Frances Farmer

Born in Seattle, 'Frances Farmer' (qv) studied drama at the University of Washington, Seattle. In 1935, she went to Hollywood where she secured a seven-year contract with Paramount. In 1943, she was wrongfully declared mentally incompetent and committed by her parents to a series of asylums and public mental hospitals, leading to a false rumor that she received a lobotomy. After seven years she was released, and spent some of the remaining years of her life tending the parents who had committed her and taking odd jobs. She appeared on _This Is Your Life (1950)_ (qv), and then her own TV show, 'Frances Farmer' (qv) Presents (1958) for six years. She died of cancer in 1970.::Alexander Lum < aj_lum@postoffice.utas.edu.au>