Actress frances farmer biography transorbital lobotomy

She claimed the police had violated her rights; demanded an attorney; and threw an inkwell at the judge. Through the efforts of her sister-in-law, a deputy sheriff in Los Angeles County, Farmer avoided jail time and was instead transferred to the psychiatric ward of Los Angeles General Hospital on January They called their mother in Seattle to complain about the insulin treatments.

Lillian traveled to California and began a lengthy legal battle to take formal guardianship of Frances from the state of California. Although several psychiatrists testified that Farmer needed further treatment, her mother prevailed. The two of them left Los Angeles by train on September 13, Farmer wrote in her autobiography: "Mamma and I had fought, argued, threatened, and screamed until it had finally come down to a climax of two exhausted women sitting across from each other in a small, cluttered kitchen.

We were enemies who had grown tired of pretending. It was very much like anyone else's that is admitted to a public institution. I stood in line with 15 or 20 girls like myself, in the hospital for one reason or another. We received shots, or hydrotherapy baths, or electric shock treatment. This was supposed to relax the tensions and keep us quiet, which it did.

Three months later, in early Julyshe was pronounced "completely cured" and released. In JanuaryFarmer's father took her to stay at her aunt's ranch in Yerington, Nevada. On March 23,at her parents' request, Farmer was paroled back into her mother's care. Lobley, a year-old city utility worker. Farmer remained estranged from her sister until Lillian's death from a stroke in March After their mother's death, Farmer's sister Edith moved to Portland, Oregonto be nearer to their father, who died there on July 15,also of a stroke.

In lateFarmer separated from Lobley and relocated to Eureka, Californiawhere she found work as a bookkeeper and secretary at a commercial photo studio. Mikesell, an independent broadcast promoter from Indianapoliswho recognized her at a local bar. I had to face agonizing decisions when I was younger. The decisions broke me. But, too, there was a lack of philosophy in my life.

With faith in myself and in God I think I have won the fight to control myself. I would very much like to correct some impressions which arose out of a lot of stories that were written—about me, I guess; but they weren't about me—suggesting things that I couldn't possibly have been doing. Which I never did. I wasn't in a position to defend myself at the time these stories were published.

And I'm very happy to be here tonight to let people see that I am the kind of person I am and not a legend that arose. Edwards later asked Farmer about her supposed alcoholism: "Other stories accuse you of being an alcoholic. Were you, Frances? Farmer's stage work proved beneficial, as she received the opportunity to host her own daytime movie program, Frances Farmer Presents.

The production has been described as follows:.

Actress frances farmer biography transorbital lobotomy

The Purdue production wasn't to be the slick Broadway or Hollywood adaptations of the play, but the original "grotesque version". Zachanassian, the richest woman in the world, yet also weirdly handicapped she sports a wooden leg and an ivory handhas returned triumphantly but as an old woman to the impoverished village of her youth. She offers to save its citizens from poverty on one terrible condition: that they kill Albert Ill, the local grocer, who'd broken her heart when they were teenagers.

Zachanassian is a charming and terrible figure—imagine the lovechild of Frankenstein and Greta Garbo. During the production of The VisitFarmer was involved in a drunk-driving crash. I got out stiff-legged and ivory-handed, quoting all the imperious lines I could remember. Unfortunately, this did not [sit] well with the [cop], and a patrol car took me to jail.

Farmer was very reluctant to return to the stage, but was encouraged by Ratcliffe; Farmer recounted the experience of the performance in her autobiography: "[T]here was a long silent pause as I stood there, followed by the most thunderous applause of my career. I knew I would never need to act onstage again. I felt satisfied and rewarded. During the early and mids, Farmer was actress-in-residence at Purdue University, and spent the majority of her free time painting and writing poetry.

I had never given great concern to organized religion, and I was like a wayfaring stranger until one day I found myself sitting in Saint Joan of Arc, the Catholic church of our neighborhood. I had passed the cathedral countless times, but that afternoon, as I was returning from marketing, I stopped and sat alone in the great hall.

It was quiet and dark, and I studied the massive altar and understood, for the first time, the power and meaning of the Crucifixion. Farmer had a great affection for the Saint Joan of Arc church and attended Mass there regularly in her last years. She negotiated a collaboration with Lois Kibbeewho encouraged her to tape-record her life story.

In the spring ofFarmer was diagnosed with esophageal cancerwhich was attributed to a life of heavy smoking. In the years after Farmer's death, her treatment at Western State was the subject of serious discussion and speculation. Kenneth Anger included a chapter relating her breakdown in his work Hollywood Babylon. In the book, Farmer claimed she had been brutalized and mistreated in numerous ways.

Some of the claims included being forced to eat her own feces [ ] and act as a sex slave for male doctors and orderlies. Farmer recounted her stay in the state asylum as "unbearable terror": "I was raped by orderlies, gnawed on by rats, and poisoned by tainted food. I was chained in padded cells, strapped into strait-jackets and half-drowned in ice baths.

Controversy exists over what portions of the book she edited or ghostwrote. Ratcliffe claimed she wrote only the final chapter about Farmer's death. InSeattle film reviewer William Arnold published Shadowlandwhich for the first time alleged that Farmer had been the subject of a transorbital lobotomy. Farmer's family, former lovers, and three ex-husbands all denied, or did not confirm, that the procedure took place.

Walter Freeman 's private records contained no mention of Farmer. Charles Jones, a psychiatric resident at Western State during Farmer's stays, also said that Farmer never had a lobotomy. Writer Jeffrey Kauffmann published an extensive online essay, "Shedding Light on Shadowland ", that debunks much of Arnold's book, including the account of the lobotomy.

InJessica Lange portrayed Farmer in the feature film Frances ; the film depicts Farmer undergoing a lobotomythe veracity of which has been disputed. In the Netflix original series Mindhunterthe character version of Edmund Kemper erroneously says Farmer was lobotomized. Behind that dusty curtain where we stash the interesting stories from another time, some of which are a muffled cry for help that we need to listen to even now.

There are a few reasons for this. One of the main ones: the psychological treatments they subjected this woman to over the years reflect a dark, terrible time in psychiatry. One where women, strangely, tended to be the most direct victims …. Her upbringing and the historical context are very important. We mentioned that Frances was too bold of a woman for her time.

She was like that because her mother started her off early giving her a voice. Teaching her how to give her opinion and to always question things. Later, her mother signed her up for theater classes with one very specific goal in mind. It was related to satisfying a personal desire that she never achieved in her own youth. She had wanted to became famous in the movies.

ByFrances Farmer had already been in a few movies. But, before she started to go in that direction, her mother convinced her otherwise. She told her to temporarily put her professional career on hold and focus on the world of stage. Frances agreed and her agent got her an audition with Paramount Pictures. She had to wear a pretty dress, sit down, and look at the camera.

The journalist admitted that Dr. Freeman wanted press coverage of his lobotomies, so he would have never passed on the opportunity to advertise his treatment with a patient as famous as Farmer. Other professionals at Western State Hospital, including Dr. Charles H. Jones and some actresses frances farmer biography transorbital lobotomy, have also pointed out that Farmer was never lobotomized.

Even if Farmer didn't undergo a lobotomy, her time at Western State Hospital was challenging. She once described it as a traumatic and painful experience where she and other women received hydrotherapy and electric shocks to "relax" and keep them quiet. Farmer told "This Is Your Life" host Ralph Edwards, who deemed her an uncooperative, violent, and mentally ill womanthat she didn't think she was actually sick.

She added :. John Nurnberger also disagreed with Farmer's paranoid schizophrenic diagnosis as such patients are not necessarily over-active. Still, Farmer was quite agitated many times during her six years at Western State Hospital. After leaving the mental hospital, Farmer resumed her acting career and even hosted "Frances Farmer Presents" from and She sadly passed away from esophageal cancer in A few years before her death, she saw her hospital records and asked a doctor if they considered she was ever insane.

After they said no, she replied"Neither did I. The information in this article is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Inshe was discovered by a talent agent who promoted her and was able to revive her career, including appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show The Ed Sullivan Show and This Is Your Lifeas well as a Paramount film and several live television dramas.

Byher alcoholism had become so acute that WFBM fired her. She spent her final years operating several small businesses, usually with her friend "Jean Ratcliffe", until she died from esophageal cancer in Frances' story only became more infamous after her death with the publication of her ghost-written "autobiography" actually written by Ratcliffe "Will There Really Be A Morning?

Though "Shadowland"s author William Arnold admitted in a court case that many of the incidents depicted in his book were fabricated, including the infamous lobotomy, his version of her life went largely unquestioned despite vigorous opposition from many sources, including members of the Farmer family and physicians and nurses at Western State, where Frances was hospitalized.

More incisive and critical analysis of his claims has been published within the last several years, debunking most of the more sensational allegations he put forth, most notably the lobotomy. Frances' sister, "Edith Farmer Elliot", self-published what is probably the most complete and authoritative biography of Frances currently available, "Look Back in Love".

Spouses Leland Mikesell March 27, - August 1, her death. Alfred Lobley April 17, - March 7, divorced. Leif Erickson February 8, - June 12, divorced. No Children. Wesley Sibling. Edith Farmer Elliot Sibling. Director Howard Hawks said he considered her the best actress he ever worked with.