| 1989
| Doris Curtis | Episode: "The Priest" |
| 1989
| Jeannie | TV movie |
| 1990
| Mrs. Kramer | Episode: "Take My Mom, Please" |
| 1990
|Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again | Miss Grundy | TV movie |
| 1990
| Fran | 5 episodes |
| 1990
| School Teacher / Camembert Kate | 2 episodes |
| 1987-1990
| Miss Crombie / Ethel La Rue | 3 episodes |
| 1990
| Dorothy Jaeger | Episode: "The Boogieman - October 31, 1964" |
| 1990
| Building Manager | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1990
|Thanksgiving Day | Lois | TV movie |
| 1990
| Ida Collins | Episode: "Blue Avengers" |
| 1990
| Miss Catworthy | Episode: "Mission: Improbable" |
| 1991
| Hannah the Barbarian | Voice |
| 1991
| Tillie McCabe | Episode: "Thin or Die" |
| 1991
| Sister Theophane | Episode: "Sinners Reconciled" |
| 1992
| Grandma Duff | Voice, Episode: "Grandma's Dead" |
| 1993
|River of Rage: The Taking of Maggie Keene | Hattie Clandell | TV movie |
| 1993
| Doris | Episode: "Dying Affection", (final appearance) |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|Biography}}
- {{IMDb name}}
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{Find a Grave}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ryan, Fran}}
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:Actresses from Los Angeles
Category:American film actresses
Category:Catholics from California
Category:American soap opera actresses
Category:American television actresses