Biographie
Frances Mignano is an actress, singer, dancer, producer, and writer. She was born on November 2nd in Brooklyn, New York, as the only girl among six siblings, raised alongside five brothers. She was born between two sets of twins. Her parents, Frank Mignano and Josephine Faraci (deceased), were both of Italian and Sicilian descent. Her mother, Josephine Faraci, who grew up in Williamsburg-Bushwick, Brooklyn, N.Y., was also a singer and worked as a child seamstress in a factory, as well as in a local pastry and donut shop during the Great Depression. Frances shared a close bond with her father, Frank (Francis, Francesco) Mignano, a longshoreman who grew up in Carroll Gardens, Red Hook, downtown Brooklyn, NY. Frank won the 5th-grade science fair by building his own radio but had to leave school in the 6th grade to work in a chemical factory and assist his father with a mozzarella business. He grew up poor on the streets alongside his elders, who did whatever it took to make ends meet. Life during the Depression was extremely hard, with people lining up for bread, cheese, and milk. Frank left his old life behind to become a devoted husband and father, a great family man. Frances has said, "I am my father's daughter and my mother's child." She takes pride in her children, Anthony Carmelo Brannan Jr., a gifted student at CIG, and Frank Mignano Brannan, who graduated from the prestigious Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan, N.Y. Her idol is Frances Ethel Gumm, better known as Judy Garland. "When I was around one or two years old, my mother would place me on top of the kitchen table while she played her favorite songs sung by Judy. I would sing them too—that's how I learned to sing, with no vocal instructors, as my parents couldn't afford it—just me and my love for Judy Garland.
