Coleman Francis

• Name — Coleman Francis • Birth Name — Coleman Chambers Francis • Born — 24 January 1919 • Birthplace — Greer County, Oklahoma, U.S. • Died — 15 January 1973 • Resting Place — Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery • Place of death — Hollywood, California, U.S. • Other Names — Coley • Spouse — Barbara Francis • Children — 2 • Years Active — 1948–1973

Francis was born in Greer County, Oklahoma, in 1919. He was the son of William F. Francis and Scytha Estes. During the Great Depression, he moved to Texas.

In 1940, Francis headed for Hollywood to start an acting career. His plans were initially interrupted by the Second World War, during which he served in the medical detachment of the 49th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. He played minor parts in several films from the late 1940s to early 1970s, often without credit, including Blondie's Reward (1948), Scarlet Angel (1952), The Girl in White (1952), She Couldn't Say No (1954), This Island Earth (1955), Twilight for the Gods (1958), Motorpsycho (1965) and P.J. (1968). 1958 brought his first credited role, Stakeout on Dope Street, where he played a detective. During March 1958, Francis portrayed Matthew Harrison Brady opposite Sidney Blackmer as Henry Drummond in Inherit the Wind at the Sombrero Playhouse in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1959, Francis formed a partnership with Anthony "Tony" Cardoza, a welder by trade, and together they created three films: The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961), The Skydivers (1963) and Night Train to Mundo Fine, aka Red Zone Cuba (1966). Francis wrote and directed the films, while Cardoza handled production duties. Toward the end of his life, Francis had a small role in Ray Dennis Steckler's 1969 movie Body Fever. His last work in the film industry was in 1970, when he played a drunk in Russ Meyer's Beyond the Valley of the Dolls.

Francis married Barbara Francis, and while the two had divorced prior to the filming of The Beast of Yucca Flats, she was cast as Lois Radcliffe in Beast and appeared as the wife of a spectator (played by Coleman) in its follow-up, The Skydivers. They had two sons, Alan and Ronald, who appeared as Art and Randy Radcliffe in The Beast of Yucca Flats and the spectator's sons in The Skydivers.

• Illustration — Plaque at interment site for actor and director Coleman Francis, Los Angeles, California, US Francis died in California on January 15, 1973, only nine days before he would have turned 54. Though arteriosclerosis is listed as the official cause of death, Cardoza says Francis' body was found in the back of a station wagon at the Vine Street Ranch Market with "a plastic bag over his head and a tube going into his mouth or around his throat". Francis is interred at the Columbarium of Remembrance in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles.

• Sergeant Preston of the Yukon (4 episodes, 1955–1957) • Highway Patrol (1 episode, 1959) • Dragnet (3 episodes, 1957–1959) • M Squad (1 episode, 1960) • Tales of Wells Fargo (1 episode, 1961)

• The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961) • The Skydivers (1963) • Red Zone Cuba (1966)