Fran Ryan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Fran Ryan (November 29, 1916 – January 15, 2000) was an American character actress featured in television and films. She was born in Los Angeles, California. Fran Ryan began performing at the age of 6, at Oakland's Henry Duffy Theatre, in Northern California. She attended Stanford University for three years, and during World War II was a member of the USO entertaining troops. She performed comedy, singing and acting on stage in California and Chicago but was not to launch her television career for two decades. Her small screen debut came in an episode on Television's Batman, in 1966, followed by a bit part in Beverly Hillbillies. Ryan's best known television role was as Aggie Thompson in The Doris Day Show (in its first incarnation plotline theme), though the gig only lasted a few months. This role was cut short because she was offered the 'replacement' role on the hit series Green Acres as Doris Ziffel from 1969-1971. Fran was to replace Barbara Pepper, who by then was in poor health. Sadly, Miss Pepper died just five months later of heart ailments, on July 15, 1969. Ryan also starred on the long running TV Western series Gunsmoke during its twentieth and final season as Miss Hannah (Cobb). In 1987, she reprised the role of Miss Hannah in the TV movie Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge. Fran Ryan played the role of Sister Agatha in the soap opera General Hospital in (1979). She also did voices for cartoons such as Hong Kong Phooey, Mister T and Little Dracula. Fran starred on some TV shows for children like Sigmund and the Sea Monsters in 1975 as Gertrude Grouch, and in 1970s children's show The New Zoo Revue as Ms. Goodbody, the 1980s TV series No Soap, Radio as Mrs. Belmont, the short lived 1980s CBS TV series The Wizard as Tillie Russell from 1986-1987. Her last regular TV role was on The Dave Thomas Comedy Show. She starred in many feature films, including Flush (1977), Big Wednesday (1978), Take This Job and Shove It (1981), Pale Rider (1985), Chances Are, and in her scene-stealing cameo in 1981's Stripes, as a tortured cab fare to Bill Murray as the cabbie, in the opening scenes of the comedy film. Ryan made guest appearances on TV shows ranging from Batman, Adam-12, CHiPs, Quantum Leap, Night Court, Baywatch to The Commish. Fran Ryan was often compared to actress Marjorie Main; they looked similar to one another. Ryan died on January 15, 2000, at age 83. She is buried in the family plots alongside her mother, at the Holy Sepulchre Catholic Cemetery, in Hayward, California. Description above from the Wikipedia article Fran Ryan, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Stripes
as Dowager in CabJohn Winger, an indolent sad sack in his 30s, impulsively joins the US Army after losing his...
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Rocky II
as Adrian's Nurse (uncredited)After Rocky goes the distance with champ Apollo Creed, both try to put the fight behind them and...
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Pale Rider
as Ma BlankenshipA mysterious preacher protects a humble prospector village from a greedy mining company trying...
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Chances Are
as Mavis TalmadgeLouie Jeffries is happily married to Corinne. On their first anniversary, Louie is killed...
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Family Plot
as Registrar Clerk (uncredited)Spiritualist Blanche Tyler and her cab-driving boyfriend encounter a pair of serial kidnappers...
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Private School
as Miss DutchbokPrivate-school student Christine loves Jim. But her classmate, Jordan, is also vying for Jim's...
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Three 1960s California surfers fool around, drift apart and reunite years later to ride epic waves.
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The Long Riders
as Mrs. SamuelThe origins, exploits and the ultimate fate of the James gang is told in a sympathetic portrayal...
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Straight Time
as Cafe OwnerAfter being released on parole, a burglar attempts to go straight, get a regular job, and just...
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The Sure Thing
as Lady in CarGib, a beer-guzzling slob, and Alison, an uptight Ivy-Leaguer, are an unlikely duo stuck...
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The Apple Dumpling Gang
as Mrs. StockleyA roving bachelor gets saddled with three children and a wealth of trouble when the youngsters...
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The Million Dollar Duck
as Mrs. Purdham (uncredited)Professor Dooley takes home a duck from his research laboratory as a toy for his son, but soon...
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Stewardess School
as Fainting LadyA group of varied misfits (including a former prostitute/stripper and a bumbler who can't see...
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Suture
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Quiet Cool
as MaThis actioner is set in a remote, heavily forested area in Northern California where marijuana...
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Scandalous John
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Tough Enough
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Lucky Stiff
as MaRon Douglas has no luck in women, and when his bride runs away on their wedding day, he goes on...
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Savannah Smiles
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Out Cold
as ArleneSunny is married to the butcher, Ernie, and their marriage is about to end as both of them have...
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Fuzzbucket
as Mrs. LangendorfIn the vein of "Harvey", an invisible creature befriends a 12 year old boy. Of course, no one...
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Eyes of Fire
as Sister (Calvin's Wife)In 1750, an adulterous preacher is ejected from a small British colony with his motley crew of...
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Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge
as HannahWill Mannon, "product of the Devil's loins," is released from a frontier prison and promptly...
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Nick Knight
as JeannieDetective Nick Knight is investigating a series of murders in which the bodies are found drained...
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Archie: To Riverdale and Back Again
as Miss GrundyThe classic comic book characters created by John L. Goldwater are brought to tv in a slightly...
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River of Rage: The Taking of Maggie Keene
as Hattie ClandellA white water rafting vacation turns into a nightmare when divorced mother Maggie Keene must...
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Marcus Welby, M.D.
as uncreditedThe pilot film for the long-run series introduced the kindly small-town general practitioner...
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Panic in Echo Park
as uncreditedA young doctor tries to convince everyone about an impending epidemic, but he is accused of...
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Goldie and the Boxer
as EthelLighthearted tale of a 10-year-old girl who, when her boxer father dies, strikes up a...
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The Adventures of Nellie Bly
as Mrs. RomanA "Classics Illustrated" account of pioneer female journalist Nellie Bly, who became a legend...
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Thanksgiving Day
as LoisLight-hearted spoof about a dysfunctional upper-income family who have to come to terms with...
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Father of Hell Town
as Mother MaggieIn this pilot to the short-lived "Hell Town," Robert Blake plays a scrappy,...
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Hog Wild
as FloraA Chicago man and his family move to an Idaho pig farm, where he's crippled by an angry sow.
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Americana
as ColonelIn a small town in rural Kansas, a troubled veteran attempts to restore an old merry-go-round ride.
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Stalk the Wild Child
as Ellen MottA young boy who had been abandoned as a child and raised by wild dogs is taken to a university...
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Deadly Game
as Frieda BeezlyA military convoy is transporting something apparently for disposal. They pass by Sheriff Abel...
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Long Way Home
as Marvis BidwellThe Holvak family house the escaped convict named Craw that the son befriends. Reverend Holvak's...
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Rebel Love
as Granny PlugDuring the American Civil War, a lonely Indiana farm widow finds love when she takes in an...
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The Return of Marcus Welby, M.D.
as Millie ClarkMarcus Welby is back, and he has a few problems. First he is trying to bridge the gap between an...
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The Great Brain
as Aunt BerthaBased on the book by John D. Fitzgerald, this movie stars Jimmy Osmond as a mischievous boy out...
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Christmas Mountain
as FloraA cowboy comes to a town at Christmas time. He eats at a cafe but was unable to pay for his...
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The Front Line
as Haughty CustomerTraining film for supermarket checkers. Sponsored by Reader's Digest and Super Market Institute.
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Hill Street Blues
as uncreditedA realistic glimpse into the daily lives of the officers and detectives at an urban police station.
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Murder, She Wrote
as Rose MulliganAn unassuming mystery writer turned sleuth uses her professional insight to help solve real-life...
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Charlie's Angels
as Nurse FagerBeautiful, intelligent, and ultra-sophisticated, Charlie's Angels are everything a man could...
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Charlie's Angels
as Belle AsherBeautiful, intelligent, and ultra-sophisticated, Charlie's Angels are everything a man could...
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Highway to Heaven
as uncreditedA probationary angel is sent back to Earth to team up with an ex-cop and help people.
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I Dream of Jeannie
as Switchboard OperatorWhile on a mission, American astronaut Captain Tony Nelson is forced to make an emergency...
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Tiny Toon Adventures
as Grandma (voice)Follow the adventures of a group of young cartoon characters who attend the Acme Looniversity to...
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Night Gallery
as uncreditedRod Serling narrates an anthology of fantasy, horror and sci-fi stories from a set resembling a...
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One Day at a Time
as uncreditedThe misadventures of a divorced mother, two teenage daughters, and new building superintendent...
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The Brady Bunch
as uncreditedWhen widower Mike Brady marries a lovely lady widow Carol Ann, their two families become one....
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Taxi
as Mrs. Elizabeth WeberLouie De Palma is a cantankerous, acerbic taxi dispatcher in New York City. He tries to maintain...
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Quantum Leap
as Dorothy JaegerTheorizing that one could time travel within his own lifetime, Dr. Sam Beckett stepped into the...
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Batman
as ChairladyWealthy entrepreneur Bruce Wayne and his ward Dick Grayson lead a double life: they are actually...
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Starsky & Hutch
as uncreditedStreetwise Detective David Starsky partners up with a more intellectual partner, Kenneth 'Hutch'...
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Adam-12
as Mrs. KillianAdam-12 is a television police drama that followed two police officers of the Los Angeles Police...
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How the West Was Won
as uncreditedThe Macahans, a family from Virginia headed by Zeb Macahan, travel across the country to pioneer...
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Falcon Crest
as uncreditedFalcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for...
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Baywatch
as uncreditedJoin the Baywatch lifeguards on their thrilling adventures filled with beautiful beaches and...
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The Bill Cosby Show
as Mrs. BealThe Bill Cosby Show is an American situation comedy that aired for two seasons on NBC's Sunday...
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The Waltons
as uncreditedThe Waltons live their life in a rural Virginia community during the Great Depression and World...
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Matlock
as uncreditedMatlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of...
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Murphy Brown
as The AspMurphy Brown (Candice Bergen) is a recovering alcoholic who returns to the fictional...
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Night Court
as Ethel La RueNight Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984 to...
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Night Court
as Miss CrombieNight Court is an American television situation comedy that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984 to...
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Barney Miller
as Mrs. Hirsch, Homeless WomanBarney Miller is an American situation comedy television series set in a New York City police...
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Hong Kong Phooey
as uncreditedHong Kong Phooey is an American animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions...
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Laverne & Shirley
as uncreditedLaverne & Shirley is an American television sitcom that ran on ABC from January 27, 1976 to May...
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Amazing Stories
as Mrs. AbbottA truly amazing, fantastical, science fiction, funny and odd, and sometimes scary, sad and...
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Daniel Boone
as Mrs. JonesDaniel Boone is an American action-adventure television series starring Fess Parker as Daniel...
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The Rookies
as uncreditedThe Rookies is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from 1972 until 1976. It follows...
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That Girl
as uncreditedThat Girl is an American sitcom that ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971. It stars Marlo Thomas as the...
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Green Acres
as uncreditedGreen Acres is an American sitcom starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from...
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Matt Houston
as uncreditedMatt Houston is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from 1982 to 1985. Created by...
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Punky Brewster
as uncreditedAn abandoned waif and her dog are taken in by a cranky apartment manager who becomes her...
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McCloud
as uncreditedDeputy Marshal Sam McCloud of the small western town of Taos, New Mexico is assigned to the...
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The Commish
as uncreditedTony Scali is a former Brooklyn cop now the Police Commissioner of a small upstate city. But for...
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The Colbys
as uncreditedThe Colbys is an American prime time soap opera, which originally aired on ABC from November 20,...
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Gunsmoke
as Mrs. KellerGunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman...
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Gunsmoke
as HannahGunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman...
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Nichols
as Minnie DowdNichols is an American Western television series starring James Garner broadcast in the United...
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Sigmund and the Sea Monsters
as GertrudeSigmund and the Sea Monsters was an American children's television series that ran from 1973 to...
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Grizzly Adams
as uncreditedAn innocent fugitive from the law lives in the wilderness with a grizzly bear companion and...
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Brothers
as Mrs. MurphyTwo conservative men support their younger brother when he comes out as gay, and help him...
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When the Whistle Blows
as uncreditedShort-lived comedy about construction workers enjoying themselves. The crew was all male except...
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Manimal
as uncreditedJonathan Chase was a British college professor at New York University who had the unusual...
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The Wizard
as Tillie RussellThe Wizard is a live-action, family friendly, action/adventure series created by Michael Berk,...
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Father Murphy
as uncreditedA good-hearted frontiersman poses as a priest to start an orphanage for a group of kids whose...
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The Quest
as uncreditedThe Quest is an American Western series which aired on NBC from September to December 1976. The...
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Good Heavens
as uncreditedGood Heavens was an ABC comedy anthology series produced by Columbia Pictures Television that...
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The Bradys
as uncreditedThe Bradys is a six-episode American drama series that aired on CBS in 1990. It was a revival of...
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Carter Country
as uncreditedCarter Country is an American television sitcom that ran from 1977 to 1979 on ABC.
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Devlin
as uncreditedDevlin is an animated television series produced by Hanna-Barbera for ABC in 1974.
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CHiPs
as NancyLighthearted look at the adventures of two Highway Patrol officers in Los Angeles. The main...
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Mister T
as uncreditedMister T is an animated series that aired on NBC on Saturday morning from 1983 to 1986. A total...
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Foul Play
as uncreditedBased on the 1978 film of the same name, the series is about a bumbling detective in San...
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Little Dracula
as uncreditedLittle Dracula is a British series of children's books and an American animated television...
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