Frances Upton (April 15, 1904 – November 27, 1975) was an American

Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of ...

actress and comedian.

Early life

Upton attended a business college after she finished high school. Her father, Francis, was a decorated New York City detective sergeant and World War I veteran., formerly of the ''Italian Squad'', and recalled from retirement, to help investigate, apprehended "Dago" Frank Cirofici, among the accomplices of

NYPD The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...

Lieutenant Charles Becker in the 1912 murder of

bookmaker A bookmaker, bookie, or turf accountant is an organization or a person that accepts and pays out bets on sporting and other events at agreed-upon odds In probability theory, odds provide a measure of the probability of a particular outco ...

Herman Rosenthal Herman Rosenthal (October 6, 1843 – 1917) was an American author, editor, and librarian. Biography Rosenthal was born in Friedrichstadt (Jaunjelgava), Courland. He was educated at Bauske (Bauska) and Jakobstadt (Jēkabpils), graduating in 1 ...

. Her paternal grandfather, William C. Upton, was a member of Ireland's

Fenian The word ''Fenian'' () served as an umbrella term for the Irish Republican Brotherhood (IRB) and their affiliate in the United States, the Fenian Brotherhood. They were secret political organisations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries ...

movement of the late 19th century, and wrote a novel, about life under English rule, ''Uncle Pat's Cabin'' (1882).

Career

She worked in at

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

perfume counter,Frances Upton
Upton Bell Collection, Special Collections and University Archives,

UMass Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) is a public land-grant research university in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Massachusetts system and was founded in 1863 as the Ma ...

also a store's music department. She also took dancing lessons, which helped her get a part in a benefit production. Director

Julian Mitchell Charles Julian Humphrey Mitchell, FRSL (born 1 May 1935) is an English playwright, screenwriter and occasional novelist. He is best known as the writer of the play and film '' Another Country'', and as a screenwriter for TV, producing many origi ...

saw her perform and offered her an opportunity to go on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

. On Broadway, Upton appeared in ''Pins and Needles'' (Feb 01, 1922 - Mar 11, 1922)

Shubert Theatre (Broadway) The Shubert Theatre is a Broadway theater at 225 West 44th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1913, the theater was designed by Henry Beaumont Herts in the Italian Renaissance st ...

, and '' Little Jessie James'' (Aug 15, 1923 - Jan 27, 1924)

Longacre Theatre The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theater at 220 West 48th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. Opened in 1913, it was designed by Henry B. Herts and is named for Longacre Square, the former ...

. In 1923 and 1927, she is known to have signed contracts with the

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' were a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934, 1936, 1943, and 1957. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as '' The Ziegfeld Foll ...

. On Broadway, Upton starred with

Eddie Cantor Eddie Cantor (born Isidore Itzkowitz; January 31, 1892 – October 10, 1964) was an American comedian, actor, dancer, singer, songwriter, film producer, screenwriter and author. Cantor was one of the prominent entertainers of his era. Some of h ...

in ''

Whoopee! ''Whoopee!'' is a 1928 musical comedy play with a book based on Owen Davis's play, ''The Nervous Wreck.'' The musical libretto was written by William Anthony McGuire, with music by Walter Donaldson and lyrics by Gus Kahn. The musical premiered o ...

'' (1928) and the ''

of 1927'' (1927). Her other Broadway credits included ''Hold Your Horses'' (1933), ''Girl Crazy'' (1931), ''Talk About Girls'' (1927), ''Lady Do'' (1927), ''Twinkle, Twinkle'' (1926), and ''My Girl'' (1924). She also performed in

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

. In 1929, Upton performed on a network shortwave radio program specially broadcast to Richard Byrd's expedition to the

South Pole The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is the point in the Southern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True South Pole to distinguish ...

. She had a featured role in the early sound film '' Night Work'' (1930). In 1931, she starred in one of the first experimental television broadcasts in New York City, appearing with

Gertrude Lawrence Gertrude Lawrence (4 July 1898 – 6 September 1952) was an English actress, singer, dancer and musical comedy performer known for her stage appearances in the West End of London and on Broadway in New York. Early life Lawrence was born in 1 ...

Lionel Atwill Lionel Alfred William Atwill (1 March 1885 – 22 April 1946) was an English and American stage and screen actor. He began his acting career at the Garrick Theatre. After coming to the United States, he appeared in Broadway plays and Hollywood ...

, and boxer

Primo Carnera Primo Carnera (; 26 October 1906 – 29 June 1967) was an Italian professional boxer and wrestler who achieved international fame during the 1930s. He reigned as the boxing World Heavyweight Champion from 29 June 1933 to 14 June 1934. He won ...

. On July 9, 1933, Upton provided the money, $2,500, prior to marriage, to her later-husband to buy the NFL rights for the Philadelphia area that had formerly belonged to the Frankford Athletic Association which became the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC East, East division. The team plays its ...

. * *

Personal life

In 1932,

Bert Bell De Benneville "Bert" Bell (February 25, 1895 – October 11, 1959) was an American professional football executive and coach. He was the fifth chief executive and second commissioner of the National Football League (NFL) from 1946 until his deat ...

met Upton, who later said, "It's alcohol or me". He finished his drink and turned it upside down and never drank again. With his colorful personal life and hell-raising early years over, Bell's marriage to Upton was, at first, secret. * * On 4 January 1934, Upton married

owner

. Bell later served as commissioner of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). They had three children, sons John "Bert Jr." and Upton, and daughter Jane. Upton died on November 27, 1975, in Lankenau Hospital at age 71.

Notes

References

External links

Frances Upton
TCM db
Frances Upton

AFI Catalog of Feature Films The ''AFI Catalog of Feature Films'', also known as the ''AFI Catalog'', is an ongoing project by the American Film Institute (AFI) to catalog all commercially-made and theatrically exhibited American motion pictures from the birth of cinema i ...

* * *
Frances Upton

Broadway World BroadwayWorld is a theatre news website based in New York City, New York. Launched in 2003, the site covers Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional, and international theater productions, with sections devoted to particular countries, cities, or regi ...

Frances Upton
Upton Bell Collection, Special Collections and University Archives,

''Night Work'' (1930)
clip with Upton and

Eddie Quillan Edward Quillan (March 31, 1907 – July 19, 1990) was an American film actor and singer whose career began as a child on the vaudeville stages and silent film and continued through the age of television in the 1980s. Vaudeville and silent fi ...

via

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Frances Upton, ''Hold Your Horses'', 1933 (Portrait)
by Ben Solowey {{DEFAULTSORT:Upton, Frances 1904 births 1975 deaths Actors from Pennsylvania American film actresses American stage actresses 20th-century American actresses Ziegfeld girls American vaudeville performers