Noel Francis
| Noel Francis | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born |
Noel Frances Sweeney August 31, 1906 Temple, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | October 30, 1959 (aged 53) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1925–1937 |
Noel Francis (August 31, 1906 – October 30, 1959) was an American actress of the stage and screen during the 1920s and 1930s. Born in Texas, she began her acting career on the Broadway stage in the mid-1920s, before moving to Hollywood at the beginning of the sound film era. Originally cast in films for her song and dance abilities, when musicals began to fall out of favor, she became better known for her tough girl characters. However, by the mid-1930s, she was being typecast into smaller roles, and made an attempt at a comeback on Broadway. When that failed, she returned briefly to Hollywood to make several B films, before retiring in 1937.
Francis was born Noel Frances Sweeney on August 31, 1906, in Temple, Texas, and grew up in Dallas. After high school, Francis attended Southern Methodist University and moved to New York City, where she attended Columbia University.
Her break came when she was 19 years old, when she was cast as a Ziegfeld girl in the Broadway production, Ziegfeld Follies of 1925. For the remainder of the decade she worked constantly for Florenz Ziegfeld, appearing in three more of his productions in featured roles, including a major role in the musical comedy, Rio Rita, which starred the comedy duo of Wheeler and Woolsey. Curiously, when Wheeler and Woolsey reprised their stage roles in a very successful 1929 film of the same name, Francis was not cast in the film, most likely because she was one of the stars in the Broadway production of Show Girl, which also starred Jimmy Durante, Eddie Foy, Jr., and Ruby Keeler.
While appearing in Show Girl, talent scouts from Fox Film saw her song and dance ability and signed her to a contract, intending for her to appear in musicals. Her debut film was in a featured role in the Fox's big budget musical of the year, New Movietone Follies of 1930. Her performance garnered good reviews by the New York Times, even though the film did not due well at the box office, due to flagging audience interest in these type of musical reviews. She had featured roles in two more films that year, including the John Ford comedy Up the River.
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