Fran-Tastic!

Ever Since she sang her way to first place in an amateur-night show in San Jose, California, at the age of 12, Fran Jeffries has been headed for acclaim. She scored initially as a headline singer at the Copacabana and other top night clubs, waxed romantic records and filled guest spots on TV variety series (Ed Sullivan, Tom Jones). Moviegoers took note of her singing and dancing talents in The Pink Panther and Sex and the Single Girl. Now, although Fran still sings for her supper in Las Vegas 12 profitable weeks a year, her career is about to take some new twists. First, there's a nonmusical role—"Well, I do whistle a little"—in Paramount's forthcoming A Talent for Loving, with Richard Widmark, Cesar Romero and Topol, the Israeli star of Fiddler on the Roof; then, a set of new recordings with what Fran describes as "a completely different thing for me—more of a bubble-gum sound than the ballads I used to do"; finally, there's talk of a TV series starring animal-loving Fran, the proud owner of a pet raccoon, as a lady veterinarian. Whether songbird, screen star or video vet, Fran is in great shape in our book.