Francine Beers

Veteran actress Francine Beers started her career in the theater, eventually making her Broadway debut in 1964 with a supporting role in the 1930s-set musical comedy "Café Crown." Yet Beers didn't break into film and television until the 1970s, when after a couple of bit parts in little known movies, she landed one-offs on the popular sketch comedy show "The Carol Burnett Show" and the heralded sitcom "All in the Family." Though she balanced work on the stage and on the screen, Beers' true passion was for the former, and she continually returned to theater acting throughout her career. Not long after she appeared opposite Faye Dunaway in the Broadway production of "The Curse of the Aching Heart," Beers earned her first series regular role on "One of the Boys," a 1982 sitcom that co-starred Mickey Rooney, Dana Carvey, and Nathan Lane. Unfortunately, it lasted only one season, and Beers scored only the occasional small roles in film and television until 1991, when she was cast as a judge on the long-running law drama "Law & Order," a role that would recur for the next six years. In her 70s and 80s, Beers continued to win small parts, appearing in such movies as the 2000 love triangle religious comedy "Keeping the Faith" and the sister-centered dramedy "In Her Shoes."