Frances E. Williams

Acting

Frances E. Williams

Born 1905-09-17 · East Orange, New Jersey, USA

Frances Elizabeth Williams (September 17, 1905 – January 2, 1995) was an American actress, activist, theatre producer, organizer, and community worker. Williams was the first black woman to run for the California State Assembly in 1948 on the Progressive Ticket and served on the boards of the Screen Actors Guild, Actors' Lab, and Actors Equity. She represented the World Peace Council at the first Angola Independence Celebration in 1975, and co-founded the Art Against Apartheid Movement in Los Angeles in the 1980s. Williams began her acting career in the late 1930s, joining the cast of the play You Can't Take It with You. The company went on tour across the U.S. for two years. She appeared in two of Oscar Micheaux’s films, Lying Lips, 1939, and The Notorious Elinor Lee, 1940. Her first Hollywood film role was as Amy in Magnificent Doll (1946), followed by The Reckless Moment (1949) and Show Boat (1951). While she appeared on stage, in over forty films, on television shows in minor roles, and in commercials, Williams' biggest role to date came in 1987, when she played Miss Marie in the comedy-drama series Frank's Place starring Tim Reid. Despite being well received by many fans and critics, it was cancelled after one season (1987–1988).

Acting credits

The Ambush Murders poster
8.0

An African-American political activist is wrongfully imprisoned for killing two white policemen; he is unwary of yet another white lawyer who claims that he will help free him.

The Ambush Murders

1982

The Jerk poster
6.9

After discovering he's not really black like the rest of his family, likable dimwit Navin Johnson sets off on a hilarious misadventure that takes him from rags to riches and back again. The slaphappy jerk strikes it rich, but life in the fast lane isn't all it's cracked up to be and, in the end, all that really matters to Johnson is his true love.

The Jerk

1979

The Reckless Moment poster
6.8

After discovering the dead body of her teenage daughter's lover, a housewife takes desperate measures to protect her family from scandal.

The Reckless Moment

1949

There Goes My Baby poster
6.2

It's the summer of 1965, and the members of the graduating class of upscale Westwood High are eager to reinvent themselves. Valedictorian Mary Beth wants to attend a liberal university. Surfer bum Stick plans to enlist to fight in Vietnam. Calvin lives in the poor Watts section of Los Angeles, which is slowly erupting in violence. As the summer nights grow long, they'll all be forced to make decisions that will affect the rest of their lives.

There Goes My Baby

1994

The Glove poster
5.1

In this actioner, a bounty hunter is assigned to bring back an enormous and angry ex-convict who wears a deadly glove made of leather and steel. Rock'em sock'em mayhem ensues.

The Glove

1979

Together Brothers poster
4.8

A group of ghetto kids try to find out who killed a popular police officer.

Together Brothers

1974

Three Secrets poster
6.5

A five-year-old boy is the sole survivor of a devastating plane crash in the mountains of California. When the newspapers reveal the boy was adopted and that the crash occurred on his birthday, three women begin to ponder if it's the son each gave up for adoption. As the three await news of his rescue at a mountain cabin, they recall incidents from five years earlier and why they were forced to give up their son.

Three Secrets

1950

The Family Secret poster
6.1

When his son accidentally kills someone, a lawyer must defend the man wrongly charged with the murder.

The Family Secret

1951

A Piece of the Action poster
5.8

How does retired cop Joshua Burke (James Earl Jones) get two career criminals, Manny Durrell (Sidney Poitier) and Dave Anderson (Bill Cosby), to follow the straight and narrow? Con them into helping juvenile delinquents turn over a new leaf. But how? Burke has never been able to nail the duo, but he uses what he knows of their seedy past to blackmail them into volunteering.

A Piece of the Action

1977

Magnificent Doll poster
6.1

While packing her belongings in preparation of evacuating the White House because of the impending British invasion of Washington D.C., Dolly Payne Madison thinks back on her childhood, her first marriage, and later romances with two very different politicians, Aaron Burr and his good friend James Madison. She plays each against the other, not only for romantic reasons, but also to influence the shaping of the young country. By manipulating Burr's affections, she helps Thomas Jefferson win the presidency, and eventually she becomes First Lady of the land herself.

Magnificent Doll

1946

Rented Lips poster
3.8

A documentary filmmaker, who has spent the last 15 years making films like "Aluminum: Our Shiny Friend," is finally given the chance to make the documentary on Indian farming he has always wanted to. The catch? He must simultaneously direct a porn film. But as he tries to make the porn film, which he turns into a musical called "Halloween in the Barracks," he must deal with a temperamental actor, a fundamentalist preacher, and other obstacles.

Rented Lips

1988

A Dream for Christmas poster
7.3

A Southern minister is assigned to a poor church in California where the congregation is drifting away and the church itself is scheduled for demolition.

A Dream for Christmas

1973

Sister, Sister poster
7.5

Heated confrontations and revelations result when a divorcee returns with her young son to the home of her two sisters.

Sister, Sister

1982

Her Sister's Secret poster
7.2

A WWII tale of romance that begins during New Orlean's "Mardi Gras" celebration when a soldier and a girl meet and fall in love. He asks her to marry him but she decides to wait until his next leave. He is sent overseas and she does not receive his letter and feels abandoned, but she does find out she is pregnant. She gives the child to her married sister and does not see her child again for three years. She returns to her sister's home to reclaim the child, and the soldier, who has been searching for her, also turns up. The sister is not interested in giving up the child. Written by Les Adams

Her Sister's Secret

1946

Week-End with Father poster
6.0

Two single parents shock their children by falling in love.

Week-End with Father

1951

Father of Hell Town poster
NR

In this pilot to the short-lived "Hell Town," Robert Blake plays a scrappy, ex-convict-turned-ghetto priest in an impoverished inner-city parish.

Father of Hell Town

1985

Midnight Ramble poster
7.3

A documentary chronicling the pioneering efforts of black filmmaker William D. Foster in the early years of the industry and Oscar Micheaux's controversial impact on the subsequent "race movies".

Midnight Ramble

1994

Queen for a Day poster
7.5

Adapted from the TV and radio series of the same name, the producer of said show reads letters from three woman providing the framing story for this melodrama anthology film. The tales focus on parenting and family struggles.

Queen for a Day

1951

Lying Lips poster
5.0

A nightclub singer refuses to "date" customers, so she's framed for the murder of her aunt.

Lying Lips

1939

The Black Klansman poster
6.4

After his daughter is killed by the KKK, a black man seeks revenge by passing as white and becoming a Klansman.

The Black Klansman

1966

Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes poster
3.9

In 1950s Harlem a vicious Italian gangster (Frank deKova) tries to muscle in on a black racketeer's (Paul Harris) numbers game.

Baby Needs a New Pair of Shoes

1974