Fran Ryan; Character Actress, Voice-Over Artist

Fran Ryan, 83, a character actress best remembered for her recurring roles as a bag lady on the “Barney Miller” TV series and as Rosie Carlson on the daytime drama “Days of Our Lives.” A Los Angeles native, Ryan started her acting career at the Henry Duffy Theater in Oakland at the age of 6. She attended Stanford for three years and sang with big bands. During World War II, she hosted USO programs and did stand-up comedy. A talented voice-over artist, she worked on commercials and animated productions. She once said she had done everything but circuses and burlesque. Ryan had roles in the movies “Pale Rider,” “Stripes,” “The Long Rider,” “Shoot the Moon,” “Take This Job and Shove It” and “The Apple Dumpling Gang.” In the 1960s, she was a regular on “The Doris Day Show,” playing the role of Day’s friend Aggie Thompson. She once said that the joy of her profession was sharing the sound stage with actors such as James Garner. “Jimmy does a wonderfully magic thing,” she said. “If you have something important to do, he withdraws that strong personality and allows you to be key-lighted.” Often asked if she was Marjorie Main, another strong character actress from another era, she would reply: “Yes, and I’ve been dead for five years.” A memorial service is planned for Monday at 1 p.m. at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills. On Jan. 16 at her home in Burbank.