Mary Frann Movies
Actress Mary Frann (born Mary Frances Luecke), is best remembered for playing the skeptical but loyal wife of Bob Newhart in Newhart (1982-1990). Between 1974 and 1979, Frann was a regular on the soap opera Days of Our Lives and also was a co-star on the short-lived nighttime soap King's Crossing (1982). Since the demise of Newhart, Frann appeared regularly in made-for-television movies, as a guest star in series, and in miniseries.A native of St. Louis, MO, Frann started out as a child model and in high school appeared in local television commercials. After high school she studied drama at Northwestern University. She supported herself working as a weather person on a St. Louis NBC affiliate. Following graduation she was hired to host a Chicago morning television show. As an actress, Frann debuted on the ABC series My Friend Tony. When not acting, Frann was involved in various charitable organizations. The night before she passed away from undisclosed causes, she had been working on a volunteer committee with the Los Angeles Mission on a project to help homeless women. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1992
- R
Originally made for cable-television, this thriller centers on the attempts of an innocent teenage girl to prove that the boy she has her eye upon is not a ruthless serial killer. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1990
A made-for-TV effort from horror director Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), this supernatural thriller is ostensibly based on the novella of the same name by Cornell Woolrich -- but the title is pretty much where the similarity ends. The plot involves a possessed Aztec ceremonial cloak (once used to line a sacred burial chamber) which poisons the soul of anyone who wears it. An improbable string of events sees the cloak turned into a little slip of a dress -- donned by several different women, but worn to evil perfection by Madchen Amick (Twin Peaks's Shelly). I'm Dangerous Tonight features colorful supporting performances from Anthony Perkins and R. Lee Ermey. ~ Cavett Binion, Rovi
- 1989
In this drama, a psychotherapist takes a long, hard look at her life when she joins a support group for women involved with married men. She does this after her husband leaves her for a younger woman. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
While at the high-school prom, a group of students find romance and fun, while their parents enjoy the same. ~ John Bush, Rovi
- 1987
Most of the original cast members of TV's Eight is Enough are on hand for the "retro" feature Eight is Enough: A Family Reunion. The single most conspicuous defector is Betty Buckley, who is here replaced by Mary Frann in the role of Abby Bradford. The premise: On the eve of his 50th birthday, Tom Bradford (Dick Van Patten) is in danger of losing his job as a journalist. He is offered moral support by his offspring, who have gathered together to celebrate Tom's half-century mark. Grant Goodeve, Willie Aames, Susan Richardson, Lani O'Grady, Adam Rich, Connie Needham, Dianne Kay and Laurie Walters portray the Bradford kids. The warm-and-fuzzy script is by Gwen Bagni-Dubov, who'd been churning out teleplays since the black-and-white era. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1985
In this comedy, Gidget, the all-American surfer girl, has grown up, married Moondoggie, and become a travel agent. She and he, who have been married for seven years, are experiencing marital problems due to their careers and monetary pressure. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- 1982
A playwright is forced to move his family to his wife's hometown in California in order to accept her inheritance due to worsening finances. ~ Rovi
- 1980
The made-for-TV Portrait of an Escort stars Susan Anspach as a divorcee in financial straits, has a daughter to support. She takes a job with a professional dating service, charging fifty dollars per customer. Anspach last client of the evening turns out to be a man whose intentions are apparently homicidal. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1978
TV personality Ruth Beetson-White (played by futureNewhart costar Mary Frann) is determined to frame Morry Hawthorne (Ken McMillan), the manager of boxer Jesus Hernandez (Rocky Echevarria), on a trumped-up federal charge. Since Jim (James Garner) owns a percentage of Hernandez, Hawthorne's plight is of special interest to him. It later develops that several of Jim's fellow investors have been scammed by Hawthorne, but this doesn't make Ruth right; in fact, her involvement in the case may make her dead wrong. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1977
Season Three of Quincy M.E. gets off to a running start when Quincy (Jack Klugman) is interrupted during a nocturnal romantic rendezvous by the sudden arrival of his old friend Carl Hopwood, an investigative reporter. It is obvious that Hopwood has been beaten and mutilated, but before Quincy can find out what has happened, his friend dies. Rushing the body to the police morgue, Quincy performs an autopsy without witnesses and personally records the vital lab data. The next morning, Quincy returns to the morgue to find that the body has disappeared...and with it all evidence that an autopsy ever occurred. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1975
Distant Early Warning didn't have the courtesy to credit Ray Bradbury for "original story by", but sharp-eyed viewers had no trouble discerning the inspiration for the plotline. The scene is a remote Arctic radar station. The garrison officers and enlistees are suddenly visited by people who claim to be their own loved ones, returned from the dead. These supposedly benign spectres are actually outer-space aliens who plan to take over the world. Thus, Distant Early Warning is little more than Bradbury's "Mars is Heaven" on ice. This videotaped fantasy was originally telecast on the late-night ABC anthology Wide World Mystery. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1975
Though there's no love lost between Jim Rockford (James Garner) and fellow ex-con Moss Williams (Eddie Fontaine), Jim agrees to help Moss locate his missing girlfriend Maria Heller (Mary Frann). What Williams doesn't tell Jim is that he isn't interested in Maria but in the girl's pearl necklace--and that Edgar Burch (M. Emmet Walsh) the "insurance agent" who talked Jim into taking the case, is a phony. Stuart Margolin makes his first series appearance as Jim Rockford's troublesome former cellmate Angel Martin. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1974
Future Newhart costar Mary Frann is cast as female FBI Agent Pat Driscoll. Inspector Lewis Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) is on the trail of a serial killer whose victims have all been members of the same college sorority. Inasmuch as Pat Driscoll is a former member of the benighted sorority, she agrees to set herself up as bait to trap the elusive psycho. This episode was directed by series regular Phillip Abbott. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1966
Waylon Jennings stars as an up-and-coming country & western singer in this low-budget musical drama. Arlin Grove (Jennings) has just finished a hitch in the Army and finds he's stranded in the small town of Morgan's Corner after being robbed by drunken rednecks. Grove is taken in by pretty Molly Morgan (Mary Frann) and her father, and it doesn't take long for Molly to become infatuated with the rugged stranger while nursing him back to health. Arlin and Molly soon marry, and after playing a few songs at a local honky-tonk, Grove becomes a professional musician when he's offered 75 dollars a week for a standing Saturday night gig. Word about Grove begins to spread, and entertainment lawyer Wesley Long (Gordon Oas-Heim) offers to take over his management and take him to the big time. Long's paramour Margo (CeCe Whitney) helps give Arlin's act some polish, and before long the singer is knocking 'em dead on the country circuit, and even playing the Grand Old Opry. However, Long takes it upon himself to break up Arlin and Molly's marriage, convinced it would be better for Grove's career if he were single, and Molly, now expecting a baby, is left heartbroken. Arlin soon finds himself of the other side of Long's machinations when the manager wrongly suspects his new client is having an affair with Margo; Long sabotages Grove with a booking at a ritzy supper club, and thinking his career is over, Grove turns to the bottle. Along with Jennings in his big screen debut, Nashville Rebel features vintage performances from Loretta Lynn, Faron Young, Porter Wagoner, Tex Ritter, Sonny James, and Henny Youngman. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Waylon Jennings
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