Frances Marie Crowley

Aunt Fran is Thelma's slightly younger sister. She had stayed near Thelma ever since Thelma's husband died. Aunt Fran is married to her work. It includes being an accomplished Journalist, Novelist, and Pianist. She also worked together with Thelma in some of their other hobbies, leaving Naomi out of it particularly because additional family members caused Aunt Fran to lose her nearby office room. Aunt Fran never allowed her hair to age, and wears major designer clothes instead of Thelma's very homely outfits. Aunt Fran has a personal executive car (oversized two door coupe) that Thelma borrowed all day to go shopping, and to get her driver's license. When N.B.C. canceled Mama's Family, many of the cast members were no longer available. Rue McClanahan said that she was no longer interested in Mama's Family, and was never as active as Betty White. She guest starred in Maude with Beatrice Arthur, and Beatrice Arthur costarred in The Golden Girls. Betty White went with them, and was initially going to keep her guest star role at Mama's Family. Rue McClanahan's new character Blanche is not unlike Aunt Fran. She is very classy, adventurous, and has a home in Florida that is not unlike the prized homes that were offered in Bill Cullen's The Price Is Right ... in other words a very long one storey building. And with her family nowhere around, Blanche is much more relaxed. It is revealed in an episode of Mama's Family that shortly before it was revived, Aunt Fran died from Alcohol poisoning. In a drunken fight at the tavern, Thelma snuck up behind Aunt Fran with a fish shoved in her mouth, intending for its tail fins to be a clownish smiling face. Aunt Fran in shock gagged on a toothpick that slipped out of her fingers in the restroom, walked and then fell backwards, and collapsed in the nearest stall, fulfilling The Bathroom Curse. It is most likely that Aunt Fran was around 65. Wondering if Thelma would actually be the death of her, it turns out that Aunt Fran rewrote her will which resulted in the perfect Karma for Thelma. She gave an empty promise for Thelma and her son's family that took her office from her the majority of her estate. If any of them quarrel for two weeks, the estate in question (her cars, clothes, and other personal belongings were not in question) becomes part of a large Non Profit group that Aunt Fran administered. Aunt Fran noticed that her will would be perfect Karma and decided to try Thelma's patience in any way possible in order for the family to explode in front of Aunt Fran's attorney, being assaulted literally moments away from the end of the challenge. However, unlike Thelma's husband, parents, and in laws that she outlived, Thelma missed Aunt Fran, and let her rest in peace. Thelma protected Aunt Fran's Legacy and scolded any body that thought lowly of Aunt Fran.