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IMDbPro

Frances Farmer(1913-1970)

  • Actress
  • Writer
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Frances farmer
Trailer for this film inspired by the book
Play trailer2:03
Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942)
2 Videos
68 Photos
Born in Seattle, Frances Farmer studied drama at the University of Washington, Seattle. In 1935, she went to Hollywood where she secured a seven-year contract with Paramount. In 1943, she was wrongfully declared mentally incompetent and committed by her parents to a series of asylums and public mental hospitals, leading to a false rumor that she received a lobotomy. After seven years she was released, and spent some of the remaining years of her life tending the parents who had committed her and taking odd jobs. She appeared on This Is Your Life (1950), and then her own TV show, Frances Farmer Presents (1958) for six years. She died of cancer in 1970.
BornSeptember 19, 1913
DiedAugust 1, 1970(56)
BornSeptember 19, 1913
DiedAugust 1, 1970(56)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank

Photos68

Cary Grant and Frances Farmer in The Toast of New York (1937)
Frances Farmer, John Garfield, Pat O'Brien, Cliff Edwards, Jody Gilbert, Tom Kennedy, William Marshall, Frank Mayo, and Raymond Walburn in Flowing Gold (1940)
Frances Farmer in Among the Living (1941)
Frances Farmer and Albert Dekker in Among the Living (1941)
Bing Crosby, Roy Rogers, Frances Farmer, Bob Burns, Hugh Farr, Karl Farr, Leonid Kinskey, Bob Nolan, Sons of the Pioneers, Louis Prima, Martha Raye, Martha Sleeper, and Tim Spencer in Rhythm on the Range (1936)
Frances Farmer, John Garfield, and Pat O'Brien in Flowing Gold (1940)
Ray Milland and Frances Farmer in Ebb Tide (1937)
Frances Farmer, John Garfield, and Pat O'Brien in Flowing Gold (1940)
Frances Farmer and Robert Stack in Badlands of Dakota (1941)
Hugh Herbert, Broderick Crawford, Frances Farmer, and Robert Stack in Badlands of Dakota (1941)
Walter Brennan, Frances Farmer, and Edward Arnold in Roaring Timber (1936)
Frances Farmer and Jon Hall in South of Pago Pago (1940)

Known for:

Frances Farmer, John Garfield, and Pat O'Brien in Flowing Gold (1940)
Flowing Gold
6.5
  • Linda Chalmers
  • 1940
Cary Grant, Frances Farmer, Edward Arnold, and Jack Oakie in The Toast of New York (1937)
The Toast of New York
6.3
  • Josie Mansfield
  • 1937
Ray Milland, Frances Farmer, and Oscar Homolka in Ebb Tide (1937)
Ebb Tide
5.9
  • Faith Wishart
  • 1937
Frances Farmer, Edward Arnold, and Joel McCrea in Roaring Timber (1936)
Roaring Timber
6.9
  • Lotta Morgan
  • Lotta Bostrom
  • 1936

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actress

  • Lloyd Nolan in Special Agent 7 (1958)
    Special Agent 7
    8.6
    TV Series
    • Vera
    • 1959
  • The Party Crashers (1958)
    The Party Crashers
    5.6
    • Mrs. Bickford
    • 1958
  • Studio One (1948)
    Studio One
    7.6
    TV Series
    • Sarah Walker
    • 1958
  • Matinee Theater (1955)
    Matinee Theater
    7.9
    TV Series
    • 1958
  • "Eighty Yard Run, The" (Playhouse 90) Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. 1957 CBS
    Playhouse 90
    8.4
    TV Series
    • Val Schmitt
    • 1958
  • Crime Photographer (1951)
    Crime Photographer
    5.3
    TV Series
    • Mrs. Adams
    • 1951
  • Mary Brian, William Henry, and Dean Jagger in I Escaped from the Gestapo (1943)
    I Escaped from the Gestapo
    5.5
    • (montage sequence) (uncredited)
    • 1943
  • Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, Roddy McDowall, George Sanders, and Frances Farmer in Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942)
    Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake
    7.1
    • Isabel
    • 1942
  • Susan Hayward, Frances Farmer, Harry Carey, and Albert Dekker in Among the Living (1941)
    Among the Living
    6.4
    • Elaine Raden
    • 1941
  • Hugh Herbert, Broderick Crawford, Frances Farmer, Andy Devine, Richard Dix, Ann Rutherford, and Robert Stack in Badlands of Dakota (1941)
    Badlands of Dakota
    5.9
    • Jane
    • 1941
  • John Barrymore, Frances Farmer, Virginia Dale, Fritz Feld, and Sig Ruman in World Premiere (1941)
    World Premiere
    6.5
    • Kitty Carr
    • 1941
  • Frances Farmer, John Garfield, and Pat O'Brien in Flowing Gold (1940)
    Flowing Gold
    6.5
    • Linda Chalmers
    • 1940
  • Frances Farmer and Jon Hall in South of Pago Pago (1940)
    South of Pago Pago
    6.4
    • Ruby Taylor
    • 1940
  • Leif Erickson, Frances Farmer, and Akim Tamiroff in Ride a Crooked Mile (1938)
    Ride a Crooked Mile
    6.7
    • Trina
    • 1938
  • Ray Milland, Frances Farmer, and Oscar Homolka in Ebb Tide (1937)
    Ebb Tide
    5.9
    • Faith Wishart
    • 1937

Writer

  • Will There Really Be a Morning? (1983)
    Will There Really Be a Morning?
    6.9
    TV Movie
    • book "Will There Really Be a Morning?"
    • 1983

Soundtrack

  • Cary Grant, Frances Farmer, Edward Arnold, and Jack Oakie in The Toast of New York (1937)
    The Toast of New York
    6.3
    • performer: "The First Time I Saw You" (1937)
    • 1937
  • Frances Farmer, Edward Arnold, and Joel McCrea in Roaring Timber (1936)
    Roaring Timber
    6.9
    • performer: "Aura Lea" (1861), "The Bird on Nellie's Hat" (1906) (uncredited)
    • 1936

Videos2

Trailer
Trailer 1:39
Trailer
Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake
Trailer 2:03
Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake

Personal details

Edit
  • Height
    • 5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
  • Born
    • September 19, 1913
    • Seattle, Washington, USA
  • Died
    • August 1, 1970
    • Indianapolis, Indiana, USA(esophageal cancer)
  • Spouses
      Leland MikesellMarch 27, 1958 - August 1, 1970 (her death)
  • Children
    • No Children
  • Relatives
      Wesley(Sibling)
  • Other works
    Golden Boy (1937). Drama. Written by Clifford Odets. Stage Manager: Alan Woolfson. Assistant Stage Manager: Martin Ritt and Bert Conway. Directed by Harold Clurman. Belasco Theatre: 4 Nov 1937- Jun 1938 (closing date unknown/250 performances). Cast: Luther Adler (as "Joe Bonaparte"), Roman Bohnen (as "Tom Moody"), Phoebe Brand (as "Anna"), Harry Bratsburg, Morris Carnovsky (as "Mr. Bonaparte"), Lee J. Cobb (as "Mr. Carp"), Bert Conway, Charles Crisp, Howard Da Silva (as "Lewis"), Frances Farmer (as "Lorna Moon"), John Garfield (as "Siggie") [credited as Jules Garfield], Michael Gordon, Elia Kazan (as "Eddie Fuselli"), Robert Lewis, Charles Niemeyer, John O'Malley, Martin Ritt (as "Sam"), Karl Malden (as "Barker") [Broadway debut; credited as Mladen Sekulovich], Art Smith. Produced by The Group Theatre.
  • Publicity listings
    • 5 Biographical Movies
    • 4 Print Biographies
    • 4 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Director Howard Hawks said he considered her the best actress he ever worked with.
  • Quotes
    [on her experience as a mental patient] Never console yourself into believing that the terror has passed, for it looms as large and evil today as it did in the despicable era of Bedlam. But I must relate the horrors as I recall them, in the hope that some force for mankind might be moved to relieve forever the unfortunate creatures who are still imprisoned in the back wards of decaying institutions.
  • Salaries
      Roaring Timber
      (1936)
      $75 /week

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