- Born
- Died
- Birth nameMary Frances Luecke
- Nickname
- Jennifer Douglas
- Mary Frann was born Mary Frances Luecke on February 27, 1943 in St. Louis, Missouri. She became a child model and acted in television commercials. At the age of eighteen she won the title of America's Junior Miss. She attended Northwestern University where she studied drama. She dropped out of college in 1964 and moved to Chicago. She hosted a morning talk show and acted in local theater. In 1966 she made her film debut in Nashville Rebel (1966), starring Waylon Jennings. Then she moved to Los Angeles to star on My Friend Tony (1969). She became best friends and roommates with actress Joan Van Ark. Mary married T.J. Escott, an actor and talent agent, on August 11, 1973.
She had a starring roles on Days Of Our Lives from 1974-79. She guest-starred in numerous televisions shows including Fantasy Island (1977), The Rockford Files (1974), WKRP in Cincinnati (1978), Hotel (1983), Hawaii Five-O (1968), and The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970). She and Escott separated in 1982. That same year she beat out two hundred other actresses for the role of Joanna Louden on Newhart (1982). The series was a huge success and made her a popular television star and personality.
Soon after her divorce she fell in love with John E. Cookman Jr., an insurance executive. As Mary got older she became obsessed with her weight. She took diet pills, counted calories, and exercised every day. After eight seasons Newhart (1982) came to an end in 1990. Three years later, she was diagnosed with a heart arrhythmia. She continued to act, making guest appearances on Diagnosis Murder (1993) and Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman (1993). In her spare time she enjoyed gardening, reading, and going to garage sales. Mary and John decided to get married in late 1998. She went on a strict diet so she would be thin on her wedding day.
On September 22, 1998, she attended a charity event for the Los Angeles mission. That night she died in her sleep from a heart attack, aged 55. Her recent diet apparently had put too much pressure on her heart. Her fiancé said, "I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. She was a wonderful woman." She was buried at Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Elizabeth Ann (updated by R.M. Sieger)
- SpouseT.J. Escott(August 11, 1973 - 1985) (divorced)
- Her sweaters on Newhart
- Her buxom figure
- Voluptuous figure
- Was active in charities, and the night before she died she was working with homeless women at the Los Angeles Mission, where she served on a celebrity volunteer committee.
- Frann died on September 23, 1998 in her sleep. She was found dead by her fiancé, John E. Cookman Jr. She had previously been diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia but autopsy results determined she had also suffered from an undiagnosed condition, lipomatosis with fibrosis (scarring of the heart muscle tissue).
- Best remembered by the public as Joanna Loudon on Newhart (1982).
- Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Frann was a child model and did live television commercials for a local station while she was in high school.
- Studied drama at Northwestern University and worked as weather reporter for the NBC station in St. Louis.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content