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Frances Bergen
Frances Bergen
	Bergen in Yancy Derringer (1958)
Born	Frances Westerman; September 14, 1922; Birmingham, Alabama, U.S.
Died	October 2, 2006 (aged 84); Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	Frances Westcott
Occupation(s)	Film, television actress, model
Years active	1953–1998
Spouse	Edgar Bergen (m. 1945; died 1978)
Children	2; including Candice Bergen

Frances Bergen (née Westerman;^[1] September 14, 1922 – October 2, 2006) was an American actress and fashion model.^{[citation needed]} She was the wife of ventriloquist Edgar Bergen and the mother of actress Candice Bergen and film and television editor Kris Bergen.^[2]

Early life

In 1932, her father died of tuberculosis, when Frances was ten years old. Shortly after, her mother moved the family to Los Angeles. She graduated from Los Angeles High School.^[3]

Career

As an actress, Bergen had supporting or minor roles in a number of films. She made her debut in Titanic (1953),^[4] after which she appeared in Robert Z. Leonard's Her Twelve Men (1954), and Douglas Sirk's Interlude (1957). During the 1958-1959 television season, Frances became the recurring love interest on the western show Yancy Derringer as Madame Francine,^[5] the strong willed but beautiful owner of a members-only gambling house in New Orleans set in 1868. She also was featured on a 1956 record, The Beguiling Miss Frances Bergen, accompanied by accordionist Art Van Damme.

Bergen also made numerous other appearances on television, with guest starring roles on The Millionaire, The Dick Powell Show, Barnaby Jones, MacGyver, and Murder, She Wrote.

She returned to films in the 1980s, with small roles in American Gigolo (1980), The Sting II (1983), The Star Chamber (1983), The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), Hollywood Wives (1985) (starring her famous daughter), The Morning After (1986), and Made in America (1993). She also had a major part in Henry Jaglom's independently made film Eating (1990). She appeared on two episodes of Murphy Brown, her daughter's hit show, including Part One of the series finale in 1998.

Personal life

In 1941, Frances Westerman met Edgar Bergen after a radio program when he was 38 and she was 19. Westerman, who had graduated from Los Angeles High School the year before, was in the audience of Edgar Bergen's radio program as the guest of a member of his staff. Sitting in the front row, the young fashion model's long legs caught the attention of Bergen, who asked to meet her.^[6]

On June 28, 1945, the two were married in Mexico, after years of long distance courtship. They remained happily married until Edgar's death on September 30, 1978, at age 75.^{[citation needed]}

On May 9, 1946, the couple welcomed their first child, Candice Bergen.^[7] Fifteen years later, on October 12, 1961, they had a son, Kris Edgar Bergen, who would later become a film and television editor.^{[citation needed]}

Death

On October 2, 2006, aged 84, Bergen died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of undisclosed causes following "a prolonged illness".^[7]

Filmography

Year	Title	Role
1953	Titanic	Madeleine Astor
1954	Her Twelve Men	Sylvia Carlin
1957	Interlude	Gertrude Kirk
1980	American Gigolo	Mrs. Laudner
1981	Rich and Famous	Literary Party Guest
1983	The Sting II	Lady Dorsett
1983	The Star Chamber	Mrs. Cummins
1984	The Muppets Take Manhattan	Leonard Winesop's Receptionist
1986	The Morning After	Mrs. Harding
1990	Eating	Whitney
1993	Made in America	White Woman #2

References

^ Lentz, Harris M. III (2008). Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2006: Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture. McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-5211-8. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
^ Archerd, Army (October 4, 2006). "Frances Bergen Dies". Variety.
^ McLellan, Dennis (October 5, 2006). "Frances Bergen, 84, dies". The Daily Herald. California, Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Times. p. 22. Retrieved September 11, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Frances Bergen, 84, Actress and Model, Dies". The New York Times. Associated Press. October 8, 2006. ISSN 0362-4331.
^ Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 1201. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
^ Bergen, Candice (1984). Knock wood. New York: Linden Press. ISBN 0-671-25294-1. OCLC 10298903.
^ ^a ^b McLellan, Dennis (October 4, 2006). "Frances Bergen, 84; Actress' No. 1 Role Was as Wife and Mother to Stars". Los Angeles Times.