Frances Bergen Dies

Actress Frances Bergen died at Cedars-Sinai on Oct.2 following a lengthy illness. She was 84 years old. She was the widow of world-famous ventriloquist Edgar Bergen. She is survived by her daughter Candice Bergen (60), son Kris Bergen and granddaughter Chloe Malle (20).

Frances Bergen was a strikingly beautiful Powers model who became “The Chesterfield Girl,” as well as “The Ipana Girl” and was featured in countless campaigns in magazines and billboards. She later appeared in movies including the original 1953 “Titanic,” “Made in America,” “Eating,” “The Morning After,” “The Muppets Take Manhattan,” “The Sting II,” “”Rich and Famous,” “American Gigolo” and an episode of daughter Candice’s “Murphy Brown” series.

Frances as born Frances Westerman, Sept.14, 1922 in Birmingham, Alabama. Following the death of her father, she and her mother moved to Los Angeles where she attended Los Angeles high school and was a pom-pom girl. She caught the eye of Edgar Bergen when she was in the audience of his famous radio show “Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.” Frances and Edgar were married a year later in Mexico. He was 20 years her senior. Edgar Bergen died in 1978.

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Burial for Frances Bergen will be private and a memorial service is pending. The family asks that donations in her name be made to either the American Heart Association or the Arthritis Foundation.

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Update: 2024-03-04

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