Frances Upton
{{short description|American actress}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2020}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Frances Upton
| image = Frances Upton.jpg
| alt =
| caption = circa 1930cropped from: [http://exhibits.library.umass.edu/scua/s/upton-bell/item/1229 Portrait of Frances Upton]. Upton Bell Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, UMass Amherst
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1904|04|15}}
| birth_place = Pennsylvania, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1975|11|27|1904|04|15}}
| death_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
| resting_place =
| occupation = Actress, comedian
| years_active =
| known_for =
| children = 3, including Upton Bell
| spouse = Bert Bell
| education =
}}
File:Frances Upton, The Smart Set, décembre 1927.jpg
File:Frances Upton, Ziegfeld girl, 1928.jpg
File:Night Work poster.jpg (1930)]]
Frances Upton (April 15, 1904{{cite web |author1=The Football History Dude |title=Upton Bell Interview (Part 1) Growing Up With Bert Bell |url=https://flurrysports.org/upton-bell-interview-part-1-growing-up-with-bert-bell/ |website=FlurrySports |access-date=20 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190922212528/https://flurrysports.org/upton-bell-interview-part-1-growing-up-with-bert-bell/ |archive-date=22 September 2019 |date=June 17, 2019}} – November 27, 1975) was an American Broadway theatre actress and comedian.
Early life
Upton attended a business college after she finished high school.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}}
Her father, Francis, was a decorated New York City detective sergeant and World War I veteran.,{{cite book |title=Annual report |date=1923 |publisher=Police Dept., City of New York. |location=New York |pages=233 |url=https://archive.org/details/annual23newy/page/n271/mode/2up}}{{cite news |title=Thumb-Nail Sketches |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43202993/courierpost/ |access-date=January 29, 2020 |work=Courier-Post |date=December 16, 1933 |location=New Jersey, Camden |page=4|via = Newspapers.com}} formerly of the Italian Squad, and recalled from retirement, to help investigate, apprehended "Dago" Frank Cirofici, among the accomplices of NYPD Lieutenant Charles Becker in the 1912 murder of bookmaker Herman Rosenthal. Her paternal grandfather, William C. Upton, was a member of Ireland's Fenian movement of the late 19th century, and wrote a novel, about life under English rule, Uncle Pat's Cabin (1882).{{cite book |last1=Upton |first1=William C. |title=Uncle Pat's cabin, or Life among the agricultural labourers of Ireland |date=1882 |location=Dublin |publisher=Gill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DhMGAAAAQAAJ |language=en |quote=via google books}}
Career
She worked in at Macy's perfume counter,[http://exhibits.library.umass.edu/scua/s/upton-bell/page/frances_upton Frances Upton]. Upton Bell Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, UMass Amherst also a store's music department.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} She also took dancing lessons,{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} which helped her get a part in a benefit production.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} Director Julian Mitchell saw her perform and offered her an opportunity to go on Broadway. On Broadway, Upton appeared in Pins and Needles (Feb 01, 1922 - Mar 11, 1922) Shubert Theatre (Broadway), and Little Jessie James (Aug 15, 1923 - Jan 27, 1924) Longacre Theatre.
In 1923 and 1927, she is known to have signed contracts with the Ziegfeld Follies.{{cite web |title=FRANCES UPTON SIGNATURE CONTRACT DOCUMENT ZIEGFIELD FOLLIES |url=https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/frances-upton-signature-contract-424832090 |website=Worthpoint |access-date=20 May 2022 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220520115847/https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/frances-upton-signature-contract-424832090 |archive-date=20 May 2022 |language=en |quote=Up for auction is a 1927 original signed contract between Frances Upton (1904-1975) and F. Ziegfield ( ZIEGFIELD FOLLIES) for a any Ziegfield musical play.}}
On Broadway, Upton starred with Eddie Cantor in Whoopee! (1928){{cite web |last1=Hirschfeld |first1=Al |author1-link=Al Hirschfeld |title=Frances Upton |url=https://www.alhirschfeldfoundation.org/piece/frances-upton |website=Al Hirschfeld Foundation |publisher=The New York Times |access-date=19 May 2022 |date=August 18, 1929}} and the Ziegfeld Follies of 1927 (1927). Her other Broadway credits included Hold Your Horses (1933),{{cite book |last1=Dietz |first1=Dan |title=The Complete Book of 1930s Broadway Musicals |date=29 March 2018 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-0277-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L0hNDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA285&dq=%22Frances+Upton%22 |language=en}} Girl Crazy (1931),{{cite web |title=October 8th, 1931 - Garrick Theatre Playbill - Girl Crazy - Frances Upton |url=https://www.ebay.com/itm/291712690172 |website=eBay |access-date=19 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220519200435/https://www.ebay.com/itm/291712690172 |archive-date=19 May 2022}} Talk About Girls (1927),{{cite book |last1=Dietz |first1=Dan |title=The Complete Book of 1920s Broadway Musicals |date=10 April 2019 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-1-5381-1282-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LRmGDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA387&dq=%22Frances+Upton%22 |language=en}} Lady Do (1927), Twinkle, Twinkle (1926), and My Girl (1924).{{cite web |title=Frances Upton |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/frances-upton-62927 |website=Internet Broadway Database |publisher=The Broadway League |access-date=January 29, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200129015034/https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/frances-upton-62927 |archive-date=January 29, 2020}} She also performed in vaudeville.
In 1929, Upton performed on a network shortwave radio program specially broadcast to Richard Byrd's expedition to the South Pole.{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} She had a featured role in the early sound film Night Work (1930). In 1931, she starred in one of the first experimental television broadcasts in New York City,{{citation needed|date=May 2022}} appearing with Gertrude Lawrence, Lionel Atwill, and boxer Primo Carnera.
On July 9, 1933, Upton provided the money, $2,500,{{cite book |last1=Bell |first1=Upton |last2=Borges |first2=Ron |author1-link=Upton Bell |title=Present at the Creation: My Life in the NFL and the Rise of America’s Game |date=1 November 2017 |publisher=U of Nebraska Press |isbn=978-1-4962-0039-6 |page=13 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0lU3DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA13&dq=%22Frances+Upton%22 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Peterson |first1=Robert |title=Pigskin: The Early Years of Pro Football |date=1997 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-507607-3 |page=112 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B3Q8DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA112&dq=%22Frances+Upton%22 |language=en}} prior to marriage, to her later-husband to buy the NFL rights for the Philadelphia area that had formerly belonged to the Frankford Athletic Association which became the Philadelphia Eagles.
- {{cite news |last1=Fitzpatrick |first1=Frank |title=The actress at the heart of Philadelphia Eagles history |url=https://www.inquirer.com/eagles/eagles-history-frances-upton-bell-20191012.html |access-date=19 May 2022 |work=inquirer.com |date=2019-10-12 |language=en}}
- {{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87057791/the-woman-behind-the-eagles-birth/ |title=The woman behind the Eagles' birth |first=Frank |last=Fitzpatrick |newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer |page=D3 |date=October 13, 2019 |accessdate=October 13, 2021 |via=newspapers.com}}{{cite web |title=Meet the power couple that created the Philadelphia Eagles |url=https://whyy.org/episodes/meet-the-power-couple-that-created-the-philadelphia-eagles/ |website=The Why |publisher=WHYY-FM |access-date=19 May 2022}}{{cite news |title=Bert Bell was more than the father of the NFL draft |url=https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/bert-bell-was-more-than-the-father-of-the-nfl-draft/ |access-date=19 May 2022 |work=The Seattle Times |date=20 September 2019}}
Personal life
In 1932, Bert Bell met Upton, who later said, "It's alcohol or me". He finished his drink and turned it upside down and never drank again.{{cite news |last1=Christine |first1=Bill |title=Playing Games |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MJxRAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA7&dq=%22Frances+Upton%22&article_id=7099%2C1763966 |access-date=19 May 2022 |publisher=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=1974-01-17 |page=7 |language=en |quote=via google books}}{{cite book |last1=Rand |first1=Jonathan |title=The Year That Changed the Game: The Memorable Months That Shaped Pro Football |date=31 October 2008 |publisher=Potomac Books, Inc. |isbn=978-1-59797-215-4 |page=115 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XeJK5d1xRGQC&pg=PT115&dq=%22Frances+Upton%22 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Willis |first1=Chris |title=The Man Who Built the National Football League: Joe F. Carr |date=19 August 2010 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |isbn=978-0-8108-7670-5 |page=310 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GCvNoVqXOmUC&pg=PA310&dq=%22Frances+Upton%22 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=McHugh |first1=Roy |title=Ruanaidh - The Story of Art Rooney and His Clan |date=2008 |isbn=978-0-9814760-2-5 |page=79 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FiMoOyOaXrEC&pg=PA79&dq=%22Frances+Upton%22 |language=en}}
With his colorful personal life and hell-raising early years over, Bell's marriage to Upton was, at first, secret.
- {{cite book |last1=Lyons |first1=Robert S. |title=On Any Given Sunday: A Life of Bert Bell |date=2010 |publisher=Temple University Press |isbn=978-1-59213-731-2 |jstor=j.ctt14bs7vj |quote=… He also provides insight into Bell's colorful personal life-including his hell-raising early years and his secret marriage to Frances Upton, a golden name in show business. On Any Given …}}
- {{cite book |last1=Lyons |first1=Robert |title=On Any Given Sunday |date=2009 |publisher=Temple University Press |isbn=978-1-59213-733-6 |id={{Project MUSE|9603}} }}{{pn|date=November 2023}}
On 4 January 1934, Upton married Philadelphia Eagles owner Bert Bell.{{cite book |last1=MacCambridge |first1=Michael |title=America's Game |date=2008 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-48143-6 |page=42 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MMU7-rg06n8C&q=%22Frances+Upton%22+actress&pg=PA42 |access-date=January 28, 2020 |language=en}}{{efn|Newspapers reported the marriage in May 1934,{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87064903/frances-upton-of-the-stage-is-married/ |title=Frances Upton, of the Stage, Is Married to Bert Bell |newspaper=The Philadelphia Inquirer |page=1 |date=May 7, 1934 |accessdate=October 14, 2021 |via=newspapers.com}} following an April column by Walter Winchell where he mentioned that Bell and Upton had been married "months ago".{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/87065011/on-broadway/ |title=On Broadway |first=Walter |last=Winchell |newspaper=The Times |location=Shreveport, Louisiana |page=6 |date=April 19, 1934 |accessdate=October 14, 2021 |via=newspapers.com}}}} Bell later served as commissioner of the National Football League (NFL). They had three children, sons John "Bert Jr."{{cite web |title=John "Bert" Bell Obituary (2021) The Press of Atlantic City |url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/pressofatlanticcity/name/john-bell-obituary?id=10167626 |website=Legacy.com |access-date=19 May 2022}} and Upton, and daughter Jane.
Upton died on November 27, 1975, in Lankenau Hospital at age 71.{{cite news |title=Frances Upton Bell, Widow of NFL Head |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43204268/frances_upton/ |access-date=January 29, 2020 |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=November 29, 1975 |location=Pennsylvania, Philadelphia |page=25|via = Newspapers.com}}
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/1507300%7C52430/Frances-Upton Frances Upton] TCM db
- [https://catalog.afi.com/Person/52430-Frances-Upton Frances Upton] AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- {{IBDB name}}
- {{Playbill name}}
- {{IMDb name}}
- [https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Frances-Upton/ Frances Upton]. Broadway World
- [http://exhibits.library.umass.edu/scua/s/upton-bell/page/frances_upton Frances Upton]. Upton Bell Collection, Special Collections and University Archives, UMass Amherst
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiD-HErXE5Y Night Work (1930)] clip with Upton and Eddie Quillan via YouTube
- [http://www.solowey.com/newsletter/FrancesUpton.html Frances Upton, Hold Your Horses, 1933 (Portrait)] by Ben Solowey
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Upton, Frances}}
Category:Actors from Pennsylvania
Category:American film actresses
Category:American stage actresses