Frances Louise Ward

Frances Louise Ward grew up in Kings Point on the "Gold Coast" of Long Island, NY. She was known for her lively personality and cunning sense of humor. Her modeling career began at age fifteen, when she was discovered by the John Robert Powers modeling agency in New York City. She quickly became one of their top models, gracing the cover of Glamour and posing as the "it" girl for various advertisements. She then enrolled in Finch Junior College in New York City to study theater arts and also participated in summer stock theater in Ogunquit, Maine where Tallulah Bankhead was also performing. Around this time, she was dating then football star, Doc Blanchard, which led to a temporary engagement. After turning nineteen, she moved to Hollywood to try her hand in motion pictures and was signed under the William Morris Talent agency and soon became under contract with MGM Studios. She was known to agency folks as "the next Carole Lombard" picking up roles in various films such as Old Acquaintance(1943) with Bette Davis and Girl Crazy(1943) with Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland. In the mid to late 1940's, She created quite a stir as she made headlines for briefly dating the famous actor, Mickey Rooney and befriending the iconic silent actor, Charlie Chaplin along with his son, Sidney. Charlie Chaplin had a giant gong at the entrance of his Beverly Hills home and upon arrival Frances would bang on it and exclaim "Frana's arrived!" She was also teenage friends with Mr.Chaplin's last wife, Oona O'Neill, and claims to have first introduced the couple over the telephone. Another notable childhood and lifelong friend was Carol Marcus who later married the actor Walter Matthau. Frances also caught the eye of famous artists and was asked to pose for Salvador Dalí while he was visiting New York. The painting depicted her as a female centaur. While visiting her hometown back east, she met and fell in love with Charles Kohler White, the heir to Kohler & Campbell pianos, and moved back to New York. The couple was soon married and together they had two children, Susan and Charles. She continued in modeling, but soon found her passion for painting and sculpture studying under the renowned sculptor, Max Kalish. Her husband, Mr. White, died in a tragic accident ten years after they were wed. She eventually met and married Winslow Shelby Coates Jr., a New York attorney. The couple had two children, Winslow and Trevor. Frances remained in Locust Valley, New York for the remainder of her life and was laid to rest near her home on November 22, 2008.