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February 26, 2024,


the 94th anniversary


of Robert Francis’s birth


This website honors


his brief but memorable


life and career.

Robert Francis

and

Hollywood’s

Star and Studio Systems

https://youtu.be/knQ-62rrqZI?si=xTd0mlXtn4DAZm5n 

Bill Big Anderson’s Death Tours

Information about Bob knowing and flying with Howard Hughes has not been verified from reliable sources. Bob died during the hiatis between the first effort to film “Tribute to a Bad Man” during June 1955 and the second scheduled for August 1955. Bob was buried on Wednesday, August 3, 1955.

https://youtu.be/zn8QLysZ-n0?si=pWOOjTtDQp44alav 

Photo images only

https://youtu.be/5YkK8MFsxCg?si=eHV6uzhDzdTPN-yh 

Video of Bob’s Grave Site
Forest Lawn

Above YouTube items posted May 2024.

28 images in Films - The Long Gray Line gallery were added April 2024.

All are from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) Columbia Pictures Collection. All photos were taken at West Point, N.Y., in the late winter/early spring of 1954.

Thanks to DW for locating these.

https://digital.library.ucla.edu/catalog?htf8=✓&f%5Bmember_of_collections_ssim%5D%5B%5D=Columbia+Pictures+stills+and+key+books&sort=title_alpha_numeric_ssort+asc&q=robert+francis+actor&search_field=all_fields

See new section in Sidebars - Galleries and Information:

Beyond Pasadena:

Photographs, Postcards, and

Similar of Hollywood and

Los Angeles, c. 1920s-1950s

Please remember

Bob’s sister,

Lillian Jean Francis Robins

“Fran”

June 3, 1919-

September 19, 2018

See Sidebars section for information and photos of Fran and the Francis and Robins families. Without her friendship and support, this website would not exist.

Bob with his sister Fran in the kitchen of his new apartment in Hollywood. 1955

Using photographs, magazine articles, film-oriented materials printed and electronic, public documents, interview notes and transcripts, and narrative elements, this website captures the brief career of a young motion picture actor, Robert (Bob) Charles Francis, Feb. 26, 1930- July 31, 1955, during a moment in time when Hollywood’s waning Studio System was still creating new “stars.”

All rights reserved. Caution: Copyrights apply to many of the items on this website.

All website visitors are encouraged to seek complete information about Bob’s four released films at Turner Classic Movies, www.tcm.com. This cable television channel and its website provide extensive information on thousands of films, including overviews, full credits, full synopsis, notes, music, screenplay and original print information, genre, key words, user reviews, other reviews, articles, money, awards, quotes, trivia, home video reviews, miscellaneous notes, alternate versions, theatrical aspect ration, TCM archives, fan sites. The creation of this website, www.RobertFrancis1930-1955.net, was made easier because of TCM’s remarkable contribution to the film world and its fans.

The creators of this website thank Bob’s siblings, Lillian Francis Robins and James William Francis, Jr., (both now deceased) and their families — Betty Jeans Francis (also now deceased), Viv and Larry Robins, and Steve Robins — for their support and involvement.

After Bob’s death Columbia Pictures sent to the Francis family dozens of photographs of Bob made 1953-1955. This website contains many of these photographs, as well as a number of personal family photographs. Without the family’s willingness to share these images, the website would not be as rich as it is in both public and private moments in Bob’s life.

This is a “living” website in that additional items and information will be added in the future. Please visit again. If you have relevant material or information, please contact: rcf22630@gmail.com or rcf73155@gmail.com

Last revised: February 2024