Frances Fisher began her career as an apprentice at the Barter Theatre in Virginia, learning by working every job it takes to put on a show.
Theatre: Ms. Fisher has starred in over 35 theatrical productions (experimental, touring, Regional, off- off Broadway, off-Broadway,) including Elia Kazan’s The Chain; Hay Fever; Cat on A Hot Tin Roof, Summer And Smoke; Orpheus Descending; 1984; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Fool For Love; Arthur Miller’s last play Finishing The Picture (directed by Robert Falls); Three More Sleepless Nights(Drama League Award); The Taper’s The Cherry Orchard; and Barbecue (directed by Colman Domingo) at the Geffen Playhouse, which won three NAACP 2018 Image Awards, including Best Ensemble. Ms. Fisher had a ball in Native Gardens (directed by Jason Alexander) at the Pasadena Playhouse, and trod the boards most recently at Laguna Playhouse playing Eleanor in The Lion in Winter (directed by Sheldon Epps).
Ms. Fisher is a member of the Actors Studio, and her first acting teachers were Stella Adler & Lee Strasberg, followed by Sandra Seacat.
On film: She is perhaps best known for her performance as Kate Winslet’s mother in Titanic (James Cameron), which garnered Fisher a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Best Ensemble Cast. The film went on to receive 11 Academy Awards. Her numerous film credits include the Oscar-winning Unforgiven (Clint Eastwood); In the Valley of Elah (Paul Haggis); True Crime (Clint Eastwood); Tough Guys Don’t Dance (Norman Mailer); Laws of Attraction (Peter Howitt); Blue Car (Karen Moncrieff); The Kingdom (Peter Berg); House of Sand & Fog(Vadim Perlman); Jolene (Dan Ireland); Female Perversions and Golf In The Kingdom (Susan Streitfeld); Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman and Waiting for Guffman –deleted scenes on dvd (Christopher Guest); LA Story (Mick Jackson); Welcome Home Roxy Carmichael (Jim Abrahams); Lost Angels (Hugh Hudson); Patty Hearst (Paul Schrader); Gone in 60 Seconds (Dominic Sena); Wild America and The Perfect Game (William Dear); The Night of the White Pants (Amy Talkington); Janie Jones (David Rosenthal); The Lincoln Lawyer (Brad Furman); The Host (Andrew Niccol); The Rising Place (Tom Rice); Any Day Now (Travis Fine); Pink Cadillac (Buddy Van Horn); The Stars Fell On Henrietta (James Keach); Plush (Catherine Hardwicke); You’re Not You (George C. Wolfe); Woman in Gold (Simon Curtis); Outlaws And Angels (JT Mollnar); Titanic: Sinking the Myths (Ryan Katzenbach); A Beautiful Day (Phedon Papamichael); Shrimp (Zelda Williams); Striptease (Andrew Bergman); The Big Tease (Kevin Allen); Sedona (Tommy Stovall); The Silent Thief (Jennifer Clary); Love on the Run(Ash Christian); Another Kind of Wedding (Pat Kiely); My Sexiest Year (Howard Himelstein); Sex & Death 101 (Daniel Waters); Run The Race (Chris Dowling);Beverly Hills Chihuahua 3 (Lev L. Spiro); Awake (Mark Raso); Can She Bake A Cherry Pie? and The M Word and BabyFever (Henry Jaglom); Holidate (John Whitesell); This Is Not A War Story (Talia Lugacy); Grace And Grit (Sebastian Siegel) and On Sacred Ground (Rebecca & Joshua Tickell).
Currently: On Netflix in Reptile (Grant Singer); The King Tide (Christian Sparkes), which garnered her a Canadian Screen Awards Best Supporting Performer nomination.
In the can: Two Independent films: Desert Road, written & directed by Shannon Triplett, which world-premiered to 100% positive reviews at SXSW, and Rust, directed by Joel Souza.
Television:
Back when TV Movies were popular, Ms. Fisher starred as Lucille Ball in Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter; The Other Mother; Devlin; Praying Mantis; A Promise to Keep; Elysian Fields; Broken Vows; WIOU; O.Henry’s Christmas; Traffic; The Audrey Hepburn Story; Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis; Passion & Prejudice; To Love & Die; Backyard Wedding; The Good Guys; Partners; The Seven Year Hitch; The Makeover; Portrait of Love; Unleashing Mr. Darcy; Marrying Mr. Darcy; Retribution; Sudie & Simpson and Cold Sassy Tree (Joan Tewkesbury); Mrs. Harris (Phyllis Nagy); and An American Girl Story: Melody 1963 (Tina Mabry, DGA Outstanding Director 2017, and NAACP Image Award 2017 Outstanding Children’s Program).
Recurring/Guest Star: The Shield; Eureka; Torchwood; Touch; Titus; The Killing; Masters of Sex; Law & Order; Roseanne; Becker; Castle; The Equalizer; Newhart; Matlock; In The Heat of the Night; Crime & Punishment; The Young Riders; Boston Legal; Medium; Laws of Chance; Saving Grace; October Road; The Whole Truth; A Gifted Man; Cold Case; Human Target; The X Files; The Mentalist; Two and a Half Men; Sons of Anarchy; ER; Grey’s Anatomy; Children’s Hospital; The Unknown; Private Practice; CSI; The Expanse; Criminal Minds; Swedish Dicks, Rectify; Fargo and The Rookie.
Series: The Edge of Night; Strange Luck; The Lyon’s Den; Glory Days; She starred in ABC’s critically acclaimed series, Resurrection, as well as HBO’s Watchmen.
Currently: Meg Muldoon opposite Bill Pullman in The Sinner (S4) on Netflix.
In the can: The Wrong Paris for Netflix.