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Fran Ryan
Born	Frances Mary Ryan (1916-11-29)November 29, 1916 Los Angeles,California, U.S.
Died	January 15, 2000(2000-01-15) (aged 83) Burbank, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1922–1993
Spouses	Walter Kenneth Wayne ​ ​ (m. 1949; died 1951)​ Howard Schafer ​ ​ (m. 1953; died 1953)​
Children	1

Frances Mary Ryan (November 29, 1916 – January 15, 2000) was an American character actress featured in television and films. She was born inLos Angeles,California.

Ryan began performing at the age of six atOakland's Henry Duffy Theatre. She attendedStanford University for three years, and during World War II was a member of the USO entertaining troops.^[1] 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 ofBatman, in 1966, followed by a bit part inBeverly Hillbillies. She also appeared in a 1972 episode ofColumbo, 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 ofThe Doris Day Show. The same season, she was offered the replacement role on the seriesGreen Acres as Doris Ziffel from 1969 to 1971. Ryan replacedBarbara Pepper, who was in poor health. Ryan also starred on the long-running TV Western seriesGunsmoke during its 20th and final season as Miss Hannah (Cobb). In 1987, she reprised the role of Miss Hannah in the TV movieGunsmoke: Return to Dodge.

Ryan played the role of Rosie Carlson in thesoap operaDays of Our Lives (1976–1979) and Sister Agatha inGeneral Hospital in 1989. She also did voices for cartoons such asHong Kong Phooey,Mister T, andLittle Dracula. Fran starred on some TV shows for children, such asSigmund and the Sea Monsters in 1975 as Gertrude Grouch, the 1970s children's showNew Zoo Revue as Ms. Goodbody, the 1980s TV seriesNo Soap, Radio as Mrs. Belmont, and the short-lived 1980sCBS TV seriesThe Wizard as Tillie Russell from 1986 to 1987. Her last regular TV role was onThe Dave Thomas Comedy Show.

Ryan also appeared in a series of commercials forHungry Jack biscuits beginning in 1975.

She appeared in many feature films, includingBig Wednesday (1978), as Frank and Jesse James' mother inThe Long Riders (1980),Take This Job and Shove It (1981),Pale Rider (1985),Chances Are (1989), and a cameo appearance in 1981'sStripes, as a cab fare toBill Murray as the cabbie, in the opening scenes of the film. Ryan made many guest appearances on TV shows, includingBatman (episode 43),Adam-12,The Brady Bunch,CHiPs,The Dukes of Hazzard,Quantum Leap,Night Court,Taxi,Baywatch, andThe Commish.

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.^{[citation needed]}

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 theHoly Sepulchre Cemetery,Hayward, California.^[2]

• Fran Ryan atIMDb 
• Fran Ryan at theInternet Broadway Database
• Fran Ryan atFind a Grave

• 1916 births
• 2000 deaths
• 20th-century American actresses
• Actresses from Los Angeles
• American film actresses
• Catholics from California
• American soap opera actresses
• American television actresses
• American voice actresses
• Burials in Alameda County, California

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