Frances Heflin

{{Infobox person

| name = Frances Heflin

| image = Publicity Photo of Frances Heflin.jpg

| caption = Heflin in an undated publicity photo

| birth_name = Mary Frances Heflin

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1920|9|20}}

| birth_place = Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1994|6|1|1920|9|20}}

| death_place = New York City, U.S.

| occupation = Actress

| years_active = 1941–1994

| spouse = {{plainlist|

{{marriage|Sidney Kaufman|1944|1945|end=divorced}}
{{marriage|Sol Kaplan|1945|1990|end=died}}

}}

| children = 3; including Jonathan Kaplan

| relatives = {{plainlist|

Van Heflin (brother)
Julia Heflin (sister-in-law)
Marta Heflin (niece)

}}

Mary Frances Heflin (September 20, 1920 – June 1, 1994) was an American actress. She is best known for her role as Mona Kane Tyler on the soap opera All My Children (1970–1994).

Early life

Heflin was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the daughter of Fanny Bleecker (née Shippey) and Dr. Emmett Evan Heflin, a dentist. She had two older brothers, Martin, a public relations executive, and the actor Van Heflin.{{Cite news |date=February 14, 1972 |title=Obituary for Martin Heflin |work=The Daily Oklahoman |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/131501562/obituary-for-martin-heflin/}}{{Cite news |date=April 28, 1972 |title=Martin Heflin Rites |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/04/28/archives/martin-heflin-rites.html |work=The New York Times}} Through Martin, she was the aunt of actress Marta Heflin.{{Cite news |last1=Vitello |first1=Paul |date=September 26, 2013 |title=Marta Heflin, Actor, Dies at 68; Waif Seen in Altman Films |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/26/arts/marta-heflin-actor-dies-at-68-waif-seen-in-altman-films.html}}

Career

Heflin made her Broadway debut in her teens and was later featured in the original productions of The Skin of Our Teeth (1942), The World's Full of Girls (1943), I Remember Mama (1944), and the U.S. premiere of Bertolt Brecht's Galileo on July 30, 1947 in Los Angeles. Other Broadway credits included The Physicists, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Tempest, Sheppey, All in Favor, and The Walrus and the Carpenter.{{cite web|title=Search for Frances Heflin|url=http://www.playbill.com/searchpage/search?shows=on&qasset=00000150-ac82-d16d-a550-ecbebcf40000&|website=Playbill|access-date=April 23, 2016}} She starred in London's West End, in John Gielgud's UK premiere of The Glass Menagerie as Laura opposite Helen Hayes.{{cite web|title=The Glass Menagerie|url=https://theatricalia.com/play/3sp/the-glass-menagerie/production/npr|website=Theatricalia|access-date=May 7, 2022}}

Heflin's film debut came in The Molly Maguires (1970), as she portrayed the wife of a leader of that Irish secret society.{{cite news |title=Frances Heflin in screen debut |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/151444776/?match=1&terms=%22Frances%20Heflin%22 |access-date=December 13, 2024 |work=Nevada State Journal and Reno Evening Gazette |date=May 11, 1968 |page=10 - Entertainment|via = Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription }}

A life member of The Actors Studio,{{cite book|first=David |last=Garfield|title=A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio|url=https://archive.org/details/playersplacestor00garf|url-access=registration|year=1980|publisher=MacMillan Publishing Co., Inc.|location=New York|isbn=0-02-542650-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/playersplacestor00garf/page/278 278]|chapter=Appendix: Life Members of The Actors Studio as of January 1980}} Heflin had varying roles on many television series in the 1950s and 1960s, including small roles on Kraft Television Theatre and The Patty Duke Show. But her most notable and enduring role was of Mona Kane Tyler, mother of Erica Kane, on the soap opera All My Children. She played the role from January 1970 until her death in June 1994.

Heflin began her professional career on radio, where she was heard on Aunt Jenny, Betty and Bob, Cavalcade, Columbia Workshop, Grand Central Station, and other programs.{{cite news |title=Understudy Makes Good: Frances Heflin Won Chance By Pinch-Hitting Roles |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/868256564/?match=1&terms=%22Frances%20Heflin%22 |access-date=December 13, 2024 |work=The Sunday Star |date=November 1, 1942 |location=District of Columbia, Washington |page=E 3|via = Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription }} She portrayed Nora Holiday in the CBS radio comedy Holiday and Company.{{cite news |last1=Aitchison |first1=Marion |title=Radio Programs |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/617011302/?match=1&terms=%22By%20Marion%20Aitchison%22 |access-date=December 13, 2024 |work=The Miami Herald |date=February 1, 1946 |page=39|via = Newspapers.com |url-access=subscription }}

Personal life

Heflin was briefly married to filmmaker Sidney Kaufman from 1944 to 1945, before marrying composer Sol Kaplan in 1945. Heflin and Kaplan remained together until his death in 1990, and had three children: Jonathan Kaplan, a film director, and Nora Heflin and Mady Kaplan, both actresses.{{Cite news |date=June 4, 1994 |title=Frances "Fra" Heflin Kaplan |work=The Oklahoman |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/story/news/1994/06/04/frances-fra-heflin-kaplan/62423599007/}}{{Cite news |date=June 6, 1994 |title=Frances Heflin; Stage, Film, TV Actress |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-06-06-mn-923-story.html}}

Death

Heflin died of lung cancer on June 1, 1994 in New York City. She was 73 years old.

Filmography

= Film =

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" \| Notes
1970 \| The Molly Maguires \| Mrs. Frazier \|
1973 \| The Student Teachers \| Mrs. Updegrove \|
1977 \| Mr. Billion \| Mrs. Apple Pie \|

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

1970

| The Molly Maguires

| Mrs. Frazier

1973

| The Student Teachers

| Mrs. Updegrove

1977

| Mr. Billion

| Mrs. Apple Pie

= Television =

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" \| Notes
1954 \| Kraft Television Theatre \| {{N/A}} \| Episode: "Blind Alley"
1955, 1958 \| The United States Steel Hour \| Grace Ward / Emily \| 2 episodes
1961 \| Tallahassee 7000 \| Jane Rogers \| Episode: "The Men from Tallahassee"
1963 \| Naked City \| Josephine Hendon \| Episode: "Her Life in Moving Pictures"
1964, 1965 \| The Patty Duke Show \| Cissy Lane / Miss Harvey \| 2 episodes
1965 \| The Defenders \| Mrs. Kraft \| Episode: "Fires of the Mind"
1970–1994 \| All My Children \| Mona Kane Tyler \| 465 episodes

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

1954

| Kraft Television Theatre

| {{N/A}}

| Episode: "Blind Alley"

1955, 1958

| The United States Steel Hour

| Grace Ward / Emily

| 2 episodes

1961

| Tallahassee 7000

| Jane Rogers

| Episode: "The Men from Tallahassee"

1963

| Naked City

| Josephine Hendon

| Episode: "Her Life in Moving Pictures"

1964, 1965

| The Patty Duke Show

| Cissy Lane / Miss Harvey

| 2 episodes

1965

| The Defenders

| Mrs. Kraft

| Episode: "Fires of the Mind"

1970–1994

| All My Children

| Mona Kane Tyler

| 465 episodes

= Radio appearances =

class="wikitable sortable"
Year ! Program ! class="unsortable" \| Notes
1947 \| Cavalcade of America \| Episode: "The School for Men"{{cite journal\|title=Those Were the Days\|journal=Nostalgia Digest\|date=Spring 2016\|volume=42\|issue=2\|page=32}}

class="wikitable sortable"

Year

! Program

! class="unsortable" | Notes

1947

| Cavalcade of America

| Episode: "The School for Men"{{cite journal|title=Those Were the Days|journal=Nostalgia Digest|date=Spring 2016|volume=42|issue=2|page=32}}