Sidebars: Galleries and Information
Francis Family Tree including Nebraska Relatives and Other Ancestors
Lillian Jean Francis Robins, Bob’s sister
James William Francis, Jr., Bob’s brother
David L. Johnston, Talent Scout
Don Oreck, drama class and Army buddy
May Wynn, co-star and friend
Joe Kirkwood, actor and friend of George Meyer
Joan Weldon, a young contract player
Lance Reventlow, race car driver and original owner of plane in which Bob died
Miscellaneous
Additional Photographs, mostly from Fran Robins’ photo albums.
Beyond Pasadena: Photographs, Postcards, and Similar from Hollywood and Los Angeles c. 1920s-1950s
Francis Family Tree: Nebraska Relatives and Other Ancestors
Special Thanks to Joan Shurtliff, Seward County Genealogical Society, Seward, Nebraska. Charts created by DW, 2020.
Francis Genealogy FYI
The information contained in the Francis Family Pedigree Chart is based on available online records from Ancestry.com and certain other sites and is believed to be correct at this time (March 2020). No one is listed herein unless there are a few reliable historical sources to verify the information. If there was doubt about someone, the information was not added to the chart. Some dates and other data may vary from what you may see on other genealogy sites.
Notes on Family Lines on the Pedigree Chart
Enoch Francis was definitely born in Pikeland, Chester County, Penn. Some say his father was from Wales which is a strong possibility, but one that could not be verified.
There is a great amount of differing opinion both old and new on the Norton and Stonestreet lines, so some information was not added to that side of the ancestry of Elvira Amanda Norton. Eleanor Stonestreet is believed to be the second wife of William Norton.
No further information was located on the ancestry of Elizabeth Fryer, the wife of Jacob Duckett Ankrom.
The same applies to Ann Parish, mother of Martha Wheeler, in that no further information was located.
Genealogy is a fascinating undertaking and great care needs to be taken to ensure accuracy, particularly since the advent of the Internet. It is hoped you find these charts useful regarding the ancestry of Robert Francis and his family.
D.W.
Lillian Jean Francis (Fran) Robins, Bob’s sister
Almost all of the photos in this section are from the Robins Family Collection which incorporates several photo albums Fran created both as her life unfolded and when in her later years she wanted to make sure her family had a record. The time covered is from the early 1900s to the early 2000s. The images not only reveal the Francis and Robins families, but also reveal as in a time capsule Southern California and other places she traveled. Fran’s autobiographical notes written in 2006 provide the quoted comments under many of the photographs.
The Francis family attended Pasadena Baptist Church. Bill and Bob were Scouts there; their father, Jim, was the leader. Lillian and Bill appeared in a production of “Daddy Long Legs,” c. early 1930s.
James William (Bill) Francis, Jr., Bob’s brother
David Lynn Johnston, talent scout who “discovered” Bob July 4, 1949, at Santa Monica Beach
Don Oreck, drama school and Army buddy
May Wynn aka Donna Lee Hickey aka Donna (Kelly) Custer, co-star and friend
January 8, 1928-March 22, 2021
May Wynn (Donna Hickey Custer), Bob’s friend and co-star in “The Caine Mutiny” and “They Rode West” died March 22, 2021. A service for her was held on Monday, May 3, 2021, 5:30 PM (PDT) at Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church, 2100 Mar Vista Dr, Newport Beach, CA 92660. (949) 644-0200 http://linktr.ee/olqachurch
The creators of this website visited with Donna/May several times in recent years. She was lively and joyful, generous with her memories of Bob and her Hollywood days, and a lovely light of friendship. Most of the photos in the Sidebars section devoted to her are from her personal collection. We wish she might have lived on in good health for many more years. We treasure our times with her.
May Wynn, Actress in ‘The Caine Mutiny,’ Dies at 93 (msn.com)
https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news/may-wynn-actress-in-e2-80-98the-caine-mutiny-e2-80-99-dies-at-93/ar-BB1gbSvy?ocid=uxbndlbing
May Wynn - Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Wynn
Newport school surprises longtime aide — a former film actress and Copacabana showgirl — with a 90th-birthday celebration - Los Angeles Times (latimes.com)
https://www.latimes.com/socal/daily-pilot/news/tn-dpt-me-90th-birthday-20180108-story.html
Donna Lee Hickey/May Wynn danced at the Copacabana nightclub in New York City when she was a teenager. She won numerous beauty contests before heading to Hollywood. There, she appeared in uncredited small roles at Fox before being signed to play a nightclub singer, May Wynn, in The Caine Mutiny. She was also tested for Donna Reed’s role in From Here to Eternity. She kept her Caine Mutiny character’s name and appeared in several films at Columbia and later on television. She married first Jack Kelly, whom she met when filming They Rode West, and then Jack Custer. As Donna Custer, she lived in Southern California untl her death.
Joe Kirkwood, owner of the plane Bob was flying on July 31, 1955, connected through George Meyer
Joan Weldon and Bob were together (perhaps an arranged publicity date) on June 28 (or soon afterwards), 1955, a month before his death. He (and Joan) attended the premiere benefit party for Not As A Stranger; a number of candid photos were made of them that evening, She was a young contract player at Warner Brothers. Although a talented singer, she is best known for her role in the science fiction film, Them! She later appeared on Broadway and toured nationally in The Music Man and other musicals.
Dinah Shore, a singer and major television star in the 1950s, attended the premiere.
Lance Reventlow and a 1947 Beechcraft Bonanza airplane similar to the one he owned, sold to Kirkwood, and Bob piloted on July 31, 1955
Miscellaneous Things That Surfaced While Researching and Creating This Website
Earl Leaf, photographer
On or about June 5, 1954, when Bob had completed The Long Gray Line and was planning to tour for The Caine Mutiny, he was photographed by Earl Leaf. Some of the photographs were made in Pasadena at 212 S. Grand Oaks Ave., some were made near Leaf’s home in the Hollywood Hills above the Hollywood Freeway. That setting evidently was one of Earl’s favorites; other actors and celebrities were photographed there, including Eva Lind, a pin-up favorite in men’s magazines of the 1950s and 1960s.
From http://www.menspulpmags.com/2017/05/modelactress-eva-lynd-and-photographer.html
Leaf started out as a globe-hopping photojournalist whose stories and photos appeared in national magazines and newspapers. One of his biggest news coups was being the only Western journalist to interview and take photos of Mao Zedong (previously spelled Mao Tse-tung) during the midst of the Sino-Japanese war in 1938.
After roaming the world, Leaf traveled the US, spending most of his time in either New York City or California in the 1950s. During that decade, he made a splash by taking photos of many up-and-coming actors, actresses, musicians, and bands that he often helped publicize by writing magazine and newspaper stories to go with his photos. By the late 1950s he was also known for taking photos of many of the most famous celebrities in the country, including photos of the not-yet-famous Marilyn Monroe.
Leaf became friends with some of his subjects. He spent time with them, went to some of the same parties they went to – and had them come to his parties. He liked to party and became something of a celebrity himself. His beard, funny outfits and hip demeanor and lifestyle earned him the nickname “The Beatnik Photographer.”
When Leaf died in 1980, he left behind thousands of photographs and negatives that were eventually purchased by Michael Ochs (brother of the singer/songwriter Phil Ochs). They can now be viewed online as part of the Michael Ochs Archive section of the Getty Images site.
Additional Photographs, mostly from Fran Robins’ photo albums.
Above Pasadena. long, long ago.
c. 1920s
In forefront: Jim, Lillian holding Fran, unknown, c. 1919.
Fran, c., early 1920s
Fran, camping trip, c., early 1920s
Fran and Bill, Santa Monica Beach, c. 1925
Fran, c. late 1920s
c., 1933-36.
c., 1933-36. Bobby and a friend.
c., early to late 1930s.
c. early 1940s
c., early 1940s
c. early 1940s
c. late 1930s-early 1940s
c. early 1940s “always eating”
c. early 1940s
Sandy? and Fran, 1943
Cousin Bob, Jim, Bob, c. 1944
Fran, Bob, and Brain (Bill’s adopted son), c. 1941, 1943, 1944
Bill, Bob’s older brother, c. 1945
Jim and Bill, c. 1944
Bob, Mt. Waterman, c. 1949-1951
Larry, son of Fran and Sandy, Sandy, Fran, Nanette Burris, and Bob, 1950
c. 1940, 1951-1953, 1955
Bob’s paternal grandmother, “Nana,” Fran, Larry, Jim, Bob with “Army haircut,” unidentified woman, 1951
c. 1951, 1952
c. 1944, Brian; Bob and Bill, 1950-51
Bill and Bob, c. 1950
Camp Roberts, c., 1951-1953
Fran and Bob, c. 1952-1953
Jim, Bob, Bill, c. 1953 (after shooting “Caine” in Hawaii)?.
Hollywood, c. 1950s
Lillian, Bob’s Cadillac, c. 1954-1955
Lillian, Bob’s Cadillac, c. 1955-1956
Lillian, Bob’s Cadillac, c. 1955-1956
Fran and her son, Steve, c. 1955-1956
Jim at 212 Grand Oaks Ave., Pasadena, c. 1977
Lillian at 212 Grand Oaks Ave., Pasadena, c. 1977
Beyond Pasadena: Photographs, Postcards, and Similar of Hollywood and Los Angeles, c. 1920s-1950s
Bob’s family probably traveled extensively in the Greater Los Angeles area for outings, skiing, swimming, camping, and myriad other activities. Bob likely did not venture on his own far from home until he was in college and then in the Army. The family may well have passed through or saw the sights in the Hollywood area, but Bob was probably not a frequent visitor there until after the fateful day at the beach in 1949. The images in this section represent a visual tour of some places Bob may have visited or seen during his childhood, boyhood, young adulthood, and as a rising star.
This map (date unclear but probably post-WWII before several major freeways added) indicates locations of four of the five-plus Brown Derby restaurants. (Wikipedia’s “Brown Derby” entry provides details of when and where the chain was built.) Starting in the upper right quadrant and moving west: Glendale (where Bob was born) is directly west of Pasadena. Note that many places are mentioned often throughout this website in the context of Bob’s life, e.g., Lockheed Air Terminal and Burbank (where he died), Griffith Park and its Planetarium (featured in many movies including “Rebel Without a Cause”), San Fernando Valley and Hollywood Bowl. The references to radio studios suggest this is a map from the days before television dominated the entertainment world. The first Brown Derby, built in the distinctive shape of a derby hat, at 3427 Wilshire Blvd. was across the street from the Cocoanut Grove at the Ambassador Hotel. It opened in 1926 and was demolished in 1936 in part because it had terrible acoustics. Despite its less distinctive Spanish Mission style facade, the second Brown Derby (aka the Hollywood Brown Derby), which opened in 1929 at 1628 N. Vine St., was the branch that played the greater part in Hollywood history (and was the originator of the Cobb Salad and the Shirley Temple non-alcoholic drink). Due to its proximity to movie studios, it became the place to do deals and be seen. It closed in 1985 and was demolished in 1994. The third Brown Derby opened in 1931 at 9537 Wilshire Blvd. in Beverly Hills, across from the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. Decorated in an Old English style early in its history, it closed in 1986 and was demolished. The fourth Brown Derby at 3377 Wilshire Blvd. and Alexandria Ave. opened in 1936. It closed in 1980 and was demolished but the derby hat structure was incorporated into subsequent buildings on the site. Another Brown Derby at 4500 Los Feliz Blvd. opened in 1940. It was designated an official Historic Cultural Monument of the City of Los Angeles in 2006. Now the Los Feliz Brown Derby space is occupied by a gastropub and a Chase bank; its dome is divided in half between the two businesses. The interior framing details of the dome construction have been exposed and are now visible from inside the restaurant. There were and are a number of other Brown Derby restaurants in the Los Angeles area and beyond, including a fifth one that opened the year, 1955, Bob died. The Brown Derby Crenshaw Center in the Baldwin Hills neighborhood was a 24-hour coffee at 3625 Stocker Ave. Whether Bob ever had a drink or meal at any of the Brown Derbys is unknown, but he had proximity to the Brown Derby at 3377 Wilshire Blvd. and Alexandria Ave. once he was at Columbia, and to the Hollywood and Beverly Hills restaurants. The middle of the map shows several still-there landmarks: Pantages Theater and Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Blvd., a “Big Five” studio, Paramount, and two smaller studios (Columbia, Bob’s home studio, and RKO), all between Sunset Blvd. and Wilshire Blvd. (Wikipedia)
This is a 1930s map of the Greater Los Angeles area.
The horrendous Los Angeles traffic began before WW II and then really increased afterwards. This is a 1948 photo of the “new” Arroyo Seco Parkway, also known as the Pasadena Freeway, one of the oldest freeways built in the United States. The parkway connects Los Angeles with Pasadena alongside the Arroyo Seco seasonal river. It is notable not only for being an early freeway, mostly opened in 1940, but for representing the transitional phase between early parkways and later freeways. It conformed to modern standards when it was built, but is now regarded as a narrow, outdated roadway. A 1953 extension brought the south end to the Four Level Interchange in downtown Los Angeles and a connection with the rest of the freeway system. (Wikipedia)
The Hollywood Bowl, c. 1940s.
Christmas in Hollywood, c. early 1950s.
Mocambo in its early days, c. 1942
Many years before Bob’s time in Pasadena. He and his sister Fran often walked from their home on Grand Oaks Ave. to movie theaters on Colorado Ave.
One of many grand, elegant homes built in Pasadena. Surely Bob would have seen this one.