Bonnie Gail Franklin (January 6, 1944 – March 1, 2013) was an American actress, best known for her leading role in the television series One Day at a Time (1975–1984). She was nominated for the Emmy, Tony and Golden Globe Awards.

 

Personal life

Franklin was born in Santa Monica, California, the daughter of Claire (née Hersch) and Samuel Benjamin Franklin, an investment banker. Her parents were both Jewishimmigrants, her father from Russia and her mother from Romania.

Her family moved to Beverly Hills when she was thirteen years old, and she graduated from Beverly Hills High School in 1961. She attended Smith College, performing in an Amherst College production of Good News as a freshman. She moved back to California to attend UCLA.

 

Marriages

Franklin was married to playwright Ronald Sossi from 1967 to 1970; and to film producer Marvin Minoff for 29 years, from 1980 until his death on November 11, 2009.[8][9] Minoff had been the executive producer of a television movie, Portrait of a Rebel: The Remarkable Mrs. Sanger, which starred Franklin as Margaret Sanger, before the couple wed in 1980. She had no children.

 

Career

Franklin first appeared on television at age 9 in The Colgate Comedy Hour. As a small child, she later appeared in a non-credited role in the Alfred Hitchcock film The Wrong Man. In the 1960s, she portrayed a teenage feature character in "You're the Judge," a short educational film about baking sponsored by Procter & Gamble and featuring the use ofCrisco. She debuted on Broadway in 1970 in the musical Applause, earning a Tony Award nomination.[1] She appeared at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey in both George M! and A Thousand Clowns.

Franklin guest-starred on several television series, including The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ("The Gazebo in the Maze Affair" from 1965). She had a semi-regular role in the ABC series Gidget. She directed several episodes of the 1980s sitcom Charles in Charge. In 2011, she was reunited with her One Day at a Time costar Valerie Bertinelli on Hot in Cleveland, playing the mother of Bertinelli's character's boyfriend.

Franklin was best known for her portrayal of divorced mother Ms. Ann Romano on the television situation comedy One Day at a Time (1975–1984). In April 2011, Franklin and other cast members from One Day at a Time accepted the "Innovators Award" from the TV Land cable channel—one of several awards in the annual event. The citation on the TV Land web site reads:

the Innovator Award...is given to a television series that carved out new territory, tackled important issues of its day and helped re-defined its genre. The series [One Day at a Time] was a hybrid drama/comedy, addressed such taboo topics as pre-marital sex, suicide, sexual harassment and more, breaking barriers and paving the way for future shows to tackle these issues as well. Developed and written in part by TV visionary Norman Lear, One Day At A Time aired on CBS for nine seasons from 1975–1984. Starring Bonnie Franklin, Valerie Bertinelli and Mackenzie Phillips as Ann Romano, Barbara Cooper and Julie Cooper, the series revolved around a family headed by a single mother (Franklin) that relocates to Indianapolis, where their new apartment building super, Dwayne Schneider (Pat Harrington Jr.), befriends them. Also taking part in the cast reunion is Glenn Scarpelli, who joined the series in 1980 as the son of Ann's boyfriend, Nick. Bonnie Franklin speaks to crowd at March For Women's Lives, 2004

In 1988, Franklin appeared at the Bucks County Playhouse and at the Pocono Playhouse, both in Pennsylvania, in the title role of Annie Get Your Gun. Also in 1988, she appeared with Tony Musante at the Westside Arts Theatre (in Manhattan) in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune by Terrence McNally. She later performed in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at the Pittsburgh Public Theater (July 1998). In 1997, she appeared at Ford's Theater,Washington, D.C., in All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten (September 1999). In 2005, she appeared with Bruce Weitz at the New Theatre Restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas in 2 Across (August–September 2011). She played "Ouiser" in a production of Steel Magnolias at the Rubicon Theater, Ventura, California (October 4–October 14, 2011).

Franklin appeared in nearly a dozen staged readings with Classic and Contemporary American Playwrights (CCAP) in the Greater Los Angeles area in the mid and late 2000s. During the 2006–2007 season, she appeared in the drama Toys in the Attic, written by Lillian Hellman. She appeared in Neil Simon's Broadway Bound at the Pico Playhouse in January 2008. CCAP is devoted to reviving seldom seen works and presenting them to student audiences, to create a new audience for theatre. Most recently, CCAP outreach programs work with teachers at North Hollywood, Cleveland, and King Drew Medical Magnet high schools. Working with teachers in the English department, CCAP selects works which will be incorporated into the curriculum and, before the presentation, gives a workshop at the school.

On April 28, 2012, she was among several stars who appeared at the 28th annual Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event (STAGE) benefit, titled Original Cast 3, at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills to benefit AIDS Project Los Angeles. The event raised over $200,000 for APLA's work with clients living with HIV and AIDS in Los Angeles County. Franklin and other original-cast members from a variety of musicals, performed songs with which they are associated. Franklin sang the title song from Applause, which she had originally introduced on Broadway in 1970.

Franklin appeared in several episodes of the daytime drama The Young and the Restless. The episodes were broadcast in August 2012. The actress was cast as a nun, Sister Celeste, who came to the assistance of Victor Newman when he had amnesia.

 

 

Illness and death

On September 24, 2012, a family spokesman announced that Franklin had pancreatic cancer, and was undergoing treatment.She died at age 69, on March 1, 2013, at her Los Angeles home from complications of pancreatic cancer. Her 101 year old mother was her only immediate survivor.

 

 

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes 1954 Shower of Stars Susan Cratchit Episode: "A Christmas Carol" 1956 The Wrong Man Young Girl   1956 The Kettles in the Ozarks Betty   1959 A Summer Place Girl in Dormitory   1964 Mr. Novak Sally 2 episodes 1965 Invisible Diplomats Trudy   1965 Profiles in Courage Deborah Episode: "Prudence Crandall" 1965 Karen Charlotte Burns Episode: "Holiday in Ski Valley" 1965 The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Peggy Durrance Episode: "The Gazebo in the Maze Affair" 1965 Gidget Jean 2 episodes 1965-1966 Please Don't Eat the Daisies Dorie 2 episodes 1966 The Munsters Janice Episode: "Herman's Sorority Caper" 1974 The Law Bobbie Stone   1977 The Love Boat Stacy Skogstad Captain Stubing's ex-wife in the series' first episode: "The Captain and the Lady/One If by Land/Centerfold" 1978 A Guide for the Married Woman Shirley   1979 Breaking Up Is Hard to Do Gail   1980 Portrait of a Rebel: The Remarkable Mrs. Sanger Margaret Sanger   1983 Your Place... or Mine Alexandra   1975-1984 One Day at a Time Ann Romano 208 episodes TV Land Award - Innovator Award (2012) Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (1982) Nominated - Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy (1982-1983) Nominated -TV Land Award - The "She Works Hard for the Money" Award (Favorite Working Mom) (2007) Nominated -TV Land Award - Mad Ad Man (or Woman) of the Year (2008) 1987 Sister Margaret and the Saturday Night Ladies Sister Margaret   1994 Burke's Law Theresa St. Claire Episode: "Who Killed the Soap Star?" 1996 Almost Perfect Mary Ryan 2 episodes 2000 Touched by an Angel Carol Anne Larkin Episode: "Reasonable Doubt" 2011 Hot in Cleveland Agnieszka Episode: "Bad Bromance" 2012 The Young and the Restless Sister Celeste Multiple Episodes