Fran Jeffries

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

Fran Jeffries
Jeffries in "The Pink Panther" (1963)
Born
Frances Ann Makris

(1937-05-18)May 18, 1937
Palo Alto, California U.S.
DiedDecember 15, 2016(2016-12-15) (aged 79)
Los Angeles, California U.S.
Resting placeHollywood Forever Cemetery
Years active1958–2000
Spouses
  • Edward E. Belasco
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1955, divorced)​
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1958; div. 1965)​
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1965; div. 1970)​
  • Steven Schaeffer
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1971; div. 1973)​
Children1

Early life

Jeffries was born Frances Ann Makris on May 18, 1937, in Palo Alto, 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 leading a line-dance with Peter Sellers, David Niven, and others.[3] Her supporting role as a professional entertainer in Sex and the Single Girl featured 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,"[4] 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.[5]

For a year, Jeffries sang with Bob Scobey's orchestra,[6] and while she was married to Dick Haymes, they had a nightclub act together.[7]

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!"[8] 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!"[9]

Personal life

Jeffries had a daughter, Stephanie, with second husband Dick Haymes.[1] She was married to director Richard Quine (1965–1970) and Steven Schaeffer (1971–1973).[2]

Death

Jeffries died from multiple myeloma on December 15, 2016, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 79.[1]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1958 The Buccaneer Cariba – Mawbee Girl
1963 The Pink Panther Greek "cousin"
1964 Sex and the Single Girl Gretchen
1965 Harum Scarum Aishah
1969 A Talent for Loving Maria

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
Recorded Title Label Catalogue No. Format
1960 Fran Can Really Hang You Up the Most Warwick W2020 LP/CD
1964 Fran Jeffries Sings of Sex and the Single Girl MGM Records SE-4268 LP/CD
1966 This Is Fran Jeffries Monument Records SLP-18069 LP/CD
2000 All the Love Varèse Sarabande 302 066 187 2 CD

Singles
Recorded Title Label Catalogue No. Format
1964 Sex and the Single Girl? MGM Records 45 r.p.m.
1966 Take Me (Tutta La Gente Del Mondo)/Honey and Wine Monument 45-1036
1967 Life Goes On/My Lonely Corner 45-1015
1968 Gone Now/I've Been Wrong Before 45-1089

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. Archived from the original on April 6, 2023. 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. Inman, David M. (2014). Television Variety Shows: Histories and Episode Guides to 57 Programs. McFarland. p. 237. ISBN 978-0786421985.
  5. "Specials Give Barnett New $". Billboard. Vol. 82, no. 49. December 5, 1970.
  6. Novak, Ralph (February 25, 1972). "Fran Jeffries More Than Starlet". The Town Talk. Louisiana, Alexandria. p. 18. Retrieved June 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Parish, James Robert; Pitts, Michael R. (2003). Hollywood Songsters: Garland to O'Connor. Taylor & Francis. p. 376. ISBN 9780415943338. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
  8. "Playboy Magazine February 1971 vol. 18, no. 2". Vintage Playboy Mags. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  9. "Playboy Magazine September 1982 vol. 29, no. 9". Vintage Playboy Mags. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
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