Biography
Fran Bennett was a prolific American film and television actress. Bennett was born in Malvern, Arkansas. She should not be confused with the 1950s actress of the same name (born Frances Eugenia Leonard, November 25, 1934, Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.). She made her acting debut in theater, before making her television debut on the daytime soap opera, Guiding Light. Bennett later had guest-starring roles in Roots: The Next Generations, Lou Grant, Dallas, Falcon Crest, Knots Landing, L.A. Law, and Dynasty.
Bennett had a regular role in the short-lived NBC medical drama Nightingales in 1989. She also had recurring roles in the daytime soap operas General Hospital, The Bold and the Beautiful and Sunset Beach. In prime time, she had recurring roles in Quantum Leap, In the Heat of the Night, Crisis Center and The Book of Daniel. In recent years, she appeared in Boston Legal, ER and Scandal. She played the coroner in an episode of “Remington Steele” January 14, 1986.
Bennett has appeared in a number of films, including Promises in the Dark (1979), How I Got Into College (1989), The Doctor (1991), Plymouth (1991), New Nightmare (1994), Foxfire (1996), The Next Best Thing (2000) and Jessabelle (2014).
From 1996 to 2003, she was head of the performance program in the School of Theater at the California Institute of the Arts.
