Fran Ryan

As an American character actress, 'Fran Ryan' (qv) 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' (qv) 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)_ (qv) and quickly found her place as a last-minute replacement on several television shows. She replaced the late 'Barbara Pepper' (qv) in playing Doris Ziffel on the final season of _Green Acres (1965)_ (qv). She also successfully succeeded 'Amanda Blake' (qv) to play Miss Hannah on the final season of _Gunsmoke (1955)_ (qv). Ryan's best-known TV credits include _General Hospital (1963)_ (qv) and _No Soap, Radio (1982)_ (qv).Ryan also had supporting roles in major motion pictures including _Big Wednesday (1978)_ (qv), _The Long Riders (1980)_ (qv), _Stripes (1981)_ (qv), _Savannah Smiles (1982)_ (qv), _Private School (1983)_ (qv), _Eyes of Fire (1983)_ (qv) and _Pale Rider (1985)_ (qv). Although she was never far from television, she returned to play Hannah the Barbarian in the short lived animated series _Little Dracula (1991)_ (qv).'Fran Ryan' (qv) passed away at her home in Burbank, California on January 15, 2000 of natural causes.::Blythe379@cs.com