Frances Farmer.

this is my ography I'm living on to something you wait and see she was one of Hollywood's most beautiful and promising talents she just had a stunning radiance she glowed from within you cannot take your eyes off of her but Frances farmers life was not a fairy too her meteoric rise to the top was cut short by a debilitating addiction to alcohol numerous arrests and years of confinement in a mental institution I don't think that anyone has risen so fast or fallen as fast as Francis in the history of Hollywood it would be hard to survive everything that she went through with your spirit and intelligence intact but she had tremendous personal strength and reserve she was a real warrior in 1913 seattle washington was growing into a prosperous and culturally progressive city it was here on September 19th that Frances farmer was born the third child of Ernest and Lillian farmer her father was an amiable man than the moderately successful attorney my grandfather was by all appearances very um demonstrative very laid-back very quiet my sense is that he was aloof emotionally not really available Lillian farmer was a headstrong woman whose volatile temperament overwhelmed that of her meek husband when Frances was four her parents separated for the next seven years she was repeatedly uprooted as Lillian moved her children from one town to another in California though Frances longed for the stability her mother seemed unable to provide she nonetheless adored this energetic woman who recited the poetry of Longfellow as loudly as she denounced the evils of communism francis was crazy about her but she never got very much demonstrations of love and return or one of her slogans was be yourself and make up your mind and act out it by the time they returned to Seattle in 1925 Frances was a twelve-year-old tomboy athletic intelligent fiercely independent she loved weekend visits with her father clowning around with her siblings and writing poetry two years later Francis enrolled in West Seattle high where she joined the hockey tumbling and volleyball teams became a champion debater a member of the yearbook and newspaper staff and even found time to appear in school plays Francis was maturing into a strong featured unconventional beauty but though she was one of the busiest girls on campus she remained a loner who rarely socialized with her classmates it's very interesting to see her yearbook photos because even in the group photo she's kind of off to the side I don't think she had a lot of close friends as she tended to keep to herself in 1929 the Wall Street Crash precipitated a nationwide depression Francis was appalled as people lost their jobs and bread lines sprang up on street corners while a select few escaped unscathed along with thousands of other young intellectuals he began to question the country's capitalistic society and started to think about the advantages of socialism Seattle at that time was very labor oriented and left-wing and she was obviously very well-read very smart so I think she grew up in that place in a time and in a family atmosphere where that kind of free thinking was promoted in 1931 Frances $100 in the National scholastic magazine student writing contest for her philosophical essay God dies as I understand it she decided that God had died because she had lost a favorite hat of hers and after a short time she found it meanwhile a friend of hers from school her entire family was killed in an automobile accident at that point she figured out that there couldn't be really a God because he would never let anything like that happen though she said God died you could tell at 16 this was somebody who was trying to figure things out she wasn't just kind of a happy-go-lucky teenage girl who was you know wearing bobby socks and going on dates so she was really trying to think things through and find her place in it all the thoughtful teenager underestimated the furor or her composition would stir up she was denounced from the pulpit and vilified in the press as a dupe of godless communism I think it was horrible for her she was not a popular person to begin with and I think that's when the epithet of her being called a freak started people started you know to stay away from her shunned by her peers Frances Healy enrolled as a journalism student at the University of Washington but instead she was drawn to the more progressive theater department and found companionship with like-minded souls who hotly debated artistic integrity and the rewards of socialism with her striking looks and instinctive gift for acting she was soon the star of such plays as Uncle Vanya and Helen of Troy in 1934 local reviewers applauded her performance as a German musical prodigy in the play alien corn and proclaimed that she was destined for Broadway acting had become a passion for Francis and she was determined to make a life for herself on the stage but New York seemed a million miles away in a rally of support the entire drama department entered a contest sponsored by the voice of action Seattle's communist newspaper they sold enough subscriptions in Francis's name to win her first prize a VIP tour of the Soviet Union via Manhattan well I don't think Frances had that great an attraction to go to Russia the one thing about this contest that attracted her was affected it would take her to New York City and that's where she had decided she wanted to go to get involved in acting in a real serious stage career but Francis's mother was a ghast that she would consider traveling to the Soviet Union a communist country that few Westerners dared to visit hearing that her daughter would be brainwashed she forbade Francis to go I think that they butted heads because they were so much alike they were both very strong-willed they were both very independent unfortunately for Lillian Frances was already 21 and could do whatever she damn well please which is exactly how Francis phrased it to both Lillian and the press in April 1935 Francis defiantly boarded a steamship bound for the USSR the idealistic young woman was profoundly affected by the degree of poverty and suffering she witnessed but the majesty of the Russian theater made her more determined than ever to get on with her own stage career when Francis returned to the United States she moved into a small apartment in Manhattan and began pounding the pavement in search of work well it was the middle of the summer by the time she came back and that's usually the deadest season on Broadway so there were no casting calls going out for any stage productions and one way or the other Francis met Oscar Stewart on the talent scout for Paramount and Oscar sermon arranged for a screen test for her the studio was sold on her but Francis had reservations she felt that Hollywood was it it was not a place to be for an actress in the 1930s if you were a serious young actor legitimate theater was Broadway and Hollywood was the illegitimate theater desperate for money Francis put her dreams on hold and signed a seven-year movie contract with when she arrived in Hollywood glamour girls like Jean Harlow and Marlena Dietrich were the ideal and the studio immediately began grooming Francis farmer for stardom paramount like all the studios in that day ran an acting mill the newly signed people were put through image makeovers it was a grueling process she absolutely hated it her comment when she saw herself after her first press photos was well miss farmer it's definitely not you within months the actress was starring in her first film a B movie called too many parents set in a military academy Frances played the Headmaster's compassionate daughter thank you Miss Ellie who's crazy about you you don't know he's alive no invented the father who wrote him sweet loving letters the kind that any real father would write to a boy like Phil and that's what he gets for saving your reputation as a human being what are they doing to him I'm just taking away sword that's all sword that he works so hard to get according to too many parents was a hit at the box office in Francis suddenly found herself in the spotlight but she felt like an outsider in a town where Commerce seemed more important than art her only other friend was he young contract player Wycliffe Andersen who later changed his name to life Eriksen while they were in classes together and they realized that they liked acting together she had developed a very real attraction if not a deep-seated love for Erickson by that point the studio was trying to get her to go out on publicity dates with all of the young men that had been signed there and so she saw him as kind of a security blanket in terms of protecting herself from having to go out on these horrible publicity dates On February 8 1936 the couple eloped to Yuma Arizona in only five months the dissident from Seattle had been transformed into a rising star with a handsome new husband but Frances farmers dreams extended far beyond the boundaries of Hollywood and her willful ambition would soon take her the brink of disaster good coffee considering that I didn't make it myself why don't you stay on and then tomorrow you put me I thought you were trying to get rid of me in 1936 paramount cast Francis farmer in an a-list comedy rhythm on the range starring Bing Crosby and Martha Raye Francis lit up the screen playing a rich girl on the run tell me do you often go around picking up cars like this oh that's the only way I ever get a car on impulse see it mean take it that's me oh the police ever bother you oh quit arguing three canard is cheap there's one listen why don't you tell me where you got this thing maybe I can square it you don't know it but doggone it you being a criminal oh yes and your bull is being an accessory rhythm on the range was one of the year's top box-office hits director Howard Hawks was so impressed with the 23 year olds accomplished performance he cast her in a challenging dual role in Samuel Goldman's drama come & get it the picture was based on Edna Ferber's best-selling novel about two generations of Wisconsin loggers and Frances starred as both a tough saloon singer and her own innocent daughter Frances blossomed under hawks open collaborative style of directing and she was thrilled when he welcomed her opinion on everything from dialog to costume design but shortly after production began Hawks was fired over a creative dispute with the studio and replaced by William Wyler when Wilder belittled and rejected her suggestions Frances was insulted and waged an all-out war with the director she'd go to the mat on everything and that was just her nature um there was so much of her that was difficult and difficult in that time when women weren't expected to be difficult especially in the Hollywood studio system the pressure on Frances to carry the film was intense her impatience and quick temper alienated both cast and crew still Frances turned in a riveting performance why can't you go home vehicles because you must know they just 165 reasons where I can't go home all of them $1 reroute and then enough I think that kind of money goes on trade minded here's enough for your railroad fan and Samba tide you over until you get yourself a decent job they get your dollars - what's the catch no catch I like you Amy look alright in the naked eye virgin you better stop drinking you better take care of his money the film also provided her with a showcase for her rich contralto singing voice come and get it premiered in Francis's hometown at Seattle's liberty theater Lillian was ecstatic when Francis became a movie star this was the best of all worlds Fillion it was publicity my daughter is famous there's money coming in to the house this was one of the few times that Francis sent Lillian really got along the young actress was paraded through town like a visiting dignitary it appeared that her past transgressions had been forgotten but Francis had a long memory she meets one of the people that derided her about her essay back in high school and this person is fawning all over her and she just looks at him and says don't you remember me I'm the freak from West Seattle High and storms off come and get it was a smash hit and Francis was touted as the next Garbo but studio Chiefs Adolph Zukor was not so sure while other avenues eagerly molded themselves into images of living perfection Francis continued the march to her own drummer off the set she took pride in her unkempt appearance modest home and broken-down wreck of a car she obviously had a great desire to be successful and yet at the same time she wasn't willing to do it on their terms and they were not willing to do it on her terms paramount was frustrated with their eccentric star in 1937 they loaned her out to RKO studios to portray the mistress of real-life tycoon Jim Fisk in the toast of New York opposite Edward Arnold and Cary Grant Francis was excited about the complex part and began extensive historical research but when censors turned the unscrupulous character into a romantic heroine she fought in vain to restore the integrity of the material by the end of production her demand for perfection earned Francis more enemies and it did in a word I think she had a sense of arrogance she just made it clear that she felt she was better which you know maybe that was disguised inferiority despite her misgivings the toast of New York was a success Francis was rushed into two more movies exclusive and the Technicolor high seas drama em tied opposite Ray Milland who are you and fake wishes captain wishes daughter we died carry on audience if you understand what that means I'm here in his place he was taking his cargo to Sydney and that's where he's going now oh yeah I've warned you fairly don't change course now considered one of Paramount's top female stars Francis was disappointed to discover her status did nothing to improve the quality of material she was being given she was bright enough to know that most of the stuff she was doing was just churning it out just lowest common denominator but she didn't have the ability to shut her brain off do her gig you know go home and have fun in a desperate attempt to pursue her dream of a career on the New York stage Francis took on a series of roles in summer stock to her amazement she was approached by Harold Clurman director of New York's left-wing group theatre and offered the starring role in air production of Clifford Odets new play golden boy playing lorna moon a tough [ __ ] from New Jersey Francis headed a cast that included such talents as Luther Adler John Garfield and Elia Kazan Golden Boy ran for an impressive 248 performances Francis believed she had found a home with the group theater and the love of her life with Clifford Odets during production she had embarked on a tempestuous affair with a radical playwright who was married to actress Louise Reiner she really was in love with Clifford Odets he used her because he knew that she was flattered by his attention basically to give money to the group theater to keep them solvent she finally felt that she was simply being used for money and her name so that sense of idealism crashed Francis's self-esteem and confidence were shattered and her heart broken when she received a wire from Odette's stating my wife returns from Europe today and I feel it is best for us never to see each other again his breakup was so cruel and caught her so off-guard I think she felt very betrayed because it wasn't just like a sexual or romantic betrayal but it was also a professional one an artistic one so all the things that were important I think in her life at that time he really did a number on her demoralised Francis began drinking heavily she returned to California her commitment to Paramount and her estranged husband in 1938 she and life shared the screen and ride a crooked mile but halfway through the shoot the 25 year old discovered she was pregnant Eriksson completely freaked out because he thought this was going to put the kibosh on his burgeoning career and urged her to have an abortion which she did it resulted in her never being able to be pregnant again Francis was angry and bitter over the outcome she decided to divorce life and return the New York and the group theatre for two more shows both of them more resounding flops and shook Francis's confidence right down to the ground again it found her in New York alone barricaded in her apartment and drinking hoping to get her career back on track Francis signed on for a theatre guild production of the fifth column she tried to get going into this play she's tried to get ready for the rehearsal she tried to gear herself up for it but she reached a point where she just knew she couldn't do it and she resigned Actors Equity find Francis $1500 she was blamed for the show's failure and found herself an outcast in New York theater circles she realized she would have to cave in the conventionality if she wanted to survive but for Francis farmer conformity was a four-letter word by 1940 Frances farmer had seen her chances for a meaningful career on the legitimate stage slipped through her fingers at the age of 27 Frances decided she had no choice but to make a life for herself in Hollywood in an effort to live up to studio expectations she bought clothes befitting a movie star and rented a lavish house on the beach her return was well publicized and she quietly endured the public wrist slapping but Francis's compliance went unrewarded over the next two years hollywood's one-time golden girl was cast in supporting roles in a series of run-of-the-mill films Frances was drained by her unsuccessful efforts to reclaim her career she began taking amphetamines which were commonly prescribed for depression the combination of drugs and alcohol only made her behavior more reckless I think there is a kind of personality shift that happens with alcoholics at least some alcoholics and Frances definitely fit that mold when she was sober she was elegant and graceful and you would never hear a off-color remark but when she was drinking you would think it was a truck driver in 1942 despite her questionable reputation in twentieth century-fox borrowed Frances for the supporting role of a conniving beauty in son of fury starring George Sanders and Tyrone Power the strange fellow Ben Moody but to take offense what would he say for instance if you were to learn who told me that I'd find him at the Georgian crown the night he was arrested what could you say to that my dear you wouldn't dare even if you did he wouldn't believe you why do you think he came back for revenge no for me he loves me all his life is worshipped me to do anything I asked him believe anything I tell him even if you were to swear to him on a Bible bad you mustn't believe what he says and Reuben it isn't true although son of fury was a box-office hit Francis spent a long lonely year before she was cast in her next project take a letter darling unfortunately her drinking was now out of control and when she failed the show up for rehearsals she was fired by the fall of 1942 the United States had been at war for almost a year and black outlaws were strictly enforced one night Francis was stopped by a highway patrolman for driving with her lights on high beam in a demo zone when the officer tried to ticket her Francis spat out you bore me and took off pursued by the irate officer she was hauled in to Night Court given a suspended sentence of 180 days in jail for drunken driving and put on two years probation the news spread through Hollywood like wildfire grandma cancels a contract she's high and dry no money no career she was frantic in 1943 Francis was living in a room at the Knickerbocker Hotel and reduced to working for one of Hollywood's poverty rose studios monogram pictures in the film called no escape she's pretty much hit rock bottom she evidently on the set sees imaginary people an imaginary dog that she keeps shooing away she keeps breaking out in singing at inappropriate moments the situation came to a head when Frances lost her temper and hit her hairdresser Edna Burge with a hairbrush dislocating her jaw when Burge pressed charges authorities discovered that there was already an arrest warrant out for Frances who still owed $250 on her drunk driving charge police officers barged into her hotel room while she was sound asleep in the nude and all hell broke loose knock the doors down she runs naked into the bathroom blocks that door they knocked that down and because of an alcoholic blackout she doesn't realize what has happened she doesn't really remember why they're here why are they doing this to me they dragged her out through the lobby and again they're the photographers and the headlines are just the most unsavory that you can imagine when Frances was taken down to the station of booked she offended even the most seasoned officers by describing her occupation with a shockingly lewd term it was just this instinct for performance gone a little bit off she knew a remark like that would at a minimum raise eyebrows so she did like to blow minds but the judge asked her about her drinking she says her famous line I put liquor in my milk and in my orange juice and what do you expect me to do starve to death and then the judge gets very irate and slammed her with the hundred and eighty day sentence she picks up an inkwell off a desk throws it at the judge and hits him then she's dragged out of the court screaming more photographers more headlines Francis was transferred to the psychiatric ward of Los Angeles General Hospital on January 20 1943 her humiliated parents flew down from Seattle and Lillian farmer immediately attempted to take control of the situation she blamed the Communists for her daughter's condition and pension for alcohol and agreed that Francis needed several months of rest in a sanitarium but despite the hundreds of thousands of dollars Frances had earned she was destitute she had given her money to her parents and numerous left-wing causes the Screen Actors Guild came to her rescue and placed her in the Kimble sanitarium unable to control Francis's outbursts doctors prescribed a program of ninety insulin shock treatments which caused her to lapse into brief comas by the time she was released eight months later Francis had given a lot of thought to her future and announced to her mother that she wanted to give up her movie career Francis really at one time wanted to to save herself she wanted to find a life that would be nurturing and that she could actually flourish in she understood implicitly that continuing with a movie career would be you know death for her but um she came up against her mother's will Lilian was aghast at all this she was so disappointed that her daughter was like taking away all this stuff that had made her so bright in her eyes there for a while at one point they had an argument that was so bad that Francis threatened to kill her and Lilian used that she she had her committed on March 24th 1944 Francis was admitted to the Western State Hospital that Steilacoom where she was diagnosed as schizophrenic and insane there she underwent a series of electroshock treatments still she remained defiant and combative to calm her down hydrotherapy was also prescribed Frances was submerged naked in the tub of freezing water and left there for hours on end after months of continuous treatments Francis appeared subdued considered cured she was once again returned to her mother's care but when she made several attempts to run away and was arrested for vagrancy Francis's mother sent her back to still account for somebody like Francis whose major problem with substance use her prognosis was excellent and even if she did have a personality disorder this is usually not the type of disorder which causes something to be cross paralyzed doctors at the asylum now diagnosed Francis as hopelessly insane her head was shaved and she was thrown into a ward designated for violent inmates treatment and the conditions and mental institutions were crude compared to today's standard individuals at times especially in the back wards were often treated only slightly better than animals the idea I think for Francis was to try to get through it try to survive both physically and mentally intact as much as possible in 1950 after nearly five years in a mental institution Francis was released into the legal custody of her mother so the cheek would act as a nursemaid to her ailing parents on March 25th 36 year-old Francis farmer returned to the house in Seattle where she lived for all intents and purposes under house arrest by 1953 Francis farmer had spent three long years caring for her aging parents and living with the fear that her mother would have her recommit it I think probably her spirit was broken I mean if you're not crazy before you go into five years of a snake pit you're gonna be a little bit whacked when you come out she seemed beaten and and uh resentful for it at the same time in an attempt to seize control of her life Francis demanded a hearing to restore her independence she was devastated when hospital administrators informed her that she had been a free woman since 1951 a fact her parents had neglected to mention Francis arranged for the care of her mother and father and took a job as an attendant at the Olympic Hotel but out from under her parent's watchful eye the friendless woman began to drink once again I'm sure there was enormous heartbreak and sadness in Francis because she was trying to drown that sadness in her drinking and I think there was just an incredible regret for what she had squandered seeking stability through marriage in 1954 Francis impetuously Wed a civil engineer named Alfred Lobley but after six unhappy months the 42 year old left her husband and quietly settled in Eureka California under her former name Francis Anderson she took a room in a boarding house a job as a secretary at a photography studio and attended Mass every Sunday but Francis's life out of the spotlight wouldn't last for long in 1957 she met Lee Mike cell he was a traveling salesman and he becomes obsessed with her he decides if he wants to bring her back he wants to bring back Francis farmer the movie star although she had no intention of reviving her career she was swayed by Mike sells take charge attitude he helped Frances gain sobriety arranged for her divorce from Lobley got her a job as a receptionist at the Palace Hotel in San Francisco and notified the press in June of that same year ed Sullivan invited Frances to appear on his show willow tree she was obviously terrified very nervous but again that incredible inner strength and reserve just rose up again and she made it through the song beautifully and she brought down the house Oh and swallow once she was convinced that the reaction from The Ed Sullivan Show was really as warm and and as caring as it turned out to be she was quite willing to come back knowing that people really did want her almost overnight Frances was being offered work in regional theater and television in 1958 Ralph Edwards invited her to be the subject of his hit show this is your life but Frances was unprepared for the difficulty of reliving her past in front of millions of viewers on the soundstages your brilliant mind failed you now you become more and more uncooperative less and less competent resentment against you mounts in all quarters until no more parts are offered you and loneliness and despair you turn to drink you can see the painful memories of dredges up and we can see some tremendous anger flit across her face um but it just it seemed very exploitive which it was other stories accused you of being an alcoholic were you Francis no I was never not the huh did you ever use dope no if you watch closely you can see the tears well up in her eye she bites her lip heavily you can see the torment she's going through that same year after entering into a marriage of convenience with Mike SEL Frances accepted a minor role in the teen movie the party crashers the experience was disappointing and unsatisfying but the actress felt revitalized when she returned to the stage with the touring company of the chalk garden while performing in Indianapolis Frances was offered her own show on a local TV station in which he would introduce the afternoon movie and interview visiting celebrities leaving her husband behind she transformed herself into the elegant hostess of Frances Farmer presents well I think first of all how to say well wonderful day has been for us as judges saying here a roughly mr. contest it was an ideal world for her because she was a hometown celebrity they were respectful of her privacy and she was working regularly she had a great amount of self-esteem those were good years for her 45 year old Frances began taking pride in her new life she was named Indiana's business Woman of the Year and struck up a close friendship with a woman named Jean Ratcliffe it was a wonderful relationship for her and she was finally living a life that had some semblance of normality to it in 1962 Frances was honored to be named actress in residence at Purdue University and over the next few years appeared in a series of classic plays I felt she was very imaginative I know she was sensitive and she could have a quality that they many many years ago in the theater called spirit and fire which was that wonderful kind of chromatic thing but despite her amazing turnaround Frances was unable to overcome her addiction to alcohol and in 1964 she was fired from her television show making the best of a bad situation she and Jean moved into a farmhouse outside town and for the first time in her life Frances formed a close circle of friends Branson and Jean with no money at all had turned it into a showplace it was warm inviting eclectic and we just spent every weekend with them over the next three years Frances was content giving poetry readings making plans to establish Indianapolis his first repertory company and working on her autobiography it was a peaceful and productive period and her demon seemed at bay I feel very strongly that if this woman had a place to work and she was doing something that she really respected and loved if she had that I think she would have been a very very happy person but in April 1970 Frances was diagnosed with cancer of the oesophagus three months later she was admitted to the charity Ward of Indianapolis Community Hospital I remember seeing her one afternoon and I had gone up the stairs and she didn't know I was there and the light was hitting her the sunlight was hitting her just right and she looked like a young girl and she was radiant and I could tell that she was she was happy and she wasn't afraid she wasn't fearful of facing her own mortality on August 1st Frances Farmer died of cancer she was 56 years old but Francis's story didn't end there in the years to come she would achieve in death same more lasting than anything she had known in her lifetime in 1972 two years after her death Frances farmers autobiography will there really be a mourning appeared in bookstores throughout the country rumors circulated the Jean Ratliff had taken over writing Francis's original manuscript and finished it in the first person I think that Jean embellished all of the business about the style of chrome the mad ward and the lesbian attack and all of these things that she that was from her mind and she thought it would enhance a possibility for a sale of a movie you can hear a couple voices going in it and some of the more sensationalized passages don't sound like Francis to add to the growing controversy in 1978 William Arnold's biography Shadowland was published this was the first time fans heard about a possible lesbian relationship between Francis and Jean Radcliffe and allegations that Francis had been subjected to a lobotomy while its tilikum the doctor son claims he's got a photograph of Francis on the gurney either right before or after the operation it's a woman on a gurney I can't say it's not her I can't say it is her well that's always been the rumor she talks about patients in the institution who begged to be lobotomised because they just didn't want to feel anymore so it's hard to believe that if she herself had had a lobotomy why didn't she just say that she did the public's fascination with Frances Farmer only grew when in 1982 Universal Pictures released a film entitled Frances the movie star Jessica Lange who not only bore a striking resemblance to farmer but also felt a strong bond with the actress I really loved Frances there was something about her that touched me so deeply sometimes actually and I know this sounds like kind of mumbo-jumbo I could actually feel her presence I mean it was a it was a powerful entity I think what she captured was a large part of the inner sense of Frances her intelligence her strength just uncanny it was as though Frances Spira to come into her you're trying to break my spirit you're trying to turn me into you Lillian but I'm not you and I never will be and I thank God for that Lange's oscar-nominated portrayal brought farmer the legions of supporters she lacked in life after 30 years her story is still clouded by controversy and conjecture but what remains clear is the throughout Frances farmers life her indomitable spirit gave her the strength to endure overwhelming hardship and personal despair it's a terribly sad story I mean it's a tragic waste of brilliant he she had incredible wit she had incredible intelligence she had taste and grace she was a magical creature there was strength and a vulnerability and after knowing that she endured it made me respect her even more she was a survivor I think that the moral of her story is that she survived

Channel: Movie Documentary

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Length: 44min 16sec (2656 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 12 2013