Fran Jeffries (born Frances Ann Makris; May 18, 1937 – December 15, 2016) was an American singer, dancer, actress, and model.
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 dancing provocatively around a fireplace.[3] Her figure was highlighted, albeit briefly, in a minor role in Sex and the Single Girl.
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" from 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. [4]
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
In the 1950s, Jeffries married pianist Ed Belasco. They were divorced in that same decade. She and singer Dick Haymes married in 1958 and divorced in 1965. The couple had a daughter, Stephanie.[1] She was also married to director Richard Quine (1965-1969) and Steven Schaeffer (1971-1973).[2]
Death
Jeffries suffered from multiple myeloma, a strain of cancer, in her last years. She died of the disease on December 15, 2016 in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 79.[1] She is buried at Hollywood Forever Cemetery.
Filmography
The Buccaneer (1958) as Cariba - Mawbee Girl
The Pink Panther (1963) as Greek "cousin"
Sex and the Single Girl (1964) as Gretchen
Harum Scarum (1965) as Aishah
Discography
"Sex and the Single Girl" was released on MGM in 1964 as a single and an LP. 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." Other recordings include an LP on Warwick (Fran: Can Really Hang You Up The Most). In 2000, she released a recording All the Love, again a collection of standards.[1]
Song recordings:
"Sex and the Single Girl"
"Yesterday"
"Springtime (Can Really Hang You Up the Most)"
"All the Love"
"Gone Now"
"My Lonely Corner"
"Life Goes On"
"Honey and Wine"
Songs for movies:
"Meglio Stasera"
"Sex and the Single Girl"
"The Anniversary Song"
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. ...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. The Smokey Robinson Show.
5. Parish, James Robert; Pitts, Michael R. (2003). Hollywood Songsters: Garland to O'Connor. Taylor and Francis. p. 376. ISBN 9780415943338.
6. Profile, movies.nytimes.com
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