As an American character actress, Fran Ryan was a familiar face on
stage, screen and television from her theatrical stage debut in the
1950s and continuing for nearly three decades. Ryan's similarity to
actress
Marjorie Main was soon noticed in
the late 1960s, and she frequently played tough, mean-lipped, earthy
and gruff-but-lovable female characters.
One of Ryan's first major television roles was playing Aggie Thompson,
the housekeeper on
The Doris Day Show (1968)
and quickly found her place as a last-minute replacement on several
television shows. She replaced the late
Barbara Pepper in playing Doris Ziffel on
the final season of
Green Acres (1965). She also
successfully succeeded
Amanda Blake
to play Miss Hannah on the final season of
Gunsmoke (1955). Ryan's best-known
TV credits include
General Hospital (1963) and
No Soap, Radio (1982).
Ryan also had supporting roles in major motion pictures including
Big Wednesday (1978),
The Long Riders (1980),
Stripes (1981),
Savannah Smiles (1982),
Private School (1983),
Eyes of Fire (1983) and
Pale Rider (1985). Although she was
never far from television, she returned to play Hannah the Barbarian in
the short lived animated series
Little Dracula (1991).
Fran Ryan passed away at her home in Burbank, California on January 15,
2000 of natural causes.