Fran Jeffries

Fran Jeffries (born Frances Ann Makris; May 18, 1937 – December 15, 2016) was an American singer, dancer, actress, and model.

Fran Jeffries
Born
Frances Ann Makris

(1937-05-18)May 18, 1937
Mayfield, California, U.S.
DiedDecember 15, 2016(2016-12-15) (aged 79)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Resting placeHollywood Forever Cemetery
Years active1958–2000
Spouse(s)Ed Blasco
(m. 195?; div. 195?)
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(m. 1958; div. 1965)​

​
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(m. 1965; div. 1969)​

Steven Schaeffer
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(m. 1971; div. 1973)​
Children1

Early life

Jeffries was born Frances Ann Makris on May 18, 1937, in Mayfield, California, the daughter of Esther A. (née Gautier) and Steven G. Makris, a Greek-immigrant barbershop owner.[1]

Career

Jeffries's film debut came in the 1958 film The Buccaneer.[2] She appeared in the 1963 film The Pink Panther, in which she sang "Meglio Stasera (It Had Better Be Tonight)" while glamorously leading a line-dance around a fireplace, including Peter Sellers and David Niven among other movie celebrities of that period. [3] Her supporting role as a professional entertainer in Sex and the Single Girl served to feature her as a singer-dancer.

She sang on The Tom Jones Show in 1969 with the host, doing a duet of "You've Got What it Takes," as well as The Smokey Robinson Show the following year, in which she did solo numbers as well as a duet with Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder and the rest of the cast.

For a year, Jeffries sang with Bob Scobey's orchestra,[4] and while she was married to Dick Haymes, they had a nightclub act together.[5]

She was featured in Playboy in the February 1971 issue (Volume 18 Number 2) at the age of 33 in a pictorial titled "Fran-tastic!" In September 1982 she posed a second time for Playboy, this time at the age of 45. This second pictorial (Volume 29 Number 9) was titled "Still Fran-tastic!"[6]

Personal life

Jeffries was in (at least) four marriages. Jeffries married pianist Ed Belasco in 1955; they were divorced in 1957. She and singer Dick Haymes married in 1958 and divorced in 1964. The couple had a daughter, Stephanie (b. 1959).[1] She was also married to director Richard Quine (1965-1970) and Steven Schaeffer (1971-1973).[2]

Death

Jeffries suffered from multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer, in her last years. She died of the disease on December 15, 2016 in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 79.[1]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1958The BuccaneerCariba - Mawbee Girl
1963The Pink PantherGreek "cousin"
1964Sex and the Single GirlGretchen
1965Harum ScarumAishah
1969A Talent for LovingMaria

Discography

"Sex and the Single Girl" was released on MGM in 1964 as a single and an LP. She also sang the songs "Meglio Stasera" and "The Anniversary Song" in films. In 1966, Jeffries recorded an album for Monument Records entitled This Is Fran Jeffries, which was a collection of standards and popular songs, produced by Fred Foster with arrangements by Dick Grove and Bill Justis, including a rendition of Lennon–McCartney's "Yesterday". In 2000, she released a recording All the Love, again a collection of standards.[1]

Albums
RecordedTitleLabelCatalogue No.Format
1960Fran Can Really Hang You Up the MostWarwickW2020LP/CD
1964Fran Jeffries Sings of Sex and the Single GirlMGM RecordsSE-4268LP/CD
1966This Is Fran JeffriesMonument RecordsSLP-18069LP/CD
2000All the LoveVarèse Sarabande302 066 187 2CD

Singles
RecordedTitleLabelCatalogue No.Format
1964Sex and the Single Girl?MGM Records45 r.p.m.
1966Take Me (Tutta La Gente Del Mondo)/Honey and WineMonument45-1036
1967Life Goes On/My Lonely Corner45-1015
1968Gone Now/I've Been Wrong Before45-1089

References
  1. Grimes, William (December 20, 2016). "Fran Jeffries, an Actress Who Performed a Sexy Samba in 'The Pink Panther,' Dies at 79". The New York Times. p. A19. Retrieved April 28, 2017. ...she is survived by a daughter, Stephanie Haymes-Roven...
  2. Lentz, Harris III. "Fran Jeffries, 79". Classic Images (500): 55–56.
  3. Video on YouTube
  4. Novak, Ralph (February 25, 1972). "Fran Jeffries More Than Starlet". The Town Talk. Louisiana, Alexandria. p. 18. Retrieved June 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. Parish, James Robert; Pitts, Michael R. (2003). Hollywood Songsters: Garland to O'Connor. Taylor & Francis. p. 376. ISBN 9780415943338. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  6. Profile, movies.nytimes.com; accessed March 4, 2015.
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