Acting
Sep 16, 1905
East Orange, New Jersey, USA
Frances E. Williams
Acting
Biography
Frances Elizabeth Williams (September 17, 1905 – January 2, 1995) was an American actress, activist, theatre producer, organizer, and community worker. Williams was the first black woman to run for the California State Assembly in 1948 on the Progressive Ticket and served on the boards of the Screen Actors Guild, Actors' Lab, and Actors Equity. She represented the World Peace Council at the first Angola Independence Celebration in 1975, and co-founded the Art Against Apartheid Movement in Los Angeles in the 1980s. Williams began her acting career in the late 1930s, joining the cast of the play You Can't Take It with You. The company went on tour across the U.S. for two years. She appeared in two of Oscar Micheaux’s films, Lying Lips, 1939, and The Notorious Elinor Lee, 1940. Her first Hollywood film role was as Amy in Magnificent Doll (1946), followed by The Reckless Moment (1949) and Show Boat (1951). While she appeared on stage, in over forty films, on television shows in minor roles, and in commercials, Williams' biggest role to date came in 1987, when she played Miss Marie in the comedy-drama series Frank's Place starring Tim Reid. Despite being well received by many fans and critics, it was cancelled after one season (1987–1988).
Feature Films (21)
An African-American political activist is wrongfully imprisoned for killing two white policemen; he is unwary of yet another white lawyer who claims that he will help free him.
The Ambush Murders
A bounty hunter is assigned to bring back an enormous, angry ex-convict who wears a deadly glove made of leather and steel.
The Glove
In 1950s Harlem a vicious Italian gangster (Frank deKova) tries to muscle in on a black racketeer's (Paul Harris) numbers game.
Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes
While packing her belongings in preparation of evacuating the White House because of the impending British invasion of Washington D.C., Dolly Payne Madison thinks back on her childhood, her first marriage, and later romances with two very different politicians, Aaron Burr and his good friend James Madison. She plays each against the other, not only for romantic reasons, but also to influence the shaping of the young country. By manipulating Burr's affections, she helps Thomas Jefferson win the presidency, and eventually she becomes First Lady of the land herself.
Magnificent Doll
In this pilot to the short-lived "Hell Town," Robert Blake plays a scrappy, ex-convict-turned-ghetto priest in an impoverished inner-city parish.
Father of Hell Town
A WWII tale of romance that begins during New Orlean's "Mardi Gras" celebration when a soldier and a girl meet and fall in love. He asks her to marry him but she decides to wait until his next leave. He is sent overseas and she does not receive his letter and feels abandoned, but she does find out she is pregnant. She gives the child to her married sister and does not see her child again for three years. She returns to her sister's home to reclaim the child, and the soldier, who has been searching for her, also turns up. The sister is not interested in giving up the child. Written by Les Adams
Her Sister's Secret
When his son accidentally kills someone, a lawyer must defend the man wrongly charged with the murder.
The Family Secret
A nightclub singer refuses to "date" customers, so she's framed for the murder of her aunt.
Lying Lips
After discovering the dead body of her teenage daughter's lover, a housewife takes desperate measures to protect her family from scandal.
The Reckless Moment
A Southern minister is assigned to a poor church in California where the congregation is drifting away and the church itself is scheduled for demolition.
A Dream for Christmas
After his daughter is killed by the KKK, a black man seeks revenge by passing as white and becoming a Klansman.
The Black Klansman
Television & Series (5)
Frank's Place is an American comedy-drama series which aired on CBS for 22 episodes during the 1987-1988 television season. The series was created by Hugh Wilson and executive produced by Wilson and series star Tim Reid. Frank's Place is the most recent show that ran for only one season which was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series. TV Guide ranked it #3 on their 2013 list of 60 shows that were "Cancelled Too Soon".
Frank's Place
21 Jump Street revolves around a group of young cops who would use their youthful appearance to go undercover and solve crimes involving teenagers and young adults.
21 Jump Street
A television miniseries based on the life of Harriet Tubman, the escaped African American slave who helped to organize the Underground Railroad, and who led dozens of African Americans from enslavement in the Southern United States to freedom in the Northern states and Canada.
A Woman Called Moses
Julia Sugarbaker, Mary Jo Shively, Charlene Frazier-Stillfield and Suzanne Sugarbaker are associates at their design firm, Sugarbaker and Associates. Julia is the owner and is very outspoken and strong-willed. Mary Jo is a divorced single-parent whom is just as strong-willed as Julia, but isn't as self-confident. Charlene is the naive and trusting farm girl from Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Suzanne is the self-centered ex-beauty queen whom has a number of wealthy ex-husbands.
