Francis Reid

Frances Reid made her professional acting debut in the West Coast Touring production of Tovarich in 1937. In 1939, she made her Broadway debut in Where There's a Will There's a Way. On Broadway, she played Julia in the Theatre Guild's production of The Rivals (1942), Beth in Little Women (1944), Ophelia in Maurice Evans' GI Hamlet (1945), Roxanne in Jose Ferrer's Cyrano de Bergerac (1946), and Viola in Twelfth Night (1949), among many others.

Her prolific television career included As the World Turns (CBS, 1959-62), Edge of the Night (CBS, 1964), and Perry Mason (CBS). Though her Broadway and television credits are notable and extensive, she continued to return throughout the country and the years to perform in stock, regional, and touring productions. Her work graced the stages of the Utah Drama Festival, the Olney Theatre, the Ann Arbor Drama Festival, and the Marine's Memorial Theatre in San Francisco. She often returned to the Bucks County Playhouse, which during the 1950s and 1960s was near her home in Solebury. In 1965, NBC premiered the daytime serial drama Days of Our Lives featuring Reid in the role of Mrs. Alice Horton.

Education and Training
Anna Head School, Berkeley, California, 1932
Pasadena Playhouse School of Theatre, California, 1936

Teachers and Influences
Arlene Francis, Helen Shields, Edith Atwater, Perry Mason
Married Philip Bourneuf in 1940, and after they divorced remained friends until his death in 1979.

Connection to Bucks County
Frances Reid and her husband Philip Bourneuf, married in June of 1940, where they lived at 307 Aquetong Road in Solebury township, Bucks County in the 1950s and 60s. The couple moved to Hollywood to work in television and film, but returned for appearances at the Bucks County Playhouse. Reid's performances at the Playhouse include Road to Rome (1948), Lease on Love (1957) and When the Bear Goes National (1962). She also appeared in the Playhouse's Twentieth Anniversary production of Kaufman and Hart's The Man Who Came to Dinner (1959).

Colleagues and Affiliations
Philip Bourneuf (husband), Mike Ellis, Theron Bamberger, Margaret Mullen Root and John Root, Ezra Stone, Sara Seegar. Reid and her husband Philip Bourneuf were instrumental in evacuating and placing people from the Playhouse during the Great Flood in 1955.

Major Theatre Performances:
Broadway:
Where There's a Will, her debut, 1939
The Rivals, 1942
The Patriots, 1943
Listen, Professor!, 1943
A Highland Fling, 1944
Little Women, 1944
Star Spangled Family, 1945
The Wind is Ninety, 1945
Maurice Evans' GI Hamlet, 1945
Jose Ferrer revival of Cyrano de Bergerac, 1946
Rip Van Winkle, 1947
The Bear, 1948
Richard III, 1949
Twelfth Night, 1949

At the Bucks County Playhouse:
Road to Rome, 1948
Lease on Love, 1957
Tiger at the Gate, with Robert Redford, 1959
The Man Who Came to Dinner, 1959
When the Bear Goes National, 1962

Other performances:
Arms and the Man, Utah Drama Festival, 1948
The Importance of Being Earnest, Olney Theatre, 1948
The Devil's Disciple, tour of Maurice Evans' production,1950
The Waltz of the Toreadors, summer tour, 1958
The Maids, A Touch of the Poet and Misalliance in Repertory at the Marine's Memorial Theatre in San Francisco, 1960-61

Selected Major Television Performances:
Charlotte Corday, NBC, 1939
Little Women, NBC, 1939-40
Cyrano de Bergerac, NBC, 1948
Twelfth Night, NBC, 1949
Suspense, Danger, You Are There, CBS, 1951-52
Philco Television Playhouse, Hallmark Hall of Fame, NBC, 1951-52
As the World Turns, CBS, 1959-60
Alfred Hitchcock Presents, CBS, 1961
Edge of the Night, CBS, 1964
Wagon Train, NBC
Ben Casey, ABC
The Defenders, CBS
Perry Mason, CBS
Armstrong Circle Theater, CBS
Days of Our Lives, NBC

Major Awards
Fanny Morrison Award, from the Pasadena Playhouse in California
Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award, 2004

Affiliations and Memberships
Actors' Equity Association
AFTRA
Screen Actors' Guild