Fran Jeffries

Frances Makris "Fran" Jeffries (May 18, 1937 – December 15, 2016) was an American singer, dancer, actress, and model.

She appeared in the 1963 film The Pink Panther, in which she sang "Meglio Stasera (It Had Better Be Tonight)" while dancing provocatively around a fireplace. She sang the opening song "Shadows of Paris" in the first sequel, A Shot in the Dark, although she was uncredited. Her figure was highlighted, albeit briefly, in a minor role in Sex and the Single Girl.

She sang on The Tom Jones Show in 1969 with the host, doing a duet of "You've Got What it Takes" as well as "The Smokey Robinson Show" from the following year, in which she did solo numbers as well as a duet with Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder and the rest of the cast. She was featured in Playboy several years later in 1971 at the age of 33 in a pictorial entitled "Frantastic!" In 1982 she posed a second time for Playboy at the age of 45. This second pictorial was titled "Still Frantastic!".

Personal life

Fran Jeffries was born Frances Ann Makris to Esther A. (née Gautier) and Steven G. Makris, a Greek-immigrant barbershop owner. She died on December 15, 2016 in Los Angeles at age 79 from multiple myeloma.

Filmography

• The Buccaneer (1958) as Cariba - Mawbee Girl
• The Pink Panther (1963) as Greek "cousin"
• Sex and the Single Girl (1964) as Gretchen
• Harum Scarum (1965) as Aishah
• A Talent for Loving (1969) as Maria

Discography

"Sex and the Single Girl" was released on MGM in 1964 as a single and an LP. In 1966, Jeffries recorded an album for Monument Records entitled This Is Fran Jeffries, which was a collection of standards and popular songs, produced by Fred Foster with arrangements by Dick Grove and Bill Justis, including a rendition of Lennon–McCartney's "Yesterday". Other recordings include an LP on Warwick (Fran: Can Really Hang You Up The Most). In 2000, she released a recording All the Love, again a collection of standards.

Song recordings:

• "Sex and the Single Girl"
• "Yesterday"
• "Springtime (Can Really Hang You Up the Most)"
• "All the Love"
• "Gone Now"
• "My Lonely Corner"
• "Life Goes On"
• "Honey and Wine"
• "Ain't Misbehavin'"

Songs for movies:

• "Meglio Stasera"
• "Sex and the Single Girl"
• "The Anniversary Song"
• "Shadows Of Paris"