Biografie

29. November 1916 · Los Angeles, Kalifornien, USA

15. Januar 2000 · Burbank, Kalifornien, USA (natürliche Gründe)

Ryan'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 would give birth to their son, Chris, in April 1951.

She remarried in January 1953 to Howard Schafer, who, bizarrely, would also perish in a plane crash in Oregon in May 1953. He had been piloting the plane. The wreckage of Howard's plane would not be discovered until 15 years later in November 1968. The remains of Schafer and his passengers were never found. All that was found at the crash site was a woman's shoe, 4 combs, and 2 sets of eyeglasses.

Often compared to the gruff but lovable Marjorie Main.

Ryan was among the original cast members when The Doris Day show debuted on CBS in September 1968, playing yet another "gruff but good-hearted" housekeeper. But friction soon arose between Ryan and series star Day, and Ryan's role was rewritten and recast with another actress after only a handful of episodes.

Canadian Kay Hawtrey looks just like she did.

For some reason, I always had a feeling that Howard would walk right out of those mountains - you always have hope. - Fran, upon being notified that her second husband's plane wreckage had been found 15 years later.