Frances Gifford
Actor/Actriz
35
Películas
1
Series
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.
Como Actor/Actriz
Caballero sin espada
Hopper Girl (uncredited)
General Electric Theater
Evelyn Crewes
El Dragón Chiflado
Doris
Stage Door
Mary McGuire (uncredited)
The Glass Key
Nurse
My Heart Belongs to Daddy
Grace Saunders
Having Wonderful Time
Salesgirl (uncredited)
Star Spangled Rhythm
Frances Gifford (uncredited)
American Empire
Abigail 'Abby' Taylor, Dan's Sister
Tombstone
Ruth Grant
Así lo quiso la suerte
Margaret Higgins
El triunfo de Tarzán
Zandra
Jungle Girl
Nyoka Meredith
Twenty Years After
(archive footage)
Walt Disney Fábulas - Vol. 6
Doris (voice) (archive sound) (uncredited)
Maid's Night Out
Ticket Seller - Octopus Concession (uncredited)
Forty Little Mothers
Granville Girl
Night Spot
Nightclub Patron
Living on Love
Bus Passenger (uncredited)
The Remarkable Andrew
Miss Halsey
Hold That Woman!
Mary Mulvaney
Cry 'Havoc'
Helen
Sky Commando
Jo McWethy
Luxury Liner
Laura Dene
El rosal de la vida
Viola Johnson
Marriage Is a Private Affair
Sissy Mortimer
There Goes the Groom
Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Juego de pasiones
Maude Bancroft
Border Vigilantes
Helen Forbes
The Arnelo Affair
Anne Parkson