Missy Francis

Missy Francis
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Portrays:	Little Girl
Date of Birth:	December 12, 1972
Date of Death:	Missing required parameter 1=month! ,
Age:	52
Nationality:	USA
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IMDb profile

Melissa Ann Francis (born December 12, 1972), credited as Missy Francis during her childhood acting career, is an American actress, television journalist, and author best known for portraying Cassandra Cooper Ingalls on the NBC drama series Little House on the Prairie. In the realm of the Battlestar Galactica franchise, she appeared in two episodes of Galactica 1980 as a little girl in the three-part premiere "Galactica Discovers Earth".

Biography

Early life and career beginnings

Francis was born Vini Melissa Ann Francis in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of a small businessman and homemaker. She grew up with her older sister Tiffany in a household where their mother devoted considerable attention to advancing both daughters' entertainment careers, though this upbringing proved complex and challenging.

Francis began her entertainment career at six months old when she appeared in a Johnson & Johnson baby shampoo commercial. By age eight, she had already established herself as a working child actress, appearing in nearly 100 television commercials, including spots for McDonald's.

Film and television

1978–1979

Francis made her television debut in the 1978 telefilm The Ghost of Flight 401. The following year, she made her theatrical film debut in Michael Schultz's comedy Scavenger Hunt (1979).

1980

In 1980, Francis appeared in two episodes of Galactica 1980, specifically "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part II" and "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part III", credited as Missy Francis.

That same year, Francis appeared in the ABC sitcom Mork & Mindy in the season two episode "A Mommy for Mindy", playing the younger version of Mindy McConnell at age six. Francis later recalled this experience fondly, describing how she walked around the set with a one-eyed teddy bear and how Robin Williams intervened with the property manager to allow her to keep the toy, which she still has and her children now play with.

1979–1982: Joe's World and Little House on the Prairie

Between 1979 and 1980, Francis played Linda Wabash in 11 episodes of the NBC sitcom Joe's World.

In 1981, at age eight, Francis won what would become her most recognized role: Cassandra Cooper Ingalls on NBC's Little House on the Prairie. She played the character—an orphan adopted by the Ingalls family alongside her brother James, portrayed by Jason Bateman—for 21 episodes across the show's final two seasons (1981–1982). At the audition, Francis remembered encountering script language that seemed odd to her, with phrases like "Ma," "Pa," and "reckon," but her mother insisted she perform the lines exactly as written.

Francis later attributed winning the role in part to her ability to cry real tears on cue, which she achieved by imagining traumatic scenarios involving her pets rather than through traditional acting methods. She recalled her audition with series creator and star Michael Landon, describing him as electrifying the room: "I didn't know who he was, but you could tell by the energy in the room that he was an important person. He electrified the audition the moment he laughed at my wide eyes, framed by long ropes of brown braids." Francis performed two scenes, with the second requiring her to cry on cue—her "signature magic" and forte.

Francis developed a close working relationship with co-star Jason Bateman, who played her adoptive brother James. She later confessed to having had "such a giant crush on him," recalling that "I just thought he was so handsome and charming but I was too young for him to pay attention to. He was so sweet to me."

During her time on Little House on the Prairie, Francis worked closely with series creator and star Michael Landon, whose work ethic and business acumen left a lasting impression on the young actress. She later described Landon as combining qualities of "Santa Claus and a god-like figure," noting that he was among the first people in Hollywood to recognize the financial value of owning one's own production, as he "owned it, wrote it, created it, produced it, starred in it, directed it, everything." Francis credited Landon with instilling in the cast a sense of professionalism, responsibility, and respect for the collaborative nature of production that influenced her throughout her subsequent career.

Francis later reflected that Landon ran the production "like a well oiled, highly efficient machine," and that "he wasn't a diva and didn't suffer any divas either. He led by example and we all followed suit." She also remembered his playful side, recalling how "more than once, he turned to the kids to speak, and as he opened his mouth, a frog popped out! Our squeals of terror and disgust delighted his childish side and brightened the day."

Francis and co-star Melissa Gilbert later discussed the fact that none of their Little House co-stars "ended up in jail or rehab," with both attributing this success to "the way Michael ran the set." Francis emphasized that Landon "expected us to work like adults since we made adult paychecks, but he always took a moment to make us laugh until we cried."

Later acting work

Francis continued her acting career through the 1980s with appearances in several notable productions. In 1983, she played Paula Beckwith in the drama film Man, Woman and Child, starring alongside Martin Sheen and Blythe Danner. She appeared in the 1984 television movie Something About Amelia, which tackled the sensitive subject of incest and received critical acclaim.

In 1986, Francis starred as Sarah Bishop in the short-lived CBS family drama series Morningstar/Eveningstar. Her television guest appearances during this period included St. Elsewhere (1986), Hotel, A Year in the Life, ALF, and Hardball.

Francis's later film work included a role as young Cynthia in the 1988 horror thriller Bad Dreams. Her final acting role came in 2012 with a small part in Sacha Baron Cohen's satirical comedy The Dictator.

Education and transition to journalism

By age 18, Francis had grown uncertain about pursuing acting as a lifelong career. A decade after Little House on the Prairie ended its historic run, she decided to leave Hollywood behind and board a plane to Boston to study economics at Harvard University. She graduated in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics. During her time at Harvard, she served as executive editor of the Harvard College Economist Magazine and captain of the Harvard Polo Team.

Francis chose Harvard in part because of its geographic distance from Los Angeles, seeking to establish independence from her complicated family situation. During college, she worked various jobs including as a waitress and twice served as an NBC News intern before graduating. To help finance her education, she took on work in food services, chopping vegetables for minimum wage—an experience that shocked her former Little House co-star Melissa Gilbert. Francis attributed her willingness to take such jobs to the work ethic instilled by Michael Landon, noting that unlike many former child stars who might think "I can't go wait tables, I've been a star," she was "so focused on what was next, that I was going to do anything to get there."

The transition from acting to journalism proved more challenging than Francis anticipated. Despite her extensive television experience, she found the skills required for broadcast journalism markedly different from those needed for scripted performance. She took a significant pay cut from her college job managing a tech team at $25 per hour to work in television news at $6.10 per hour, running teleprompter, cutting tapes, and working with antiquated equipment in Portland, Maine.

A year later, Francis landed what she described as her "big break" in New Hampshire, moving in front of the camera—only to experience severe difficulties and ultimately get fired. Francis faced considerable challenges in her first on-air position, finding that looking into a camera for live television felt vastly different from acting. She described experiencing severe nervousness, feeling as though "a black abyss just sucked the air out of my body" when looking into the camera lens. This struggle culminated in being fired from her first on-air job by a new news director who gave her 30 minutes to pack her belongings and leave.

Despite this setback, Francis persevered, working her way through various local news circuits before eventually landing positions at major networks.

Journalism career

Francis began her journalism career with reporting positions at CNET and CNBC. At CNBC, she worked as an energy and financial reporter, covering issues related to oil pricing, energy sector corporations, and economic factors affecting energy pricing and consumption. During her tenure at CNBC, she served as an anchor on shows including Power Lunch, The Call, and On the Money, and co-hosted It's the Economy on MSNBC.

In 2005, Francis was hired to host CNBC's On the Money. Her reporting eventually attracted the attention of Fox News, where she encountered a different editorial philosophy. Francis has recounted that while at CNBC, she reported that the mathematics behind the Affordable Care Act didn't add up based on her economics background, and was subsequently called to account and told she was "disrespecting the office of the president" and instructed to cease such reporting.

In January 2012, Francis joined Fox Business Network as an anchor. At Fox, she received encouragement from the late Roger Ailes, who advised her to be authentic and take risks, telling her that audiences could detect insincerity. From 2012 to 2015, she hosted the series Money with Melissa Francis. In 2014, she became a recurring co-host of Fox News Channel's talk and news commentary program Outnumbered. In 2015, she began co-hosting After the Bell on Fox Business Network alongside Connell McShane. She also anchored Fox News Channel's Happening Now newscast and appeared regularly on programs including The Five and America's Newsroom.

In November 2017, Francis was promoted to permanent co-host of Fox News Channel's midday ensemble show Outnumbered, where she and anchor Harris Faulkner were joined by a rotating panel of two other women and a sole male panelist, labeled the "One Lucky Guy." Francis continued co-hosting Fox Business's After the Bell show and made frequent guest appearances on Tucker Carlson's highly rated prime-time opinion show.

However, Francis said she was granted only a negligible increase in compensation with the promotion. She believed her salary, which was below $1 million, was far less than what her peers were making, but agreed to wait for the next contract negotiation in 2019. In the meantime, she began asking former colleagues and agents what other people were earning at Fox News, personally attempting to investigate and research the pay disparities.

On November 11, 2019, Francis had a contract negotiation call with Dianne Brandi, a former executive vice president for legal and business affairs for Fox News. When Brandi told Francis that her new contract would not include an increase in compensation, Francis said she responded by telling Brandi about her research and what she characterized as a "pretty staggering gender pay gap" she had found, mentioning her calculations regarding the salaries of specific daytime Fox hosts. According to Francis, Brandi urged her to try a different tack in negotiating her salary and responded: "That's how the world works. Women make less. It's just a fact." Fox News disputed this account, with a spokesperson stating: "Melissa Francis's version of that conversation is untrue and patently absurd—furthermore, it is illogical that anyone with Dianne Brandi's level of experience in negotiating talent contracts for a living would make such a ludicrous statement."

After the network denied her lawyer's request to disclose the salaries of her colleagues, Francis entered into arbitration with Fox in August 2020. The arbitrator set a deadline of October 7, 2020 for the network to provide salary information. On that same date, Francis was effectively taken off the air, and she did not appear on Fox News or Fox Business thereafter. Her last tweet before disappearing from the network read: "Trump will win. 💯. I'm not advocating, I'm telling you to mentally prepare. Don't say I didn't warn you." Francis officially resigned from Fox News in February 2021.

Francis subsequently filed a complaint with the New York State Department of Labor, alleging retaliation by Fox News after she raised concerns about gender pay disparity. Her attorney, Kevin Mintzer, told The Washington Post that Francis filed the complaint "not for herself but for the women of the company who remain behind."

In June 2022, Fox News and Francis reached a settlement whereby the network paid her approximately $15 million, according to documents reviewed by The Washington Post. The amount paid to Francis was on a scale with the blockbuster settlements the network had offered to a number of female employees who leveled claims of sexual misconduct and harassment against Roger Ailes, the co-founder of Fox News, and former prime-time star Bill O'Reilly. Mintzer stated that despite Fox News's pledges of improving its climate since those allegations were settled, "what happened to Melissa shows that sexism and retaliation remain standard practice at the company."

One lawyer unconnected to the case who has helped women receive settlements from other networks said the size of Francis's award suggests that Fox News realized it would have a weak position defending itself in court against a lawsuit. "For a settlement this large, there would probably need to be pretty convincing evidence of an obvious and gross disparity in pay," said Ari Wilkenfeld, a partner at the Atkinson Law Group in Bethesda, Maryland.

In a statement, a Fox News spokesperson said: "We parted ways with Melissa Francis over a year and a half ago and her allegations were entirely without merit. We have also fully cooperated with the New York State Department of Labor's investigation and look forward to the completion of this matter." The spokesperson also stated that Fox News "has always been committed to the equitable treatment of all employees" and noted that the company had "undergone a comprehensive overhaul of its entire workplace culture," including promoting women to senior executive positions.

Francis told The Washington Post that she "loved working at Fox," even though she and her family "took a lot of blowback over the network's conservative and frequently controversial positions." Following her departure from Fox, Francis joined Newsmax.

Author

In November 2012, Francis published her memoir Diary of a Stage Mother's Daughter (Weinstein Books/Grand Central Publishing), which detailed her experiences growing up with what she described as a "mercurial, domineering, but also devoted" mother who pushed her daughters into acting careers with methods Francis characterized as sometimes cruel and abusive. The book explored the differential impact of their mother's approach on Francis and her sister Tiffany, with Francis thriving under pressure while Tiffany struggled increasingly as their mother's attention focused primarily on Francis's success.

Francis was inspired to write the memoir in part by the publication of Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother in 2011, which prompted Francis to share her own story as a cautionary counterpoint to "tiger parenting" approaches. Francis explained in a 2012 interview that reading passages from Chua's book caused her to start crying: "The idea of a parent emulating that model upset me and terrified me so much." She wanted to warn parents that "that type of unrelenting parenting" could make some children disciplined and successful "but can be completely, wildly destructive to other kids, like my sister."

Now a mother herself, Francis used the book to reflect on parenting philosophy and the consequences of relentlessly pushing children to succeed, noting that "the one size fits all, hard line approach to pushing children as hard as you can and demanding the very best doesn't fit them both." Francis observed that she saw the same dynamic at work with her own two sons: "I have two very different sons, that were born very differently. They respond completely differently to the same circumstances and to the same parenting."

The writing process also served as a catalyst for Francis to confront her past after years of avoidance. She explained that when her oldest son asked if his paternal grandmother was also Francis's mother, the question forced her to consider how to explain her mother's absence from their lives. Francis realized that she had become "a master of 'not answering the question'" about her family, able to divert inquiries without drawing attention to her evasions. She concluded, "this is ridiculous. You know, I'm a married woman with children. I need to reconcile myself with all of this."

The memoir received positive reviews from publications including Kirkus Reviews, Publishers Weekly, and Entertainment Weekly, with Kirkus describing it as "one of those intimate, heartbreaking, doubled-edged stories that is hard to read, impossible to put down." Author Jeannette Walls praised it as "touching and brave, heartbreaking and inspirational," while Francis's former Little House on the Prairie co-star Melissa Gilbert called the story "riveting" and "the perfect antidote for the 'Tiger Mom' syndrome."

In April 2017, Francis published her second book, Lessons from the Prairie: The Surprising Secrets to Happiness and Success from America's Favorite Show (Weinstein Books), which applied lessons from her time on Little House on the Prairie to contemporary challenges in work and life. The book particularly emphasized the work ethic and professionalism she learned from Michael Landon. Francis described wanting to "arm" her three children "with the tools needed to tackle life's toughest challenges and help them build a happy life," and offered readers her "Foolproof Formula for Turning Disaster into Golden Opportunity."

In the book's introduction, Francis reflected on how working on Little House on the Prairie had provided her with a "priceless training ground" and that what she took as "a playful and distant time on our dusty set, deep in the scorching sun of Simi Valley, was in truth a priceless training ground." She concluded, "there was a lot of wisdom in our makeshift location and in those books, and if you join me on this ride, I promise to sprinkle a little on your head."

Personal life

Francis married Wray Thorn, a financier and asset manager, on May 29, 1999. Thorn, who also attended Harvard University where he earned an AB in Government, has worked in private equity and asset management, serving in senior positions at firms including Dubilier & Company, Fox Paine & Company, Marathon Asset Management, and Sightway Capital. Francis met Thorn in Boston during her college years.

Francis and Thorn have three children: sons Thompson (born 2007) and Greyson (born April 26, 2010), and daughter Gemma (born 2015). The family resides in Manhattan, New York.

Francis has been diagnosed with Factor V Leiden, a hereditary blood clotting disorder that makes pregnancy dangerous and increases the risk of severe complications. After experiencing high-risk pregnancies with both her sons and receiving medical advice that having more children was extremely dangerous, Francis and Thorn had their daughter Gemma through surrogacy. Francis nearly died with each of her sons' births.

Francis has described her Catholic faith and her husband's Methodist faith as complementary influences on their family life. The family sends their children to Catholic school during the week and attends a Methodist church on Sundays. Francis has stated that she begins every Sunday by looking around at her family and thanking God for her blessings, crediting divine providence rather than personal achievement for her circumstances.

According to IMDb, Francis was emancipated from her mother at age 15, a decision that occurred within the context of the family dynamics she later explored in her memoirs.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1979	Scavenger Hunt
1983	Man, Woman and Child	Paula Beckwith
1988	Bad Dreams	Young Cynthia
2012	The Dictator

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1978	The Ghost of Flight 401		Television movie
1979	Champions: A Love Story		Television movie
1979	Son-Rise: A Miracle of Love		Television movie
1979–1980	Joe's World	Linda Wabash	11 episodes
1980	Mork & Mindy	Young Mindy McConnell	Episode: "A Mommy for Mindy"
1980	Galactica 1980	Little Girl	Episodes: "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part II", "Galactica Discovers Earth, Part III" Credited as Missy Francis
1980	When the Whistle Blows
1981–1982	Little House on the Prairie	Cassandra Cooper Ingalls	21 episodes
1982	A Gun in the House		Television movie
1982	Midnight Lace		Television movie
1984	Something About Amelia		Television movie
1986	Morningstar/Eveningstar	Sarah Bishop	Series regular
1986	St. Elsewhere		Guest appearance
	Hotel		Guest appearance
	A Year in the Life		Guest appearance
	ALF		Guest appearance
	Hardball		Guest appearance

External links

• Melissa Francis on Instagram