Frances Farmer died on this day 55 years ago

Has anyone read her autobiography, Will There Really Be a Morning?

I love how she just got on a bus one day moved to Eureka, CA. Can people still do that?

Mylène Jeanne Gautier took the last name 'Farmer' from her as tribute. That's a huge testament.

FF's memoir was finished for her by a "friend" who further sensationalized her story.

Dad. Her story would be fascinating enough without the sensationalizing

Oops that should be sad not dad

I read it 50 years ago, r1. Took it as gospel until I read Shadowland and I took that as gospel until people started taking a deeper dive into it.

Reply 7. Exactly. Shadowland pushed the lobotomy story, which the film of FF's life ran with. The author later recanted.

The "fictional" Harry York character is actually based on a real person, Seattle private detective, ex-convict, and con-man, Stewart O. Jacobson, who claimed to have been Frances Farmer's occasional lover and longtime confidant. Jacobson even got a FRANCES screen credit as a "Script Consultant." However, no one who knew Farmer recalled Frances ever mentioning him and there are no photos of them together, no correspondences or other mementos associating the two, so his claims are dubious.

Ironically, William Arnold author of "Shadowland" included Jacobson in his copyright infringement lawsuit against the FRANCES producers and exposed him as a fraud.

Clint Eastwood offered his take on Jessica Lange as Frances Farmer: “The worst piece of ham acting I’ve seen in my life. I just see technical bullshit when I watch an actress like her.”

Clint has some nerve attacking someone else's acting.

Have any DLers ever seen a Frances Farmer film?

R11, Yes. Come and Get It, The Toast of New York, and Son of Fury.

I've seen Son of Fury and The Toast of New York, too

Jessica has more talent in one quiff than Clint ever had in his leathery carcass.

I read Shadowland when it first hit paperback and it made the rounds among siblinga, Mom, aunts, cousins, uncles. I'm sure most who read it believed it.

OP's pic of Farmer looks almost as if it could have been taken today.

Lange was right for the role--her intensity should not be conflated with hamminess. She was magnetic, too, in Men Don't Leave. Clint needs to shut it. There are myriad good reason why Pauline Kael loathed him.

I recall Pauline saying she could not assess Clint's acting because first he would have to do some.

who has shared his information without profiting from Farmer.

OP, I know that Mr. Kauffman charged the author of this book for photos and wanted an extraordinary sum as payment for video of one of her TV shows.

[quote] Have any DLers ever seen a Frances Farmer film?

Yes. Come and Get It, Son of Fury, Flowing Gold, Badlands of Dakota.

I first saw her on TV in the latter, and as soon as she started speaking I thought, “Wow, she’s an ACTRESS.” She seems so grounded, with a beautifully low voice. She’s just very assured and naturally goddessy.

I can say that my mom knew a Hollywood hairdresser from that era, and he said some clients would call before coming in to say, “Does Miss Farmer have an appointment today? Because if she does, I’m changing mine.”

Lange Loon thread.

R21 The Lange Loon, if this is him, is a delight, and always welcome.

Eastwood preferred Frances Fisher ... for a time.

Here's a second piece I wrote about Frances, more about why Paramount gave up on her and about some of the roles she might have played, if she had been more mentally stable. Here's an excerpt: For me, the big question regarding the career of Frances Farmer is this: Did she get written off merely because she was “difficult?” I’m not talking about when she hit bottom in the early ‘40s, I’m referring to the late’30s, after Come and Get It. Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn faced similar battles with their respective studios—pushing back on foisted upon images, fighting for good roles and fending off bad ones, resisting inane publicity stunts, etc. During that same time, Davis sued Warner Brothers and Hepburn, labeled box office poison, fought to go back to Broadway, too. Yet, Bette and Kate persevered, and eventually prevailed. Frances often fought these battles, but didn’t emerge the ultimate victor because she didn’t have the stability or steel-willed self-confidence of Davis and Hepburn.

Who's her modern day equivalent? The girl from Animal House and Caddy Shack, Sarah Holcomb and more recently, Amanda Bynes? That one guy whose name I forget, whose career was taken over by Timothy Chalamet?

One story I heard about Farmer, in full period ball gown, drunk and rambling around the set, yelling, “Who do you have to fuck to get out of this town!”

Her movie EXCLUSIVE with co-star Fred MacMurray was released on Blu-Ray last month. It's fun to watch.

My favorite is SON OF FURY where she co-stars with Tyrone Power. Here's a clip with very low sound.

We used to watch her show in the afternoon. She showed old movies and interviewed different folks who came through town in stage shows. She also interviewed local folks.

Farmer's The Toast of New York co-star, Cary Grant summed up best why she didn't last in Hollywood: "She came to Hollywood knowing the rules but chose to flout them. She was self-destructive."

It's true that, like Farmer, Davis and Hepburn fought their battles with studio bosses for better roles and to preserve their integrity, but, in Davis' case anyway, she knew who paid the bills-- the movie audience. She did the obligatory press tours, she made public appearances, and she developed the gift of gab, which made her a delightful interview subject.

Hepburn was a tougher nut to crack. Like Farmer, she was wary of the press, often terse with reporters, and gave glib, sarcastic responses to inane fan magazine questions, earning her the label "Katharine of Arrogance." Movie audiences turned against her and after successive flops, she changed her ways and became a little more accessible.

Farmer, OTOH, plagued with depression, turned to alcohol, and continued on her destructive streak. Unlike Hepburn and Davis, Farmer lacked the discipline or know-how or ability to conform to the ways of Hollywood.

[quote]R28 Farmer lacked the discipline or know-how or ability to conform to the ways of Hollywood.

Maybe she also lacked an interest in sustaining a long Hollywood career.

Most of us would sell our souls to be !MOVIE STARS! but aside from the money, I don’t think Frances Farmer found making most of her movies to be very satisfying. (She didn’t even have affairs with costars.) And she wasn’t the type of person who needed a star’s salary to acquire jewels or fancy cars - that wasn’t her style.

R28 is why I still come to DL.

She was an exquisite looking woman. She reminds me a lot of my great aunt, who was also very beautiful in her youth. Farmer had beauty and elegance, but she also had brains and—well, some madness. She was an intelligent woman with a lot of problems. It seems she found some peace near the end of her life, which is nice to know, though she died far too young.

Forever immortalized to Gen X thanks to Kurt Cobain.

Don't forget that Bette and Kate set out to be actresses and they trained for it. They weren't "discovered".

R26 story is BS.

Is that what Lisa Nicole Carson suffered from (the chick from Ally McBeal)?

Please, R31, if she was new today the Datalounge would say she looked butch and gay.