# Frances Reid

Frances Reid (December 9, 1914 – February 3, 2010) was an American dramatic actress. Reid acted on television for nearly all of the second half of the 20th century. Her career continued into the early 2000s.
Although she starred in many productions, she is best known for her portrayal of Alice Horton on the NBC daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives from its debut in November 1965 until 2007. At the time of her death, she ranked fifth on the all-time list of longest-serving soap opera actors in the United States.

## Biography

Reid was born in Wichita Falls, Texas, and raised in Beverly Hills, California. Her acting career started in 1938 with a bit part in the movie Man-Proof.
Reid's Broadway debut was as Juliette Lecourtois in Where There's a Will There's a Way at the John Golden Theatre in 1939. She later played Roxane opposite Jose Ferrer's Cyrano in the 1946 Broadway production of Cyrano de Bergerac at the Alvin Theatre, repeating the role three years later, again opposite Ferrer, in a 1949 one-hour The Philco Television Playhouse adaptation.
A member of The Actors Studio from its inception in 1947, Reid played a variety of stage roles throughout the 1940s and 1950s. From 1954 to 1955, Reid played the title role in the CBS television version of the radio serial Portia Faces Life.
She next portrayed the grasping Grace Baker, the mother-in-law of Penny Hughes, on As the World Turns from 1959 to 1962, and Rose Pollack, the kind-hearted mother of Nancy Pollock Karr, on The Edge of Night in 1964. Reid portrayed matriarch Alice Horton on NBC's Days of our Lives since the show's premiere on November 8, 1965. Reid gained mainstream attention for a 2003–2004 storyline in which Alice and several other long-running characters were seemingly murdered. Her last appearance on Days of our Lives was on December 26, 2007, although she remained on contract with the show until her death.
Reid made two guest appearances on Perry Mason starring Raymond Burr. In 1963 she played murderer Miss Givney, secretary to the guest attorney and episode's title character played by Bette Davis in "The Case of Constant Doyle." In 1965 she played defendant Lucille Forrest in "The Case of the Golden Venom."
In 1966, Reid appeared opposite Rock Hudson in the John Frankenheimer drama Seconds. In the audio commentary for the DVD version of the film, Frankenheimer called Reid one of his favourite actresses.
Reid played frontier Doctor Katy Piper on the Wagon Train episode "The Katy Piper Story", which aired on April 10, 1965.

## Marriage

Reid was married to actor Philip Bourneuf from June 27, 1940, until their divorce in 1973.

## Death

Reid died in Beverly Hills, California, in an assisted living facility, aged 95, on February 3, 2010.

## Awards

Nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Supporting Actress in 1979 and for Lead Actress in 1987, Reid was awarded a Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004. She won the Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Actress in a Mature Role in 1978, 1979, 1984, and 1985, and was inducted into the Television Academy's archives in 2003.

## Selected filmography

* Reported Missing! (1937) – Maid (uncredited)
* A Criminal at Large (1939) – Isla Crane (Television picture)
* Little Women (1939) – Beth March (Television picture)
* The Ford Theatre Hour (1950) (Season 2 Episode 14: "The Little Minister") – Babbie
* The The Philco Television Playhouse (1949-1951) (4 episodes)
** (Season 1 Episode 15: "Cyrano de Bergerac") (1949) - Roxane
** (Season 1 Episode 41: "The Fourth Wall") (1949)
** (Season 2 Episode 12: "Medical Meeting") (1949)
** (Season 3 Episode 19: "The Lost Diplomat") (1951)
* You Are There (series) (1953) (2 episodes)
** (Season 1 Episode 18: "The Dreyfus Case") - Lucie Dreyfus
** (Season 2 Episode 14: "The Gettysburg Address") – Mary O'Connell
* The Man Behind the Badge (1954) (Season 1 Episode 17: "The Los Angeles Story")
* Kraft Theatre (1954) (Season 7 Episode 27: "Two Weeks in the Country)
* The Inner Flame (1954-55; 3 episodes) – Portia Manning
** (Season 1 Episode 1)
** (Episode dated July 7, 1954)
** (Episode dated March 23, 1955)
* The Brighter Day (1955) (Episode dated March 21) – Portia Manning
* Telephone Time (1956) (Season 1 Episode 10: "Harry in Search of Himself") – Mrs. Bergh
* Matinee Theatre (1955-56) (7 episodes)
** (Season 1 Episode 1: "Beginning Now") (1955) – Jane Kelsey
** (Season 1 Episode 14: "The Aspern Papers") (1955)
** (Season 1 Episode 33: "The Sins of the Fathers") (1955)
** (Season 1 Episode 42: "Horns of Dilemma") (1955)
** (Season 1 Episode 75: "Valentine's Day") (1956)
** (Season 1 Episode 164: "The Guest Cottage") (1956)
** (Season 1 Episode 179: "Marriage by the Millions") (1956)
* The Wrong Man (1956) – Mrs. O'Connor (voice, uncredited)
* Lux Video Theatre (1957) (Season 7 Episode 44: "Dark Hammock") – Dr. McDavid
* Berkeley Square (1959) – Dutchess of Devonshire (Television picture)
* As the World Turns (1959-1962) – Grace Baker
* Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1961) (Season 7 Episode 12: "A Jury of Her Peers") – Mrs. Mary Peters
* General Electric Theatre (1962) (Season 10 Episode 33: "Somebody Please Help Me!") – Vera Parsons
* Perry Mason (1963) as Miss Givney in "Season 6, Episode 16: "The Case of the Constant Doyle"
* The Eleventh Hour (1963) (Season 1 Episode 27: "Try to Keep Alive Until Next Tuesday") – Louise Forman
* Channing (1964) (Season 1 Episode 22: "The Trouble with Girls") – Isabel Franklin
* Perry Mason (CBS) as Lucille Forest in "Season 8 Episode 16: "The Case of the Golden Venom" (1965)
* The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1965) (Season 3 Episode 16: "One of the Family") – Joyce's Mother
* Wagon Train (1962-65) (5 episodes) – Various roles
** (Season 5 Episode 21: "The Daniel Clay Story") - Margaret Clay (1962)
** (Season 5 Episode 34: "The Frank Carter Story") - Mary Carter (1962)
** (Season 6 Episode 11: "The Kurt Davos Story") - Florence Hastings (1962)
** (Season 6 Episode 24: "The Emmett Lawton Story") - Mrs. Lawton (1963)
** (Season 8 Episode 23: "The Katy Piper Story") - Dr. Katy Piper (1965)
* Days of Our Lives (1965-2007; contract role) – Alice Horton
* Seconds (1966) – Emily Hamilton
* The F.B.I. (1968) (2 episodes)
** (Season 3 Episode 16: "Crisis Ground") - Ellen Porter
** (Season 4 Episode 5: "Death of a Fixer") – Mrs. Prior
* The Andromeda Strain (1971) – Clara Dutton
* The Affair (1973) – Mrs. Patterson (Television picture)
* Matt Helm (1975) (Season 1 Episode 3: "Scavenger's Paradise") – Millie
* Project U.F.O. (1978) (Season 1 Episode 1: "Sighting 4001: The Washington D.C. Incident") – Martha Carlyle
* Mercy or Murder (1987) – Emily Gilbert (Television picture)
* One Stormy Night (1992) – Alice Grayson Horton (Television picture)

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 1978 | Soapy Awards | Favorite Actress in a Mature Role | Days of Our Lives | Won |
| 1979 | Soapy Awards | Favorite Actress in a Mature Role | Days of Our Lives | Won |
| 1979 | 6th Daytime Emmy Awards | Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | Days of Our Lives | Nominated |
| 1984 | Soap Opera Digest Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Mature Roles in a Daytime Soap Opera | Days of Our Lives | Won |
| 1985 | Soap Opera Digest Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Mature Role in a Daytime Serial | Days of Our Lives | Won |
| 1987 | 14th Daytime Emmy Awards | Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series | Days of Our Lives | Nominated |
| 1990 | Soap Opera Digest Awards | Editor's Choice | | Won |
| 2004 | 31st Daytime Emmy Awards | Lifetime Achievement Award | | Won |