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Fran Ryan

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Actress

The Resume

    (November 29, 1916-January 15, 2000)
    Born in Los Angeles, California
    Prolific American actress
    Known for playing, 'tough, mean-lipped, earthy and gruff but lovable female characters'
    Appeared in the movies 'Scream, Evelyn, Scream' (1970). 'The Million Dollar Duck' (1971), 'Flush' (1971), 'The Apple Dumpling Gang' (1975), 'Straight Time' (1978), 'Rocky II' (1979), 'The Long Riders' (1980), 'Stripes' (1981), 'Savannah Smiles' (1982), 'Pale Rider' (1985), 'Chances Are' (1989) and 'Suture' (1993)
    Regular on the soap operas General Hospital and Days of Our Lives and on the TV series Green Acres, 'Sigmund and the Sea Monsters,' Gunsmoke, 'No Soap, No Radio,' 'The Wizard' and 'The Dave Thomas Show'
    Acted in the made for TV movies 'Stalk the Wild Child' (1976), 'Panic in Echo Park' (1977). 'Goldie and the Bear' (1979), 'The Adventures of Nellie Bly' (1981), 'Life of the Party: The Story of Beatrice' (1982), 'Ghost Dancing' (1983), 'The Return of Marcus Welby MD' (1984), 'Fuzzybucket' (1986), 'Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge' (1987), 'Nick Knigh', (1990). and 'River of Rage: The Taking of Maggie Keene' (1993)
    Provided voices for the animated TV series Hong Kong Phooey, Devlin, Mr T, Little Dracula, and Tiny Toons Adventures
    Guest starred on the TV series Batman, The Beverly Hillbillies, Marcus Welby MD, Adam-12, I Dream of Jeannie, The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, Night Gallery, Columbo, The Dukes of Hazzard, The Waltons, Taxi, Laverne & Shirley, Falcon Crest, Three's Company, Hill Street Blues, Punky Brewster, Murphy Brown, surprisingly enough Baywatch and not surprisingly Murder, She Wrote and, in her final paid acting assignment, The Commish

Why she might be annoying:

    She dropped out of Stanford after three years.
    She started performing at only six years old.
    She was never nominated for any type of award for her acting.
    Starting out on stage as young, attractive song and dance and light comedic actress, her entire film and television career consisted of playing the same grumpy, older, female character.
    She proved a poor replacement for Amanda Blake on Gunsmoke in its final season.
    She made an incredibly irritating Hungry Jack commercial in the seventies that featured her screeching 'Hooongry Jaaack!' at the top of her lungs.

Why she might not be annoying:

    She tragically lost her first husband in a plane crash after only three years (1949 - 1951) of marriage. Their son, her only child was born after his father's death.
    Her second husband was also killed in a plane crash after less than a year (1953) of marriage. The crash site was not found for fifteen years and his body was never recovered. She never remarried and remained a widow almost fifty years until her death in 2000.
    She performed with the USO in WWII.
    She had a very long and productive career in the most competitive industry in the world.
    She had an excellent professional reputation.
    She was sensational as the widowed mother of Frank and Jesse James in the movie 'The Long Riders.'
    Although her roles usually did not call for physical beauty, she was actually quite attractive and had a great smile.

Credit: tom_jeffords


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 7 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 83 Votes: 53.01% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 6 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 25 Votes: 8.00% Annoying