She was not a *bad girl* or a *fallen angel* she was an intelligent person, who had diverse views which unfortunately contradicted the societal norms of her day. The fact that she was superior and different to the crowd she associated with, caused upset and they began to gaslight, bully, and oppress her, to the point of destroying a very charming, intelligent, beautiful woman. My heart goes out to you Frances. I'm so sorry they hurt you. 😭😔💖 We haven't learnt a thing from the past, shame on us!

In nurses training, I took care of lobotomized patients. Also patients who had endured insulin shock therapy and electric convulsive therapy. Nothing as sad as a patient who had a lobotomy. There is nothing left of the self. Just a smiling shell. So sad. In looking back at old records of patients, I found many female patients were committed by their husbands without any real substantial evidence . They were usually given ECTs and insulin shock therapy. After I became a nurse, in the community where I worked, , ECTs were still being administered. This was in the 80s and 90s. Very barbaric treatment. I think it’s been mainly replaced with medication.

One of my great aunts was committed by her husband. He was extremely abusive & she wasn’t afraid to fight back. So he claimed she was insane & she got sent away. Luckily her 5 sisters found out & they broke her out.

The entire practice of lobotomy is one of the sickest saddest things ever done.

Sometimes people are not crazy, they're just surrounded all their life by crazy people. Money doesn't mean you are sane. 🙏💓✌

I would say the Kennedy lobotomy was just as sad and all others preformed

She was a true natural beauty... No lip infections, dermal fillers, plastic surgery or over the top makeup needed!!

My aunt was put through similar horrific treatment due to depression in the early 60s. She was put in a mental hospital where she had so much shock treatment that when I went to see her in the 60s, she uncontrollably shook continuously. It was horrific. She was kept there for a year, to supposedly prevent her from committing suicide. She lived to her late 80s.

The OG Free Britney story.

Probably one of the most intelligent, talented women in Hollywood. She had an abusive mother who took COMPLETE advantage of her. Read her autobiography "Will There Ever Be A Morning?". It's heartbreaking.

When I was a child I sometimes saw Frances in front of her home in Indianapolis to pick up the newspaper from her porch or get into taxis or large shiny cars that would honk. No one honked for a pickup back then. You would park and ring the doorbell. Sometimes she wore a robe in the middle of the day to step out for the afternoon paper or spend a few minutes sunning on the small brick porch. She was said to have no welcome for Christmas carolers but had really good treats on Halloween and a genuine interest in the children's ability to act like the characters they were dressed as. Rumor had it she owned the two dusty cars parked on the street in front of her house but never started or drove them, just kept them parked there so no one else could park there.

Speaking from my own experience, we should be very careful of those toxic and dangerous people who often cloaked themselves as "mother" "father" "brother" "sister" "relatives" or "friend"

I read the book about Francis back in the 1980's and I cried my eyes out at what the poor woman went through. Her mother was vile and was the cause of Francis' downfall. She went through horrific things at the asylum her mother put her in. I think Francis was ahead of her time.

Her bone structure was flawless!

From day one, her whole life was controlled by her mother. Her mother had her committed time after time after time. The studios back then actually DID control every single aspect of their lives. Her life was one great big giant mess. It’s sad.

She was literally ahead of her time. If she was born in this time, she’d probably be wildly successful

‘-‘ Is anyone else thinking of that one Nirvana song 👀 “Francis Farmer will have her revenge on Seattle”

Who pushed her into the wrong hands? The studio put Judy Garland on pills for weight, the other pills for other reasons, look how that extremely talented actress ended up at a young age of what 47? She looked 67.

Growing up, my Grandmother who is still living "ALWAYS" told us about Frances Farmer , Always. She never liked what happened to her. Now I'm glad to have a little more "insight" with this story.

Hollywood’s “Bad Girl”? She was progressive, outspoken, and extremely intelligent. Characteristics which were considered unbecoming of proper women in that era and time. She disagreed with the establishment’s view of what women were supposed to be and how they should behave. If anything the environment she was in that consistently tried to control and force her into an acceptable mold of knowing her place, and to always be an agreeable “yes” woman is what undoubtedly stressed her to her core causing mental anguish. I can’t imagine having the constant pressure of how you should present yourself to be likable for mass public consumption must be. Bless her.

Jessica Lange did such an amazing job in the movie 'Frances' I watched it as a kid and became instantly empathetic to mental illness, and the horrors of experimental 'treatments' especially labotomies.

What these people did to frances was horrific. Fame can mess you up big time. May this beautiful lady be at peace.

SHE WAS NEVER LOBOTOMIZED

For the youngins, you should label which photos are of Jessica Lange in her role as "Frances" 😉

Jessica Lange did perhaps her best performance in the 1982 film, Frances. It has haunted me for years.

Since, according to your video, Frances Farmer did not really have a lobotomy, your title is misleading.

In her biography it was her mother that was abusive, controlling to the point where she even had her own daughter committed because Frances would not obey her!

Such a heartbreaking story! I’m bipolar and only got diagnosed in 2000, at the age of 39. These horrible treatments of mental illness are no doubt the reason my parents didn’t seek treatment for me!

Frances Farmer had the misfortune of being born a woman who chose a career in Hollywood. What she endured was nothing short of horrific.

There was something about her eyes that was so expressive. One of those pictures you showed, sure looks like Jessica Lange, who played her in the movie version. They have an uncanny resemblance to each other. Both incredible at their craft. Frances had a tragic end, unfortunately. Very sad. I really feel for her. It’s more like she was punished for being progressive and ahead of her time. 😞

I see similarities between Ms. Farmer and Brittany Spears. It seems like somethings do not change

Who actually REALLY KNOWS what this beautiful woman REALLY endured in these torturous psychiatric hospitals!! They were known to be barbaric!! May she Rest In Peace.

One of the most beautiful actresses of the 1930s.

Frances Farmer will have her revenge on Seattle!!

She was so beautiful and intelligent. Her mother destroyed her.

While I appreciated the story, the background music and the constant popping up of the red subscribe button made it overall unenjoyable.

She was lovely. She was born before her time.

She was a real stunner!!

Knowing how much homophobia and misogyny went on in old Hollywood, I wonder whether she simply refused to sleep with guys to get ahead, and got punished for it.

Hollywood hasn't changed!!!

How barbaric were some of the medical procedures that were considered cutting age in their time.

Her autobiography left me feeling so sad, it effected me to this day. Alcoholism is a terrible mental health condition not to mention her lack of love and understanding from her own mother.

You can blame whoever you want... But for me, those Doctors were worse than Frankenstein!!! Electric shock therapy for everything and at the end the lobotomy! That's horrible... Even if you have a mental problem, you still have the right to be treated as a human! She had an addiction, like many others. Heroine was even in choughsirups that were given to children! Even today, 70% of drug addicts are thanks to the doctor and their pain prescriptions. They don't care about the consequences and how fast someone gets addicted to pills. Then they cut you off and you are stranded with the addiction. Then those people start buying pills at the black market, and how the tolerance raises so does the amount of pills and transition to harder drugs.

I had a miserable relationship with my mother also which had an extremely negative impact on my life in a myriad of ways. My mother was beautiful, charismatic and powerful too. I had two good mothers- in-law who made-up somewhat for the ordeal with my mother. I got the impression Frances' mother was pretty disastrous for her too.

Her potential was quashed by her mother as a girl... her essay as a highschooler was impressive... she was a highly active student at college... she would have been world beater had her mother actually given a shit about her... so sad... a lesson to get away from toxic parents asap...😢😢😭😭

I read “I never promised you a rose garden’ which was based on her life as a teenager. Quite traumatic reading. Very sad life.

This does not surprise me about these kind of people. They will forever change you UNTIL they destroy you.Stay far away. They’re past dangerous. Poor Ms. Farmer. She was so talented. I hope she gets her justice on the other side. 😢

An aunt of mine received shock therapy in the 1980's, so it was not stopped as this video claimed!

“Psychiatric care” was abusive and kind of like the doctors leaching blood was to medical practice in the past, only much worse. Destructive and dangerous. Toxic mother also got to help destroy her. Very sad.

Frances Farmer had an afternoon movie show in Indianapolis when I was in high school. She spoke slowly and seemed out of it - she was immaculately dressed and coifed. She lived not too far from my house. One day I saw the cover of a book Will There Ever Be A Morning - the Frances Farmer Story with this young beautiful woman's picture on it, I couldn't figure out how the woman in the picture could possibly be the one I watched on tv. I read the book and was horrified. She really had it rough.

Your editing is all over the place - with repeats and out-of-order timelines. This video was a bit confusing.

psychiatry in those times was purely horrific, sadistic and brutal. i am so sorry for her that she had to endure all this torture.

I can’t get over how much she reminds me of Sara Paulson. I never saw it until now. But Jessica Lange did a fantastic job of portraying her in her film.

I remember reading a book many years ago, An Autobiography "Will there Really be a Morning" Frances Farmer, and was a book that I could not put down, just had to keep reading it because what I was reading was something that to me was quite unbelievable. I had never heard of her and wasn't until I read the book that I knew about her. I felt sorry for her and how life just was pushing her around and she was just retaliating and was misunderstood I guess. She certainly did not get on well with her mother and that was the beginning of her downfall as her mother wanted her to be different and because she wasn't going to be, her mother kept putting her into the Asylum to teach her a lesson on how to live. A terrible life for her and very sad outcome in the end.

Frances was an individual and rebelled against control. In that era women like that who broke convention were termed mentally ill. It's a sad story. I think the studio used her as an example to keep others in line.

I like that she lived her life her way.... good or bad ..... it was hers to rule!

Her mother was so jealous of her, what she did to her daughter was criminal.

To watch Anything that Hollywood puts out now takes a Full Lobotomy to sit through !!!

The voiceover: 😔😕 The music: 🥳🤗

What a sad story for an exceptionally beautiful and intelligent lady who had the balls to be sassy and outspoken. Evil hollyweird.

She was a strong and beautiful woman. She stood up for herself

My young mother, who was on a date in Hollywood at the time, always said she was there when Francis Farmer had her ... freak-out I guess you would call it. Mom said she saw it, and witnessed the cops carrying her away to a paddy wagon . I think this was tragic. Mental health was in its infancy . She was never given a break.

One of my favorite people and local treasures is Seattle Artist Joe Reno. He lives in the family home of his childhood to this day. He tells stories about Francis Farmer seeking refuge from it all in an old friends home . The friend was Joes Mother. He remembers cuddling with her on the occasions that the unquestioning and undemanding love of a young boy provided necessary respite from the world that was often unkind to her. He claims her spirit remains in his house and I believe him

Omg that poor woman. She endured so much.

She stood up against the evil Hollywood tycoons. Bravo to her!!!💜💜💜

I'm sorry, but this "biography" is not very well done. The narrative is at points confusing as to timelines and incredibly repetitive, with long passages that seem purposeless. the pictures were a nice touch and added interest at first, but then, like the narrative, became too repetitive. Some, showing her in various stages of her unraveling again and again, felt almost exploitative.

ECT was a nightmare procedure for me. I had some 13 or more "treatments", two a week, until my wife saw how badly my memory had been affected and pulled me out. What it claimed to do and what it did were two very different things for me. At a different time, I was in a mental ward for two and a half weeks. In some ways it was all right; I was in one of the best facilities in the state and there were some beneficial programs there. At the same time, my doctor was a complete hack and made my condition worse with careless med changes. The amount of violence I saw also shocked me (no pun intended). There was an assault or a fight about every two or three days, just the sort of thing I needed to help with my depression. I'm a lot better now, with different meds and what not, and I will run before I get put in one of those places again. There are still a lot of awful things in the mental health field, and it's sad that this talented lady had to endure that before finding her happiest years.

Incredibly talented and attractive actress, the mother sounds like a right piece of work. Power and beauty obviously wasn't enough in Hollywood back then, not much has changed I think. Thanks for another great video. Brenton.🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺

I had 1000s of ECTs and a backroom lobotomy in the early seventies. My parents were sexual sadists. I blame this country, they allow these practices to go on. Sick.

I didn’t know this actress. She was incredibly natural beautiful. Poor sweetie, she didn’t have the right support and everything went wrong...

I heard she's going to get her revenge on Seattle.

That background music is incredibly annoying, distracting & not at all necessary!

She was never lobotomized: "A widely discredited 1978 biography of her life, Shadowland, alleged that Farmer underwent a transorbital lobotomy during her institutionalization, but the author has since stated in court that he fabricated this incident and several other major aspects of the book."

Marlene Dietrich, Katherine Hepburn, Bette Davis, and Rosalind Russell were actresses with independent streaks in Frances Farmer’s era who nonetheless managed to survive the cruelties of the Hollywood studio system.

Although the two women bear a striking resemblance to one another, the photo shown at 4:56, is actually Jessica Lange.

I read ‘Will there really be a Morning’ the story of her life, and it focused heavily on her relationship with her mother, who was very controlling - ultimately her mother gained control when she was sectioned. Very sad 😔

I hadn’t heard of her before but honestly she is the most beautiful woman I have EVER seen. What a tragedy.

“Her mother was a social worker.” There lies the problem...

As others have stated, she was never lobotomized. She acted in Summer Stock and had her own local tv series after being released from the asylums she had been committed to by her mother. People given lobotomies can’t function afterwards. Her “autobiography” “Will There Ever Be A Morning?” was highly fictionalized by a woman who had glommed on her in her final years.

She was tripped by Hollywood as she was walking up the stares . A circumstance of the era.

I have been interested in Francis tragedy since I was 20 yrs old. I am now 63, and the subject of Ms Farmer still fascinates me

I am very sad to say that this was done to my to my sweet Aunt , she is still alive, it was done in the late 60s, the reason, it is very sick, it was bc she was caught dating a man of color , my grandparents took her to Europe, had it done, I call her my Sweet Auntie, one of 2 twins , she calls me her Angel. It was HER first date ever and sadly her last date ever, never married neither of my twin Aunts did, she never worked again, (she met the gentleman at while wirking at a bank)the family had money made sure was and is taken care of the lobotomy most DEFIANTLY changed her, but what made her have severe mental health issues to this day , from time to time she does have to go to the mental hospital, was how & why it was done but the brutal, horrendous treatment by staff while in the hospital, My Auntie has severe PTSD, I love her so very much ! I have personally witnessed what this treatment , how they were treated, did to someone, I wept while watching this, poor Frances! , how anyone believed that type of treatment would help anyone is beyond me, that along with how "mental" patients were really treated, especially women, there has not been one movie that I would say has captured that hell! My understanding is that the staff & treatments were beyond what any other patient could or would do! Frances Farmer must have been a very strong women to have endured such a horrific act, I pray she had happiness love & peace in her later years! Shame on them! With Love from Washington State 💚🌲

I remember watching the Jessica Lange film as a child. It disturbed me then as the real mother of Francis disturbs me now 💔

Such a sad story. First she had evil parents and then she was violated so they could control her

she certainly was one of the most beautiful woman ever in Hollywood. Thanks for sharing her story.

10:53 Britney Spears comes to mind and conservatorship she's under for like idk 11 years?

One of the saddest stories indeed. And yet we trust in and grant almost god-like status to psychiatrists and psychologists and we conveniently forget the bloody, cruel origins of the science of psychiatry. We forget that cruelty and inhumane abuses by psychiatrists, psychologists and nurses working in those institutions were the NORM rather than the exception until repeated public outcry and repeated lawsuits by the relatives of the abused patients brought about reforms in patient treatment. A lot of the psychologists and psychiatrists were the original sociopaths and psychopaths.

Her mother was the original Jamie Spears. RIP Frances. You deserved so much better in your life.

Saw this episode as a 12 year old boy and never forgot it

So was rosemary Kennedy.. somewhere it says she had seizures....not true..I read s book about the Kennedys a few yrs ago ..was absolutely heartbreaking what they did to that girl 💔

Farmer almost certainly was bipolar and was having a manic episode before her arrest and transfer to the psychiatric hospital. For instance, she assaulted a hair-dresser on the set of a film (the woman filed charges). Soon after, she went to a bar and got into a fight. She left the bar and ran down the street topless. She then went back to her hotel room where the Cops finally tracked her down. Inside they found her naked and belligerent. They had to forcefully drag her out of the room. During her court appearance the next day she made a lot of strange statements, physically attacked the judge, and had to be restrained by the bailiffs. On her way out of court she attacked a Cop - knocking him down. She was sentenced to 180 days. A family member somehow arranged for her sentence to jail to be commuted in exchange for a trip to the psychiatric hospital. At the hospital, the docs diagnosed her with "manic-depression" which is what they called bipolar back then. (Manic-depression became "bipolar" in 1980). Later, she went to live with her parents, but constantly fought with them. Her mother then had her committed to a different hospital. The two psychiatrists there would change her diagnosis to schizophrenia. I think the original psychiatrist had the diagnosis correct - her behavior fits a bipolar manic episode perfectly. Schizophrenia requires chronic psychosis and "negative" symptoms which I just don't see in Farmer's later television interviews especially considering there were no good drugs for it back then. Even though psychiatrists knew what bipolar was back then, they had no effective treatments other than just knocking them out with sedatives. (Lithium wouldn't be FDA approved until 1970). Also, back then psych hospitals were much more like prisons than what they are today. Life in one wouldn't have been great. Farmer claimed she was a "sex slave" to the orderlies who routinely raped her, said she got gnawed on by rats, and there was feces everywhere. The lobotomy story is not true. There is no way that someone who had a lobotomy would be as lucid as Farmer was after her release from the hospital. The woman continued acting and did numerous TV interviews. A lobotomized person wouldn't be able to do that. Also, all the doctors deny she got one, her family denies it, as well as three boyfriends. There is simply no way Farmer had a lobotomy. Farmer was basically the 1940's Britney Spears. A bipolar celebrity who lived under a conservatorship ran by her parents.

William Wyler was not an actor, but a director. Also, many of the photos appear to be of Jessica Lange, who portrayed Frances in her biographical movie.

She was a talented actress who had a tough life.

She was amazingly beautiful.

I came across your channel while watching a Caitlin Doughty video and loved it

Extremely sad the old days were hard on a lot of those actresses like her and the very beautiful Barbara Payton. Francis Farmer was married for a time to actor Leif Erickson from the High Chapparal T.V. show. May she forever R.I.P.

So sad. She was so beautiful. Stunning.

Is that where Nirvana got the title on IN UTERO?I commented on this video before watching it and got the answer,Kurt Cobain did write that song because of her,sad story of FRANCES FARMER😔

I had to spped up the video to 1.75x speed in order for it to sound better to me (my family and I speak fast, so I'm used to hearing ppl speak much faster than "normal" and I can't listen to slow speech without becoming annoyed), but the information was spot-on. I have watched several videos from your channel and just subscribed. I can't wait to see what's in the archives and what's to come!

A very beautiful lady who had a very awful painful life.