Frances Gifford

Known for ActingBorn 1920-12-07Died 1994-01-15Long Beach, California, USA

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.Read more

Movies & web series

Mercy Plane

Walt Disney's Fables - Vol.6

Twenty Years After

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

The Remarkable Andrew

Our Vines Have Tender Grapes

Stage Door

Henry Aldrich Gets Glamour

West Point Widow

Hold That Woman!

General Electric Theater

Jungle Girl

Sky Commando

Thrill of a Romance

The Glass Key

The Reluctant Dragon

Cry 'Havoc'

Forty Little Mothers

Marriage Is a Private Affair

Border Vigilantes

Living on Love

There Goes the Groom

Tarzan Triumphs

Star Spangled Rhythm

Riding High

Tombstone: The Town Too Tough to Die

She Went to the Races

Beyond the Blue Horizon

Luxury Liner

Maid's Night Out

Little Mister Jim

New Faces of 1937

The Arnelo Affair

American Empire

My Heart Belongs to Daddy

Having Wonderful Time

Night Spot