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During the 1940s, Frances Rafferty was known as a pouty-lipped glamour girl in "B" movies, but in the following decade, she transformed her image to that of a wholesome housewife on television.
Frances Anne Rafferty and her family moved from Sioux City, Iowa, to Los Angeles during the Depression in search of work. With a passion for the arts from a young age, she earned a scholarship to the Edith Jane Dancing School and later enrolled at UCLA after high school. However, she left college when she landed an understudy role for dancer Vera Zorina in the 1940 film I Was an Adventuress, which was choreographed by the legendary George Balanchine.
A serious leg injury sustained during a performance of "The Firebird" at the Hollywood Bowl shifted her focus from dance to acting. Under the guidance of esteemed teacher Maria Ouspenskaya, Frances signed with MGM at 19 and debuted with a dancing role in Presenting Lily Mars (1943), starring Judy Garland. She also appeared in The War Against Mrs. Hadley (1942), Barbary Coast Gent (1944), and Mrs. Parkington (1944). Her almond-shaped eyes gave her a slightly exotic appeal, which she utilized in her standout role in Dragon Seed (1944) as an ill-fated Oriental girl who is raped and murdered. Her dancing talents were also showcased in the comedy Bud Abbott and Lou Costello in Hollywood (1945), particularly in the elaborate "On the Midway" number.
Though unable to land leading roles in "A" films, Frances remained a strong "B" movie co-star with postwar appearances in Bad Bascomb (1946), Lost Honeymoon (1947), Curley (1947), and An Old-Fashioned Girl (1949). However, none of these roles significantly advanced her career.
Her first marriage to John Harlan in 1944 lasted three years. In 1948, she married Thomas R. Baker, an Air Force colonel who later managed the Los Alamitos Racetrack. Together they had two children, Bridget and Kevin. After a role in The Shanghai Story (1954), Frances shifted her focus to television. A friendship with comedienne Lucille Ball helped her secure the co-starring role of Ruth Henshaw, daughter of Spring Byington, on the popular Desilu sitcom December Bride (1954), a role for which she is best remembered. When Harry Morgan, who played Pete Porter on the show, spun off his character into Pete and Gladys (1960), Frances joined the cast as Nancy, the next-door neighbor. The series, co-starring Cara Williams as Gladys, lasted only one season.
After the cancellation of Pete and Gladys, Frances quietly semi-retired, making only a few television appearances before withdrawing completely. Later, she and her husband raised quarter horses in California. She passed away from natural causes in 2004 at age 81 in Paso Robles, where she had helped establish a local acting group called the Pioneer Players.
