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

Early life

Jeffries was born Frances Ann Makris on May 18, 1937, in

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. The city was es ...

, the daughter of Esther A. (née Gautier) and Steven G. Makris, a Greek-immigrant barbershop owner.

Career

Jeffries's film debut came in the 1958 film '' The Buccaneer.'' 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 Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show'', featured on a number of hit comic songs ...

David Niven James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in '' Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...

, and others. Her supporting role as a professional entertainer in ''

Sex and the Single Girl ''Sex and the Single Girl'' is a 1962 non-fiction book by American writer Helen Gurley Brown, written as an advice book that encouraged women to become financially independent and experience sexual relationships before or without marriage. The ...

'' 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," as well as ''

The Smokey Robinson Show ''The Smokey Robinson Show'' was a 1970 musical variety special starring Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. It aired on ABC on December 18, 1970, and featured guest stars The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, and Las Vegas singer/performe ...

'' the following year, in which she did solo numbers as well as a duet with

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive director. He was the founder and front man of the Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he was also chief ...

and

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...

and the rest of the cast. For a year, Jeffries sang with Bob Scobey's orchestra, and while she was married to

Dick Haymes Richard Benjamin Haymes (September 13, 1918 – March 28, 1980) was an Argentinian singer and actor. He was one of the most popular male vocalists of the 1940s and early 1950s. He was the older brother of Bob Haymes, an actor, television host, ...

, they had a nightclub act together. She was featured in ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

'' in the February 1971 issue (Volume 18 Number 2) at the age of 33 in a pictorial titled "Fran-tastic!" 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!"

Personal life

Jeffries was in (at least) four marriages. Jeffries married the pianist Ed Belasco in 1955; they were divorced in 1957. She and the singer

married in 1958 and divorced in 1964. The couple had a daughter, Stephanie (b. 1959). She was also married to the director

Richard Quine Richard Quine (November 12, 1920June 10, 1989) was an American director, actor, and singer. He began acting as a child in radio, vaudeville, and stage productions before being signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in his early twenties. When his acting ...

(1965-1970) and Steven Schaeffer (1971-1973).

Death

Jeffries died from

multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone pain, ...

on December 15, 2016, in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 79.

Filmography

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 "Meglio stasera" (known in English as "It Had Better Be Tonight") is a 1963 song in samba rhythm with music by Henry Mancini, Italian lyrics by Franco Migliacci and English lyrics by Johnny Mercer. It was composed for the 1963 film '' The Pink Pa ...

" and " The Anniversary Song" in films. In 1966, Jeffries recorded an album for

Monument Records Monument Records is an American record label in Washington, D.C. named for the Washington Monument, founded in 1958 by Fred Foster, Buddy Deane (a prominent Baltimore disc jockey at WTTG), and business manager Jack Kirby. Buddy Deane soon left ...

entitled ''This Is Fran Jeffries'', which was a collection of standards and popular songs, produced by

Fred Foster Fred Luther Foster (July 26, 1931 – February 20, 2019) was an American record producer, songwriter, and music business executive who founded Monument Records. As a record producer he was most closely associated with Roy Orbison, and was also ...

with arrangements by Dick Grove and

Bill Justis William Everett Justis Jr. (October 14, 1926 – July 16, 1982) was an American pioneer rock and roll musician, composer, and musical arranger, best known for his 1957 Grammy Hall of Fame song, " Raunchy". As a songwriter, he was also often credi ...

, including a rendition of

Lennon–McCartney Lennon–McCartney was the songwriting partnership between English musicians John Lennon (1940–1980) and Paul McCartney (born 1942) of the Beatles. It is the best-known and most successful musical collaboration ever by records sold, with the ...

's " Yesterday". In 2000, she released a recording ''All the Love'', again a collection of standards.

Albums

Singles

References

External links

*
Timeline
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffries 1937 births 2016 deaths Actresses from the San Francisco Bay Area American film actresses American women singers American people of Greek descent Deaths from multiple myeloma Deaths from cancer in California MGM Records artists Monument Records artists 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American women