Fran Ryan

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Fran Ryan
Born	Frances Mary Ryan (1916-11-29)November 29, 1916 Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Died	January 15, 2000(2000-01-15) (aged 83) Burbank, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1922–1993
Spouses	Walter Kenneth Wayne ​ ​ (m. 1949; died 1951)​ Howard Schafer ​ ​ (m. 1953; died 1953)​
Children	1

Frances Mary Ryan (November 29, 1916 – 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

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

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]}

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.^[2]

Filmography

Film

Television

References