Frances Shrand

reader and other voices

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Frances Shrand had lived on three continents, finally settling back in the United States in the Boston area. Her acting career started when she won a performance award as a 13-year-old in Cape Town, South Africa. Graduating from the University of Cape Town, she was heralded as a rising star, and her career included working with stage actors including Susan Sontag, Robert Brustein, Peter Sellars and Toby Armour. She was best known as Frances Shrand of The Spider's Web, the WGBH radio show for which she won two Armstrong Awards. Whether riding bareback on a bull in a WGBH television show about strong and remarkable American women or her performances of a Pinter character, she portrayed dozens of the greatest literary characters in theater. In addition, she became well known for her readings of Sufi tales and was a renowned teacher of elocution to lawyers in the Boston area. She also started an etiquette course at the Parker House Hotel to teach children manners needed for polite conversation at a fancy restaurant.