Anne Francine

Anne Francine (August 8, 1917 – December 3, 1999) was an American actress and cabaret singer. She is well known for her role as villain Flora Simpson Reilly in the American television series Harper Valley PTA.

Biography

Francine began performing as a cabaret singer in the 1930s at the Coq Rouge. Other notable engagements included the Copacabana and the Algonquin. She sang abroad in London and Paris in the 1940s.

She made her Broadway debut in 1954 with Shirley Booth in By the Beautiful Sea. She stepped in for Bea Arthur as Vera Charles in the 1966 Broadway production of Mame, starring Angela Lansbury. She and Lansbury reprised their characters in the 1983 revival. Francine last appeared on Broadway in 1987 as Mrs. Harcourt in the Lincoln Center revival of Anything Goes, starring Patti LuPone.

In 1979, she starred as the Queen in the musical adaption of the 1937 animated film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

Her film work included Savages, Crocodile Dundee and Fellini's Juliet of the Spirits.