Frances Gifford

Frances Gifford

Frances Gifford had a somewhat unorthodox introduction to the movie business. Born and raised in Long Beach, California, she had no ambition to be an actress, and in fact had applied to UCLA when, at age 16, she and a friend got to visit the Samuel Goldwyn Studios, where they watched a movie being shot. A studio exec saw her and asked if she would take a screen test. She did, the studio was impressed with the result and put her under contract. Nothing much came of it, however, other than bit parts, and she moved to RKO. Nothing much happened there, either. She had married actor James Dunn and decided to retire, which she did, in 1938. Off the screen for almost two years, she got a small part in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), and her career began to revive. She was signed by Paramount, which soon loaned her to Republic, where she made the film she is probably most remembered for: the serial Jungle Girl (1941), based on an Edgar Rice Burroughs story. Unfortunately, her career never really took off, and she bounced around among several studios. In 1948 she was involved in an auto accident in which she received severe head injuries. Although she seemed to recover physically, her career took a nosedive, and she made her last film in 1953. In 1958 newspaper stories reported that as a result of the injuries sustained in the accident, she was admitted to a California state mental hospital. Nothing further was heard from her or about her until 1983, when a writer for a film magazine found her in Pasadena. She had apparently fully overcome her physical and mental problems and was working for the city library. She died of emphysema in Pasadena in 1994.

Known For: Acting

Born: Long Beach, California, USA, 1919-12-07

Died: 1994-01-15

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1937	New Faces of 1937	Showgirl	40
2	1937	Stage Door	Mary McGuire (uncredited)	70
3	1937	There Goes the Groom	Undetermined Role (uncredited)	53
4	1937	Living on Love	Bus Passenger	58
5	1938	Night Spot	Nightclub Patron	47
6	1938	Maid's Night Out	Ticket Seller - Octopus Concession (uncredited)	62
7	1938	Having Wonderful Time	Salesgirl (uncredited)	49
8	1939	Mr. Smith Goes to Washington	Hopper Girl (uncredited)	79
9	1939	Mercy Plane	Brenda Gordon	0
10	1940	Forty Little Mothers	Granville Girl	62
11	1940	Hold That Woman!	Mary Mulvaney	50
12	1941	Border Vigilantes	Helen Forbes	60
13	1941	The Reluctant Dragon	Doris	66
14	1941	West Point Widow	Daphne	60
15	1941	Jungle Girl	Nyoka Meredith	62
16	1942	Star Spangled Rhythm	Frances Gifford (uncredited)	59
17	1942	The Remarkable Andrew	Miss Halsey	82
18	1942	Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die	Ruth Grant	54
19	1942	Beyond the Blue Horizon	Charlotte (uncredited)	0
20	1942	The Glass Key	Nurse	66
21	1942	My Heart Belongs to Daddy	Grace Saunders	58
22	1942	American Empire	Abigail 'Abby' Taylor, Dan's Sister	38
23	1943	Tarzan Triumphs	Zandra	61
24	1943	Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour	Hilary Dane	60
25	1943	Cry 'Havoc'	Helen	63
26	1944	Twenty Years After	(archive footage)	60
27	1944	Marriage Is a Private Affair	Sissy Mortimer	52
28	1945	Thrill of a Romance	Maude Bancroft	62
29	1945	Our Vines Have Tender Grapes	Viola Johnson	69
30	1945	She Went to the Races	Dr. Ann Wotters	55
31	1947	The Arnelo Affair	Anne Parkson	53
32	1947	Little Mister Jim	Jean Tukker	40
33	1948	Luxury Liner	Laura Dene	52
34	1950	Riding High	Margaret Higgins	58
35	1953	Sky Commando	Jo McWethy	55
36	2004	Walt Disney's Fables - Vol.6	Doris (archive sound)	88

No.

Year

Title

Role

Vote Average

1937