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Frances Rafferty
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Frances Rafferty was one of those leggy, pretty girls that movie studios used to sign to "starlet" contracts. She languished at MGM in the early 1940s. For instance, she was the leading lady in "Abbott and Costello in Hollywood" in 1945. Not a sign of rapid career growth. But she became very popular in CBS' 1954-60 sitcom "December Bride," in which she played Spring Byington's married daughter, Ruth. She went on to the spinoff, "Pete and Gladys," in a supporting role in 1961-62.
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Frances Rafferty (June 16, 1922 - April 18, 2004) was an American actress, dancer and World War II pin-up girl. Born in Sioux City, Iowa, she moved with her family to Los Angeles, California at age nine. At a young age she studied dancing, and her physical attributes and dancing skills led to work in the film industry.
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From All Movie Guide: While still attending U.C.L.A., Frances Rafferty was signed as a stock actress by MGM. Her resemblance to Donna Reed, both physically and in terms of technique, might lead one to believe that MGM was keeping Rafferty on the payroll to play any roles that Ms. Reed might choose to avoid. Outside of her performance as Orchid in Dragon Seed (1944) and her engaging leading lady stint in Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1945), Rafferty did very little of consequence during her MGM years. Frances Rafferty finally became a star of sorts in the role of Ruth Henshaw on the mid-'50s TV sitcom December Bride and its 1961 sequel, Pete and Gladys. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Frances Anne Rafferty dreamed of a dance career until an accident at the Hollywood Bowl changed her life. At a dress rehearsal for the ballet "The Firebird" in 1940, with Igor Stravinsky conducting, Rafferty fell on the concrete stage, breaking a kneecap. Months of recovery awaited. Rafferty's best friend, actress Alexis Smith, encouraged her to take drama lessons, and that's how Rafferty became a glamorous movie actress in the 1940s and then a major player on television in the 1950s. Rafferty was born in Sioux City on June 26, 1922, the daughter of Maxwell Rafferty, who ran Rafferty's Wallpaper and Paint Co. Today the actress recalls her years as a child in the Country Club district of the city, living with her parents and brother Max in "a lovely two-story house near Prairie Creek, which sometimes flooded."
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Born in Sioux City, Iowa, Rafferty moved to Los Angeles with her family in 1931. After a stint as a dancer ended with a fall on the Hollywood Bowl stage, she turned to acting and ... became a favorite World War II pinup.
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Real estate and estate planning attorney Frances E. Rafferty has opened the Marblehead office of Millett & Rafferty. She joins Attorney Thomas D. Millett, CPA in the practice of tax, estate, business and real estate planning, implementation and compliance for business owners, families, executives and professionals.
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