Ivor Francis

Ivor Francis (October 26, 1918 – October 22, 1986) was a Canadian-American character actor and acting teacher born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is the father of television soap opera actress Genie Francis.

Francis began his career in Canadian radio before serving in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War. After the war, he relocated to the United States, where he continued working in radio, playing the son Joe on the program Ma Perkins.

His Broadway career spanned from 1958 to 1966 and included productions such as The Investigation, A Rainy Day in Newark, Lorenzo, The Fun Couple, The Advocate, Gideon, J.B., and The Devil's Advocate. Francis made his film debut in 1964 in The Devil Walks and went on to appear in a number of additional films, including Pieces of Dreams, The Steagle, I Love My Wife, Busting, The Prisoner of Second Avenue, The World's Greatest Athlete, Superdad, The House of the Dead, and The North Avenue Irregulars.

Television became a significant part of his career, with appearances on I Dream of Jeannie, The Odd Couple, Get Smart, Dark Shadows, Room 222, Hawaii Five-O, Bright Promise, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Six Million Dollar Man, Kojak, Starsky and Hutch, Little House on the Prairie, Hart to Hart, Benson, The Practice, and Happy Days, on which he played a psychologist. He appeared on Barney Miller in four different roles and had a recurring part as Carson Brookhaven on the syndicated comedy series Dusty's Trail during its 1973–74 season. He also appeared on General Hospital, which featured his daughter Genie Francis in its cast.

Francis died on October 22, 1986, in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, from an undisclosed illness, four days before what would have been his sixty-ninth birthday.