---
name: "Frances Lee McCain"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/frances-lee-mccain"
fi1m_id: "frances-lee-mccain"
imdb_id: "nm0564589"
tmdb_id: 1070
wikidata_id: "Q174999"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "28 July 1944"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 8
average_fi1m_score: 78
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 8
updated: "2026-10-05T01:18:51.268498+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Frances Lee McCain

## Identity

Frances Lee McCain

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/frances-lee-mccain
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** frances-lee-mccain
- **IMDb ID:** nm0564589
- **TMDB ID:** 1070
- **Wikidata ID:** Q174999
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Lee_McCain, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q174999, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0564589/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1070

Actor. Born 28 July 1944 in York, Pennsylvania, USA.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 28 July 1944, York, Pennsylvania, USA
- **Active:** 1979–2015
- **Average Fi1m score:** 78, as actor, over 8 titles
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1970s 77 (1), 1980s 83 (4), 1990s 66 (2), 2010s 84 (1)
- **Fi1m against the critics:** 80 to 73 across 6 titles
- **Score spread:** 5 at 80+, 2 at 60–79, 1 under 60
- **Lead roles:** 0 of 6 acting credits billed first or second
- **Genres:** Comedy 4, Drama 4, Adventure 2, Crime 2, Horror 2, Fantasy 1
- **Screen time:** 12 hours of reviewed films
- **Box office:** $1,042m across 7 films with figures
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frances_Lee_McCain, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q174999, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0564589/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1070

## Streaming the US now

- **HBO Max:** [*Stand by Me*](https://film.one/film/stand-by-me.md) (88), [*Gremlins*](https://film.one/film/gremlins.md) (80)
- **Disney+:** [*Back to the Future*](https://film.one/film/back-to-the-future.md) (92)
- **Amazon Prime Video:** [*Footloose*](https://film.one/film/footloose.md) (72)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Biography

Frances Lee McCain is an American actress. She was born on 28 July 1944 in York, Pennsylvania. She graduated from Ripon College with a BA in Philosophy and studied acting at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.

McCain began her career on stage, appearing on Broadway in Woody Allen's *Play It Again, Sam* and off-Broadway in Lanford Wilson's *Lemon Sky*. She later joined the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco. In the 1970s she co-starred in the television series *Apple's Way*.

She is known for roles in several 1980s films, including Lynn Peltzer in *Gremlins* (1984), Ethel McCormack in *Footloose* (1984), Stella Baines in *Back to the Future* (1985) and Mrs Lachance in *Stand by Me* (1986). Later credits include Mrs Riley in *Scream* (1996) and appearances in *Patch Adams* (1998), *Better Call Saul* and *Preacher*.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com, ripon.edu.*

## On Fi1m (8)

- *Better Call Saul* (2015), Fi1m 84, as Judge Chapek — [page](https://film.one/tv/better-call-saul.md)
- *Patch Adams* (1998), Fi1m 47, as Judy — [page](https://film.one/film/patch-adams.md)
- *Scream* (1996), Fi1m 86, as Mrs. Riley — [page](https://film.one/film/scream.md)
- *Stand by Me* (1986), Fi1m 88, as Mrs. Lachance — [page](https://film.one/film/stand-by-me.md)
- *Back to the Future* (1985), Fi1m 92, as Stella Baines — [page](https://film.one/film/back-to-the-future.md)
- *Footloose* (1984), Fi1m 72, as Ethel McCormack — [page](https://film.one/film/footloose.md)
- *Gremlins* (1984), Fi1m 80, as Lynn Peltzer — [page](https://film.one/film/gremlins.md)
- *Real Life* (1979), Fi1m 77, as Jeannette Yeager — [page](https://film.one/film/real-life.md)

## Complete filmography (63)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Hold Your Breath* (2024), as Bertha Bell
- *End of the Road* (2022), as Val Hammers
- *After Masks* (2021), as 'Bubbie' Lieberman (Ushering the Light)
- *The Comeback Trail* (2020), as Marge (Old Actress)
- *Messiah* (2020), series, as Patty
- *Ideal Home* (2018), as Doris
- *Midnight, Texas* (2017), series, as Janice
- *Preacher* (2016), series, as Mosie
- *The Girlfriend Experience* (2016), series, as Sandra
- *Better Call Saul* (2015), series, as Judge Chapek — Fi1m 84, [page](https://film.one/tv/better-call-saul.md)
- *Stitch in Time* (2012), as Joan
- *No Return* (2003), as Mother
- *True Crime* (1999), as Mrs. Lowenstein
- *Patch Adams* (1998), as Judy — Fi1m 47, [page](https://film.one/film/patch-adams.md)
- *Scream* (1996), as Mrs. Riley — Fi1m 86, [page](https://film.one/film/scream.md)
- *Ray Alexander: A Taste For Justice* (1994), Actor
- *Second Chances* (1993), series, as Felicity Cook
- *Diagnosis: Murder* (1993), series, as Monica Walters
- *Dying to Love You* (1993), as Sue Graham
- *Firestorm: 72 Hours in Oakland* (1993), as Flo
- *Murder So Sweet* (1993), as Bea Emory
- *The Lookalike* (1990), as Dr. Stamos
- *Question of Faith* (1988), as Susan
- *It Takes Two* (1988), as Joyce Rogers
- *Scandal in a Small Town* (1988), as Gwendolyn
- *Police Story: The Freeway Killings* (1987), as Claire Wright
- *At Mother's Request* (1987), series, as Louise Bradshaw Turner
- *Can You Feel Me Dancing?* (1986), as Joan Nichols
- *Murder in Three Acts* (1986), as Miss Milray
- *Stand by Me* (1986), as Mrs. Lachance — Fi1m 88, [page](https://film.one/film/stand-by-me.md)
- *A Fighting Choice* (1986), as Virginia Hagen
- *Back to the Future* (1985), as Stella Baines — Fi1m 92, [page](https://film.one/film/back-to-the-future.md)
- *The Comedy Factory* (1985), series, as Mary Ellen Morgan
- *The Rape of Richard Beck* (1985), as Caroline Beck
- *First Steps* (1985), as Louise Davis
- *Single Bars, Single Women* (1984), as Patti
- *Hunter* (1984), series, as Sara Devane
- *Gremlins* (1984), as Lynn Peltzer — Fi1m 80, [page](https://film.one/film/gremlins.md)
- *All The Kids Do It* (1984), as Mrs. Elder
- *Footloose* (1984), as Ethel McCormack — Fi1m 72, [page](https://film.one/film/footloose.md)
- *St. Elsewhere* (1982), series, as Mrs. Reinhardt — Fi1m 78, [page](https://film.one/tv/st-elsewhere.md)
- *Two of a Kind* (1982), as Nurse Mary
- *Remington Steele* (1982), series, as Jennifer Kirk
- *Tex* (1982), as Mrs. Johnson
- *Marian Rose White* (1982), as Brenda Moore
- *All the Way Home* (1981), as Sally
- *Honky Tonk Freeway* (1981), as Claire Calo
- *Portrait of a Rebel: The Remarkable Mrs. Sanger* (1980), as Ethel Higgins
- *No Other Love* (1979), as Pat Hollister
- *13 Queens Blvd.* (1979), series, Actor
- *Real Life* (1979), as Jeannette Yeager — Fi1m 77, [page](https://film.one/film/real-life.md)
- *Ziegfeld: The Man and His Women* (1978), as Martha
- *The Trial of Lee Harvey Oswald* (1977), series, as Jan Holder
- *Washington: Behind Closed Doors* (1977), series, as Paula Stoner Gardiner
- *Three's Company* (1977), series, as Kelly
- *The War Widow* (1976), as Jenny
- *Quincy, M.E.* (1976), series, Actor
- *Doctors' Hospital* (1975), series, Actor
- *The Rockford Files* (1974), series, as Leslie Callahan — Fi1m 83, [page](https://film.one/tv/the-rockford-files.md)
- *Apple's Way* (1974), series, as Barbara Apple
- *The Laughing Policeman* (1973), as Prostitute
- *The Bob Newhart Show* (1972), series, as Janet
- *The Mod Squad* (1968), series, Actor

## Gallery

- ![Frances Lee McCain](https://film.one/media/person/59889/gallery-27890c92c2d0.jpg) Frances Lee McCain — ABC Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Frances_Lee_McCain_1977.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Photo of Frances Lee McCain and Tony Bill from the 1977 television miniseries "Washington:Behind Closed Doors".](https://film.one/media/person/59889/gallery-656659af65b6.jpg) Photo of Frances Lee McCain and Tony Bill from the 1977 television miniseries "Washington:Behind Closed Doors". — ABC Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/Frances_Lee_McCain_Tony_Bill_1977.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Photo from the television program Apple's Way. Pictured laughing from left: Ronny Cox (George Apple), Lee McCain (Barbara Apple) and Malcom Atterbury (Grandfath (1974)](https://film.one/media/person/59889/gallery-1e13017a9a2a.jpg) Photo from the television program Apple's Way. Pictured laughing from left: Ronny Cox (George Apple), Lee McCain (Barbara Apple) and Malcom Atterbury (Grandfath (1974) — CBS Television-there is enough of the logo to identify., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Ronny_Cox_Lee_McCain_Malcolm_Atterbury_Apples_Way_1974.JPG?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Frances Lee McCain](https://film.one/media/person/59889/gallery-4575b6db3eff.jpg) Frances Lee McCain — Image via TMDB
- ![Frances Lee McCain](https://film.one/media/person/59889/gallery-0818e421358d.jpg) Frances Lee McCain — Image via TMDB

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/frances-lee-mccain