Born in Seattle, Frances Farmer 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" for six years. She died of cancer in 1970.
Following her death, she was interred at Oakland Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Fishers, Indiana.
"Frances Farmer My Hero--The Unauthorized Biography" is a rock opera based on the life of the tragic screen star.
Stephen Cush, a member of the British group "The Men They Couldnt Hang", wrote a song called "Lobotomy Gets Em Home" in memory of her after he saw the biographical film Frances . The song appears on the album "Silvertown" on Silvertone Records.
Singer Patterson Hood included the song "Frances Farmer" in his 2004 album "Killers and Stars", which features Farmers picture on the cover.
Culture Club and Everything But The Girl both wrote songs about her, "The Medal Song" and "Ugly Little Dreams", respectively.
French-Canadian singer Mylne Farmer chose her stage name in homage to Frances, and her first hit song, "Maman a tort", in 1984 was about the actress.
She was the subject of the song "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle" in the 1993 album "In-Utero" by the grunge rock band Nirvana.
Her rise and tragic fall were documented in the film Frances with Jessica Lange in the lead role. She received an Academy Award nomination for best actress for her performance.
She inspired several literature works: "Gods Peculiar Care" by Patrick Roscoe (from the title of Farmers lost biographical novel), the thriller "The Canvas Prison" by Gordon DeMarco and the collection of short stories "Las fotografas de Frances Farmer" by Peruvian author Ivn Thays.
The actress was the subject of several theater plays: "The Frances Farmer Story" by Sebastian Stuart , "Golden Girl" by Peter Occhiogrosso and "Saint Frances of Hollywood" by Sally Clarke.
For her very special tribute appearance on "This Is Your Life" (1952) , Frances was given an automobile - an Edsel.
Director Howard Hawks said he considered her the best actress he ever worked with.
Attended and graduated from West Seattle High School.
Attended and graduated from the University of Washington (1935).
[on her experience as a mental patient] Never console yourself into,believing that the terror has passed, for it looms as large and evil,today as it did in the despicable era of Bedlam. But I must relate the,horrors as I recall them, in the hope that some force for mankind might,be moved to relieve forever the unfortunate creatures who are still,imprisoned in the back wards of decaying institutions.
[on her reaction to her high school essay "God Dies"] It was pretty sad,because for the first time, I found how stupid people could be. It sort,of made me feel alone in the world. The more people pointed at me in,scorn, the more stubborn I got, and when they began calling me the Bad,Girl of West High School, I tried to live up to it.
For eight years I was an inmate in a state asylum for the insane. During those years I passed through such unbearable terror that I deteriorated into a wild, frightened creature intent only on survival. And I survived. I was raped by orderlies, gnawed on by rats and poisoned by tainted food. I was chained in padded cells, strapped into strait-jackets and half-drowned in ice baths. And I survived. The asylum itself was a steel trap, and I was not released from its jaws alive and victorious. I crawled out mutilated, whimpering and terribly alone. But I did survive.
If a person is treated like a patient, they are apt to act like one. .
