Relatively new to Hollywood, Robert Francis, 25, was a rising young actor on the verge of film stardom, when on 31 July, 1955, he, along with a friend, actress Ann Russell, were both killed instantly, after private plane owned by Joe Kirkwood Jr. which he was piloting, crashed. The plane had just taken off from the Burbank airport, when it suddenly lost power and crashed into an abandoned car park. Francis had made a solid debut as a ranking officer in The Caine Mutiny (1954) - alongside a formidable, group of actors, including such stalwarts as Humphrey Bogart, José Ferrer, Van Johnson and Fred MacMurray. Clean-cut, solid-bodied, rather quiet and handsome,sporting the typical 50s brush-cut, Francis showed exceptional poise and restraint in his next few co-leads, finding a niche as loyal military types. Francis was buried at Forest Lawn. He appeared in only 4 films.
