Frances Doel obit

Frances Doel Dies: Roger Corman’s Longtime Collaborator Was 83

 

She was not on the list.

Frances Doel, neé Frances Margaret Doel, writer-producer-executive known for her work with indie film legend Roger Corman, died May 26 after a long illness. She was 83.

Doel first connected with Corman when she saw a posting for an assistant on a jobs board at Oxford University, where she was a graduating scholarship student of St. Hilda’s College. She moved to Los Angeles, taking up residence at the Women’s Y in Hollywood and working for Corman’s New World Pictures throughout its heyday, which spanned the 1960s, ’70s and early ’80s. Doel was Corman’s right-hand, writing scripts, developing scripts with other scribes, coordinating projects in production and serving as script supervisor on location.

Many Corman-produced films have been thought to have uncredited writing contributions from Doel. She was officially credited for writing on New World’s cult classics, Big Bad Mama (1974) and Crazy Mama (1975). At New World, Doel worked alongside future Hollywood luminaries, Oscar winners, Emmy winners and legends, including Chinatown screenwriter Robert Towne; actors like Warren Beaty, Angie Dickinson, Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson, William Shatner, and Shelley Winters; producers Jon Davison and Gale Anne Hurd; directors Peter Bogdanovich, James Cameron, Francis Ford Coppola, Jonathan Demme, Martin Scorsese, Joe Dante and Allan Arkush.

From New World Pictures, Doel went on to serve as a creative executive for Orion Pictures under Mike Medavoy for the filming of The Terminator (1984), Robocop (1987), The Falcon and the Snowman (1985) and Desperately Seeking Susan (1985). She was a development executive for Disney during the Katzenberg era when Outrageous Fortune (1987), Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) and Dead Poets Society (1989) were made.

Doel later joined forces with fellow Corman veteran Jon Davison to co-produce TriStar’s now cult classic, Starship Troopers (1997). In the last decade of her career, Doel returned to working with Corman, serving as his VP of Production at Concorde-New Horizons, where she continued to produce and write on a slate of film and television projects.

In a 2024 YouTube reel, “The Terminator at 40!,” Terminator writer-director James Cameron and its writer-producer Gale Anne Hurd credit Doel for getting the film made at Orion when it could not find a home elsewhere. Doel married and later divorced Broadway, film, and television actor-director Clint Kimbrough.

Doel is survived by her younger siblings, Rosemary Tannock, Diana Clayden and Roger Clayden and their families, by longtime companion Harrison Reiner, and by her beloved friends Pam Abraham, Jon Davison, Robert L. Goodman, Gale Anne Hurd, Guy Prevost, Anne Dyer Rodman, Adam Rodman, Stephanie Rothman, and Jeffrey Sturges. Those wishing to honor Doel can make a donation to Best Friends Animal Society in her memory at Best Friends Animal Society or by fostering or adopting a rescue shelter animal.

Writer

Palace of the Damned (2013)

Palace of the Damned

6.7

Writer

2013

 

Dinoshark (2010)

Dinoshark

3.1

TV Movie

written by

2010

 

Cyclops (2008)

Cyclops

3.0

TV Movie

screenplay

2008

 

Supergator (2007)

Supergator

3.0

Video

Writer

2007

 

Dinocroc (2004)

Dinocroc

3.4

Writer

2004

 

Raptor (2001)

Raptor

2.9

Video

written by

2001

 

Black Rose of Harlem (1996)

Black Rose of Harlem

5.4

story

1996

 

Big Bad Mama II (1987)

Big Bad Mama II

4.7

character

1987

 

Mia Farrow and Rock Hudson in Avalanche (1978)

Avalanche

3.7

story

1978

 

Deathsport (1978)

Deathsport

4.1

story by

1978

 

Cloris Leachman, Linda Purl, and Stuart Whitman in Crazy Mama (1975)

Crazy Mama

5.4

story

1975

 

Angie Dickinson, Robbie Lee, and Susan Sennett in Big Bad Mama (1974)

Big Bad Mama

5.7

written by

1974

 

Producer

Rebecca Staab in Stray Bullet (1998)

Stray Bullet

4.7

co-producer

1998

 

The Sea Wolf (1997)

The Sea Wolf

4.4

producer (as Francis Doel)

1997

 

Dina Meyer and Casper Van Dien in Starship Troopers (1997)

Starship Troopers

7.3

co-producer

1997

 

Alien Avengers (1996)

Alien Avengers

5.6

TV Movie

co-producer

1996

 

Salli Sachse in The Trip (1967)

The Trip

6.1

associate producer

1967

 

Script and Continuity Department

Aladdin and the Adventure of All Time (2000)

Aladdin and the Adventure of All Time

3.2

Video

script coordinator

2000

 

Cockfighter (1974)

Cockfighter

6.9

script girl (as Frances Kimbrough)

1974

 

Ashley Porter in The Young Nurses (1973)

The Young Nurses

4.5

script supervisor

1973

 

Charlotte Rampling, Cesar Romero, Michael Ansara, Victor Buono, Vic Morrow, and Suzanne Pleshette in Target: Harry (1969)

Target: Harry

5.0

script supervisor

1969

 

The Wild Racers (1968)

The Wild Racers

4.1

script supervisor

1968

 

Additional Crew

Black Scorpion (2001)

Black Scorpion

5.7

TV Series

story editor

2001

22 episodes

 

Gas! -Or- It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It. (1970)

Gas! -Or- It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It.

4.2

assistant to producer (as Francis Doel)

1970

 

Thanks

The Lost (2006)

The Lost

5.8

thanks

2006

 

Flyin' Ryan (2003)

Flyin' Ryan

2.8

Video

special thanks

2003

 

The Game of Death (2000)

The Game of Death

5.9

thanks

2000

 

Self

Dick Miller in That Guy Dick Miller (2014)

That Guy Dick Miller

7.4

Self

2014

 

Roger Corman in Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel (2011)

Corman's World: Exploits of a Hollywood Rebel

7.6

Self

2011

 

Mama Knows Best: A Retrospective - 'Big Bad Mama' Special Edition DVD

6.4

Video

Self

2005

 

Ava Cadell in The Dark Side of Hollywood (1998)

The Dark Side of Hollywood

7.3

Self

1998

 

Maria Ford in Some Nudity Required (1998)

Some Nudity Required

5.4

Self

1998