In this episode of The Fem Files, Grace Bowland dives into the brutal legacy of Frances Farmer. Labeled insane for refusing to comply, Farmer’s story is less about madness and more about misogyny in a white coat. From electroshock “cures” to lobotomy rumors, we trace how brilliance in women gets pathologized, then punished.
Sources:
https://newsroom.artandwriting.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Farmer%E2%80%94God-Dies.pdf
William Arnold, Shadowland (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1978); Frances Farmer and Jean Ratcliffe, Will There Really Be a Morning? (New York: Dell Publishing Co., 1972); Frances Farmer, Clipping and Biography Files, Seattle Collection, Seattle Public Library; Lois Kibbee Papers, 1968-1981, Special Collections, University of Washington, Seattle; Kyle Crichton, "I Dress As I Like," Collier's, May 8, 1937, p. 21; "A Seattle Mother's Warning Against Red Teachers," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 29, 1935, p. 1; Frances Farmer, "Why I Am Going to Russia," The Seattle Times, March 29, 1935, p. 2; "Frances Farmer: A Seattle Girl Reaches Broadway via Hollywood," Life, January 17, 1938, pp. 26-27; "Distinguished Group Will Preview New Studio Play," The Seattle Times, January 23, 1938, p. 4; Edward Churchill, "The Future of Frances Farmer," Movie Mirror, January 1938, p. 53; James Robert Parish and William T. Leonard, Hollywood Players: The Thirties (New York: Arlington House Publishers, 1976); "Ex-Seattle Girl Cries She 'Drank Everything,'" The Seattle Times, January 14, 1943, p. 1; "May Be Publicity Stunt, Says Mother of Actress," Philadelphia Record, January 14, 1943; "Blames Roles for Breakdown," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 26, 1943; "Mental Test Ordered For Fran Farmer: Her Sanity Held in Doubt," New York Daily News, January 15, 1943; "Miss Farmer Put In Asylum," The Seattle Times, March 24, 1944, p. B-4; "Frances Farmer Will Leave Hospital; May Do War Work," Ibid., July 2, 1944, p. 1; "Frances Farmer Cured, Quits Hospital Today," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, July 2, 1944; Robert A. Barr, "Frances Farmer, Home Again, Plans Comeback in Pictures," The Seattle Times, July 3, 1944, p. B-4; "Frances Farmer," Ibid., July 29, 1944, p. 10; "Reds Had Hold Over Actress Since High School, Says Parent," Ibid., October 20, 1947; Lucille Cohen, "Drastic Overcrowding at State Hospital Bared," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 18, 1949, p. 1; Rita Rose, "True Frances Farmer Story Remains Elusive" and "Frances Farmer: She Couldn't Tell the White Hats from the Black," Indianapolis Star, January 23, 1983; Edith Farmer Elliot, Look Back in Love (Portland, OR: Gemaia Press, 1978); " 'Frances' Inaccurate, Say Former Nurses," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 26, 1983; Robert Heilman, "Miss Farmer Happy as She and Fiancée Talk of Coming Marriage," The Seattle Times, April 14, 1954, p. 16; Ed DeBlasio, "The Seven Christmases of Frances Farmer," Modern Screen, December 1957, p. 57; "Frances Farmer, 56, Former Actress, Dies, The Seattle Times, August 3, 1970, p. D-16; "Seattle-born Film Actress Frances Farmer Dies at 56," Seattle Post-Intelligencer, August 3, 1970, p. 5.
