Fran, an only child, was born in Oak Park, Illinois, and raised in several Chicago suburbs. Her father Arthur Anderson was a Circulation Manager at Curtis Publishing Co.; her mother Elizabeth was a homemaker. Fran studied ballet from an early age through her teens.

In her early 20s, Fran relocated to Los Angeles. There, she freelanced in TV and film, first as a Production Secretary, then as a Production Coordinator, primarily at 20th-Century Fox and Aaron Spelling Productions. Fran also spent 4 months in the Arctic (temp sometimes -20 degrees F!) as Production Coordinator for producer Martin Ransohoff on Paramount's "White Dawn" (1974).

She married in 1976 and moved to NYC, where her husband was on staff at CBS Network News. In succeeding years, she occasionally worked at WNET/NY in the Production Offices of "Great Performances" and "Theater in America"; also completed a Master of Arts degree at NYU; and volunteered in her community.

In 2006, Fran began modeling and acting and soon thereafter joined AFTRA and SAG. Switching from behind the camera to the front of the camera she finds "daunting", but a lot of fun, too.