Award-winning actress
Frances Conroy was born on November 13, 1953 in Monroe, Georgia. Possessing Latvian and Irish ancestry, she studied drama at the Neighborhood Playhouse and trained at the Juilliard School in New York City. She appeared onstage in productions such as Othello with Raul Julia and Richard Dreyfuss, Our Town, The Little Foxes, and on Broadway in the play The Lady From Dubuque. She won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in HBO's
Six Feet Under , and has been nominated repeatedly for Emmy Awards and a Tony Award for her theater work. Conroy has also worked on films such as Scent of a Woman, Sleepless in Seattle, Maid in Manhattan, and The Aviator.
Ruth Fisher is portrayed by Frances Conroy in HBO's award-winning television drama Six Feet Under. Born in Pasadena in 1946, she was never given a chance to enjoy her youth or go to college after high school, due to having to take care of her double amputee grandmother. She married Nathaniel Fisher and raised their three children – Nate, David, and Claire – but she also entered into an affair with a hairdresser named Hiram, who taught her to be more open-minded about her sexuality. When her husband dies, she helps her children keep the family business afloat, while pursuing relationships with other men. Years later, she's shown passing away on her hospital bed surrounded by her loved ones.
(Image courtesy of John P. Johnson)