Fran Crowley

Infobox character
colour
name = Frances Marie Crowley


caption =
first = Vint and the Kids Move In
last = A Grave Mistake
nickname = Fran
alias =
gender = Female
born
death = 1984
age = 50s
occupation = Journalist
family = Thelma Harper
(sister) Vint Harper
(uncle) Eunice Higgins
(niece) Ellen Harper Jackson
(niece) Vinton "Buzz" Harper, Jr.
(great-nephew) Sonja Harper
(great-niece) Bubba Higgins
(great-nephew) Tiffany Thelma Harper
(great-niece)
romances = Chuck
(longtime "boyfriend") Dwight Neddleman
portrayed = Rue McClanahan
creater = Dick Clair

Frances Marie Crowley was a fictional character in the television sitcom "Mama's Family". She was played for the show's first two years by actress Rue McClanahan.

Childhood

She was born Frances Marie Crowley in Raytown, Missouri to a farmer, who cared a lot about his prize-winning hen, Bonite and a she-devil of a mother. She was very close with her sister, Thelma Harper. When Fran and Thelma were Camping Girl Scouts, Thelma almost drown in a lake and Fran jumped in to save her sister and gave her all of her marshmellows.

Adulthood

Fran is the uptight younger sister of acid-tongued Thelma Harper. At first, she was the only one living with Thelma, until the arrival of her nephew, Vinton "Vint" Harper and his children, Vinton "Buzz" Harper, Jr. and Sonja Harper. She was a journalist on one of Raytown's newspapers, "the Bugle". She was also a budding author, and had her own writing studio, which had been yanked from her by Thelma who needed the room for Sonja. (The room had originally belonged to Ellen Harper and Eunice Harper Higgins, Vinton's older sisters).

At times, Fran had felt that her privacy had been invaded because of Vint and his family moving in, namely because Sonja had read her manuscript. Another particular cross was that she had to share a bathroom with the kids. At least, Buzz kept his things in an orderly fashion, and for this won favor from Fran; while Sonja was a typical teenager, messy and earning more wrath from Fran.

Fran always looked like that she was one step away from a nervous breakdown, and she often stood up to her opinionated sister. At times, though, she would unbend, and let her hair down and have some fun. She showed this side of herself when she indulged in some wine at the wedding preparations for Vint and Naomi Harper.

However, after two years, (and because Rue McClanahan and Betty White, who played Ellen, had been asked to join the cast of "The Golden Girls") Fran had died as a result of swallowing a toothpick in the ladies room at the local bar and grill, The Bigger Jigger. Her room eventually went to her great nephew, Bubba Higgins, which caused Vint and Naomi great consternation, since they had been angling for that room.