# Frances Rafferty

Frances Anne Rafferty (June 16, 1922 – April 18, 2004) was an American actress, dancer, World War II pin-up girl and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contract player.

## Early life

Frances Anne Rafferty was born in Sioux City, Iowa, the daughter of Maxwell Lewis Rafferty and DeEtta Frances (née Cox) Rafferty. She was the younger sister of California educator and Republican politician Max Rafferty, whose wife was Frances (nee Longman) Rafferty.
At the age of nine she moved with her family to Los Angeles. At a young age, she studied dancing, and her physical attributes and dancing skills led to work in the film industry.
Rafferty attended Miss Bryant's Day School and Bryant School while the family lived in Iowa. After moving to California, she graduated from University High School in Los Angeles.

## Career

Signed by MGM Studios, Rafferty made her film debut in 1942. She appeared in minor and secondary roles, and although she had a part in the 1944 film Dragon Seed with Katharine Hepburn and Walter Huston, her significant parts were limited almost exclusively to "B" movies. She played the female lead in "The Hidden Eyes"(1945). For instance, in 1948, she starred with Hugh Beaumont in the film noir Money Madness, directed by Sam Newfield. Her only role in a major film was in Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood (1945).
During World War II, she was a volunteer pin-up girl for YANK magazine, a publication for the soldiers of the United States military.
In 1949, Rafferty was a performer on the anthology series Oboler Comedy Theater on ABC television.
From 1954 to 1959, she appeared as Ruth Ruskin Henshaw in all 156 episodes of the Desilu Studios sitcom December Bride on CBS. When fellow cast member Harry Morgan and actress Cara Williams starred in the 1960-62 December Bride spin off sitcom, Pete and Gladys, Rafferty was subsequently cast in seven episodes in the role of "Nancy".
Rafferty appeared in a number of different television programs throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Among them were two guest appearances on Perry Mason. She portrayed Heather Marlow in "Never Look Back", the Season 4, Episode 18, installment of My Three Sons in 1964.
After her retirement from acting in 1965, she made a final appearance in a 1977 episode of the crime drama The Streets of San Francisco.

## Personal life

She was married to her first husband from 1944 until their divorce in 1947. (Rafferty's biography on The Des Moines Register's DataCentral site gives Rafferty's first husband's name as "Maj. John Horton". An Associated Press news story dated February 18, 1947, reported "Movie Actress Frances Rafferty obtained a divorce today from John E. Horton, former army major.")

## Death

Rafferty died in 2004 in Paso Robles, California.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1942 | Fingers at the Window | Clinic Switchboard Operator | Uncredited |
| 1942 | The War Against Mrs. Hadley | Sally | |
| 1942 | Seven Sweethearts | George Van Maaster | |
| 1943 | Slightly Dangerous | Girl Getting Off Bus | Uncredited |
| 1943 | Presenting Lily Mars | Showgirl | Uncredited |
| 1943 | Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case | Irene | |
| 1943 | Hitler's Madman | Annaliese Cermak | Uncredited |
| 1943 | Pilot No. 5 | Carhop | Uncredited |
| 1943 | Young Ideas | Co-Ed | |
| 1943 | Swing Shift Maisie | Office Worker | Uncredited |
| 1943 | Thousands Cheer | Marie Corbino | |
| 1943 | Girl Crazy | Marjorie Tait | |
| 1944 | Broadway Rhythm | Autograph Seeker | Uncredited |
| 1944 | Dragon Seed | Orchid Tan - Lao Ta's Wife | |
| 1944 | Barbary Coast Gent | Portia Adair | |
| 1944 | Mrs. Parkington | Jane Stilham | |
| 1945 | The Hidden Eye | Jean Hampton | |
| 1945 | Abbott and Costello in Hollywood | Claire Warren | |
| 1946 | Bad Bascomb | Dora McCabe | |
| 1947 | Lost Honeymoon | Lois Evans | |
| 1947 | The Adventures of Don Coyote | Maggie Riley | |
| 1947 | Curley | Mildred Johnson | |
| 1947 | The Hal Roach Comedy Carnival | Schoolteacher Mildred Johnson, in 'Curly' | |
| 1948 | Money Madness | Julie Saunders | |
| 1948 | Lady at Midnight | Ellen McPhail Wiggins | |
| 1949 | An Old-Fashioned Girl | Frances Shaw | |
| 1952 | Rodeo | Dixie Benson | |
| 1953 | Your Jeweler's Showcase | Julie Elson | Episode: "Christmas Is Magic" |
| 1954 | The Shanghai Story | Mrs. Warren | |
| 1956 | G.E. Summer Originals | | Episode: "The Unwilling Witness" |
| 1961 | Wings of Chance | Arlene Baker | |