# Fran Ryan

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 Oakland's Henry Duffy Theatre. She attended Stanford University for three years, and during World War II was a member of the USO entertaining troops. She performed comedy, singing and acting on stage in California and Chicago, and launched her television career two decades later. Her television debut came in episode 43 of Batman, in 1966, followed by a bit part in Beverly Hillbillies. She also appeared in a 1972 episode of Columbo, Dagger of the Mind, as "uncredited woman at the airport."
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 soap opera Days of Our Lives (1976–1979) and Sister Agatha in General Hospital in 1989. She also did voices for cartoons such as Hong Kong Phooey, Mister T, and Little Dracula. Fran starred on some TV shows for children, such as Sigmund and the Sea Monsters in 1975 as Gertrude Grouch, the 1970s children's show New Zoo Revue as Ms. Goodbody, the 1980s TV series No Soap, Radio as Mrs. Belmont, and the short-lived 1980s CBS TV series The Wizard as Tillie Russell from 1986 to 1987. Her last regular TV role was on The Dave Thomas Comedy Show.
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.

## 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.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1965 | Mickey One | Homeless Woman | Uncredited |
| 1970 | Scream, Evelyn, Scream! | The Old Woman | |
| 1971 | Scandalous John | Farm Woman | |
| 1971 | The Million Dollar Duck | Mrs. Purdham | Uncredited |
| 1974 | How to Seduce a Woman | Mrs. Toklas | |
| 1975 | The Apple Dumpling Gang | Mrs. Stockley | |
| 1976 | Family Plot | Registrar Clerk | Uncredited |
| 1978 | Straight Time | Cafe Owner | |
| 1978 | Big Wednesday | Lucy | |
| 1978 | The Great Brain | Aunt Bertha | |
| 1979 | Rocky II | Adrian's Nurse | |
| 1980 | The Long Riders | Mrs. Zerelda Cole Samuel | |
| 1981 | Americana | Colonel | |
| 1981 | Take This Job and Shove It | Mrs. Hinkle | |
| 1981 | Circle of Power | Marie Davis | |
| 1981 | Stripes | Dowager in Cab | |
| 1981 | Christmas Mountain | Flora | |
| 1982 | Shoot the Moon | Judge | Uncredited |
| 1982 | Savannah Smiles | Farmer Wilma | |
| 1982 | Flush | Belle Chance | |
| 1983 | Tough Enough | Gert Long | |
| 1983 | Private School | Miss Dutchbok | |
| 1983 | Eyes of Fire | Calvin's Wife | |
| 1985 | The Sure Thing | Lady in Car | |
| 1985 | Rebel Love | Granny Plug | |
| 1985 | Pale Rider | Ma Blankenship | |
| 1986 | Stewardess School | Fainting Lady | |
| 1986 | Quiet Cool | Ma | |
| 1988 | Lucky Stiff | Ma | |
| 1989 | Out Cold | Arlene | |
| 1989 | Chances Are | Mavis Talmadge | |
| 1993 | Suture | Mrs. Lucerne | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1965 | The Front Line presented by Reader's Digest | Customer | Episode: "How To Be An Effective Supermarket Checker" |
| 1966 | Batman | Chairlady | Episode: "The Greatest Mother of Them All" |
| 1967 | The Second Hundred Years | Mrs. Sanders | Episode: "No Experience Necessary" |
| 1968 | The Beverly Hillbillies | Mrs. Meek | Episode: "The Housekeeper" |
| 1968 | The Doris Day Show | Aggie Thompson | 10 episodes |
| 1969 | Daniel Boone | Mrs. Jones | Episode: "Love and Equity" |
| 1969 | Marcus Welby, M.D. | Nurse Prifogle | Episode: "A Matter of Humanities" |
| 1969 | Mr. Deeds Goes to Town | Rosie | Episode: "The Wonderful Old Saloon" |
| 1969 | The Bill Cosby Show | Mrs. Beal | Episode: "Rules Is Rules" |
| 1969 | Adam-12 | Mrs. Killian | Episode: "Log 142: As High as You Are" |
| 1970 | I Dream of Jeannie | Switchboard Operator | Episode: "One of Our Hotels Is Growing" |
| 1970 | The Brady Bunch | Mrs. Hunsaker | Episode: "To Move or Not to Move" |
| 1970 | The Bold Ones: The Lawyers | Edna | Episode: "Trial of a PFC" |
| 1970 | Men at Law | Mrs. Kenton | Episode: "Where Were We, Waldo?" |
| 1970 | The Partridge Family | 1st Wife | Episode: "My Son, the Feminist" |
| 1969-1971 | Green Acres | Doris Ziffel / Minnie Holcombe | 7 episodes |
| 1971 | Night Gallery | Third Witch | (segment "Witches' Feast"), Episode: "Death in the Family/The Merciful/Class of '99/Witches' Feast" |
| 1971 | The Jimmy Stewart Show | Laundry Manager | Episode: "Guest of Honor" |
| 1972 | Nichols | Minnie Dowd | Episode: "About Jesse James" |
| 1972 | McCloud | Nurse | Episode: "Give My Regrets to Broadway" |
| 1972 | Bonanza | Widow Lucas | Episode: "A Visit to Upright" |
| 1972 | Return to Peyton Place | Dr. Helen Randall | |
| 1972 | Ironside | Charge Nurse | Episode: "Five Days in the Death of Sgt. Brown" |
| 1972 | New Zoo Revue | Ms. Goodbody | |
| 1972 | The Bold Ones: The New Doctors | E.R. Nurse | Episode: "A Very Strange Triangle" |
| 1972 | Columbo | Woman at Airport | Uncredited, Episode: "Dagger of the Mind" |
| 1973 | The New Dick Van Dyke Show | Mom | Episode: "Exit Laughing" |
| 1974 | Hog Wild | Flora | TV movie |
| 1974 | Hong Kong Phooey | | Voice |
| 1974 | Devlin | voices | |
| 1973-1974 | Sigmund and the Sea Monsters | Gertrude | 5 episodes |
| 1972-1975 | Gunsmoke | Hannah / Mrs. Keller | 6 episodes |
| 1975 | The Family Holvak | Mavis Bidwell | Episode: "The Long Way Home: Part 2" |
| 1975 | The Rookies | Ma Burker | Episode: "Ladies Day" |
| 1976 | Good Heavens | Ma Buckingham | Episode: "See Jane Run" |
| 1976 | The Quest | Mag Wood | Episode: "Seventy-Two Hours" |
| 1976 | Stalk the Wild Child | Ellen Mott | TV movie |
| 1976 | Visions | Martha Stedman | Episode: "Liza's Pioneer Diary" |
| 1977 | Panic in Echo Park | | TV movie |
| 1977 | Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman | Miss Adeline Jeeter | 15 episodes |
| 1977 | Barney Miller | Mrs. Hirsch, Homeless Woman | Episode: "Corporation" |
| 1977 | James at 16 | Woman Construction Worker | Episode: "Higher Ground" |
| 1977 | Deadly Game | Frieda Beezly | TV movie |
| 1977-1978 | One Day at a Time | | Episodes: "The Dress Designer" (1978) as Eve "Julie's Operation" (1977) as Nurse |
| 1978 | The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams | Gerty | Episode: "The Great Burro Race" |
| 1976-1978 | Starsky & Hutch | Landlady / Miss Bycroft / Stella | 3 episodes |
| 1978 | CHiPs | Nancy / Lady Driver | Episodes: "Trick or Trick" as Nancy "Surf's Up" as Lady Driver |
| 1977-1978 | Charlie's Angels | Belle Asher / Nurse Fager | 2 episodes |
| 1979 | How the West Was Won | Mrs. Holmes | Episode: "Hillary" |
| 1978-1979 | Carter Country | Martha | Episode: "The Big Move: Part 2" (1979) as Martha "Roy's Separation" (1978) |
| 1979 | Salvage 1 | Melba | Episode: "Confederate Gold" |
| 1976-1979 | Days of Our Lives | Rosie Carlson | 7 episodes |
| 1979 | Who's on Call? | Nurse Bremer | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1979 | Goldie and the Boxer | Cook | TV movie |
| 1980 | When the Whistle Blows | May | Episode: "Wildcatters" |
| 1981 | The Dukes of Hazzard | Ma Harper | Episode: "Duke vs. Duke" |
| 1981 | The Waltons | Eula Mae Moonie | Episode: "The Hostage" |
| 1981 | The Adventures of Nellie Bly | Mrs. Roman | TV movie |
| 1982 | Father Murphy | Toby's Mom | Episode: "Eighty-Eight Keys to Happiness" |
| 1982 | Benson | Molly Emerson | "Clayton's Condo" |
| 1982 | Taxi | Mrs. Elizabeth Weber | Episode: "Elegant Iggy" |
| 1982 | No Soap, Radio | Mrs. Belmont | 5 episodes |
| 1982 | Life of the Party: The Story of Beatrice | Beatrice's Mother | TV movie |
| 1982 | Johnny Belinda | Aunt Aggie McAdam | TV movie |
| 1983 | Laverne & Shirley | Mother Superior | Episode: "The Monastery Show" |
| 1983 | It Takes Two | Bridget | Episode: "Mother and Child Reunion" |
| 1983 | The Optimist | Matron | Episode: "Healthy Body, Unhealthy Mind" |
| 1983 | Ghost Dancing | Judge | TV movie |
| 1983 | Mister T | voice | |
| 1983 | Matt Houston | Maggie | Episode: "Marilyn" |
| 1983 | Falcon Crest | Cass | Episode: "Solitary Confinements" |
| 1983 | Manimal | Sadie Bethune | Episode: "Night of the Beast" |
| 1983-1984 | Three's Company | Grace / Hilda | 2 episodes |
| 1984 | The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D. | Millie Clark | TV movie |
| 1984 | The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries | | Voice, Episode: "Happy Birthday, Scooby-Doo" |
| 1984 | Hill Street Blues | Mary Minot | Episode: "The Rise and Fall of Paul the Wall" |
| 1985 | Hollywood Wives | Nina Carrolle | TV miniseries |
| 1985 | Hell Town | Mother Maggie | TV movie |
| 1985 | Punky Brewster | Isabelle Peavey | Episode: "Love Thy Neighbor" |
| 1986 | Amazing Stories | Mrs. Abbott | Episode: "The Sitter" |
| 1986 | Hardcastle and McCormick | Mrs. Vassah | Episode: "In the Eye of the Beholder" |
| 1986 | The Colbys | Helen Webster | Episode: "Anniversary Waltz" |
| 1974-1986 | The Magical World of Disney | Flora / Mrs. Langendorf | 3 episodes |
| 1986 | Brothers | Mrs. Murphy | Episode: "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" |
| 1986-1987 | The Wizard | Tillie Russell | 19 episodes |
| 1987 | The New Mike Hammer | Mike's New Secretary | Episode: "A Blinding Fear" |
| 1987 | Highway to Heaven | Lil | Episodes: "Man's Best Friend: Part 1 and 2" |
| 1987 | Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge | Hannah | TV movie |
| 1987 | Webster | Lt. Col. Howard | Episode: "Grab Bag" |
| 1987 | Houston Knights | Minnie Elizabeth Lundy | Episode: "Secrets" |
| 1988 | Mr. Belvedere | Mrs. Deferschmidt | Episode: "Duel" |
| 1988 | Murphy Brown | The Asp | Episode: "Nowhere to Run" |
| 1989 | Murder, She Wrote | Rose Mulligan | Episode: "The Sins of Castle Cove" |
| 1989 | Matlock | Doris Curtis | Episode: "The Priest" |
| 1989 | Nick Knight | Jeannie | TV movie |
| 1990 | Empty Nest | Mrs. Kramer | Episode: "Take My Mom, Please" |
| 1990 | Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again | Miss Grundy | TV movie |
| 1990 | The Dave Thomas Comedy Show | Fran | 5 episodes |
| 1990 | Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers | School Teacher / Camembert Kate | 2 episodes |
| 1987-1990 | Night Court | Miss Crombie / Ethel La Rue | 3 episodes |
| 1990 | Quantum Leap | Dorothy Jaeger | Episode: "The Boogieman - October 31, 1964" |
| 1990 | Over My Dead Body | Building Manager | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1990 | Thanksgiving Day | Lois | TV movie |
| 1990 | The New Adam-12 | Ida Collins | Episode: "Blue Avengers" |
| 1990 | Davis Rules | Miss Catworthy | Episode: "Mission: Improbable" |
| 1991 | Little Dracula | Hannah the Barbarian | Voice |
| 1991 | Baywatch | Tillie McCabe | Episode: "Thin or Die" |
| 1991 | Homefront | Sister Theophane | Episode: "Sinners Reconciled" |
| 1992 | Tiny Toon Adventures | Grandma Duff | Voice, Episode: "Grandma's Dead" |
| 1993 | River of Rage: The Taking of Maggie Keene | Hattie Clandell | TV movie |
| 1993 | The Commish | Doris | Episode: "Dying Affection", (final appearance) |