Pop singer, actor and late-career TikTok star Connie Francis, the longtime Parkland resident whose 1960 filmed-in-Fort-Lauderdale romp “Where the Boys Are” is to Spring Break what “Jaws” is to shark fishing, has died at age 87.
Her passing late Wednesday came after a brief hospitalization, according to friend and publicist Ron Roberts in a Facebook post.
One of the top-selling female singers of all time, Francis’ extraordinary pop career began with four Top 40 singles in 1958 — “Who’s Sorry Now?,” “My Happiness,” “Stupid Cupid” and “Fallin’” — and her reign on the pop charts continued for most of the next decade.
While it would be overwhelmed by the tumult of the 1960s and the rise of The Beatles, her sound never went out of style with fans of her unapologetically romantic balladry. Her 15 Top 10 hits included No. 1 songs “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” “Don’t Break the Heart That Loves You” and “My Heart Has a Mind of Its Own.”
Francis’ death came, arguably, at the peak of her pop-culture fame, including a new Broadway musical about one-time flame Bobby Darin, “Just in Time,” which earned actor Gracie Lawrence a Tony Award nomination for her portrayal of Francis.
And Francis reached an even bigger audience in recent weeks when her 1962 song “Pretty Little Baby” became a viral TikTok sensation.
As a soundtrack for content about fashion, pets and babies, the song has been used by the likes of Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Timothée Chalamet, Shaquille O’Neal and Jimmy Fallon on at least 16 million videos with more than 26 billion views globally, according to Universal Music Group.
“Everybody knows ‘Pretty Little Baby.’ It’s so much fun,” said Vi Cohen, 16, of Wellington. “I didn’t even know the singer was from [South Florida]. That makes it even more awesome.”
Francis’ unlikely TikTok fame even provided a heartwarming feature on a national NBC News broadcast this past June.
In a video posted last month on her new TikTok account, a relaxed and stylish Francis said she was “flabbergasted and excited” about the reception to the song across the world.
“To think that the song that I recorded over 63 years ago is captivating new generations of audiences is truly overwhelming for me,” she said.
‘What a way to go’
Longtime friend Sue Heller, of Boca Raton, visited with Francis three weeks ago and said that, while she was going through “a lot of discomfort,” she seemed to glow with gratitude for her newfound fame.
“What a way to go. For somebody that had such remarkable highs but nasty lows, she went out with the younger generation knowing who she was. She was very touched by it,” Heller said. “For a 14-year-old to now know the name Connie Francis was just such a beautiful thing.”
A longtime arts educator and advocate, Heller met Francis nearly a decade ago when her husband, artist Yaacov Heller, created a sculpture for a Lifetime Achievement Award for Francis at the 2017 Palm Beach International Film Festival.
“I totally respect the amazing accomplishments that she had, her vocal abilities, and all that she was about. But what was most important to me was what she was, the warmth that she gave off, the friendship. There was so much to her. Amazing, amazing talent, yes, and just an amazing human being,” Heller said.
Francis was an off-and-on regular at Zola Keller boutique on Las Olas Boulevard in downtown Fort Lauderdale for about 20 years. She first walked in looking for clothes to wear during a tour in Europe, where she was beloved.
Keller remembers that the first order of business was replacing the diminutive performer’s decades-old look with something more modern.
“I’ll never forget this. She brought in all her old clothes, when she had an 18-inch waist, these old taffeta dresses that she wore. She said, ‘Do whatever you want with them,’” Keller said.
Francis was “very shy,” she added, and their styling sessions would take place in a back room. “She was down-to-earth, a really nice person.”
Star power
Francis’ move from the music charts to broad pop-culture fame arrived with the film “Where the Boys Are,” which followed the antics of college students on the beach in Fort Lauderdale before the term “spring break” was an ubiquitous concept.
The film was controversial, as a candid illustration of youth culture, including the temptations of premarital sex, set to the cutting-edge West Coast jazz that disturbed parents. The cast included George Hamilton, Dolores Hart, Jim Hutton, Yvette Mimieux, among others, and film studio MGM figured all it needed was a pop star.
While her father, George Franconero, also her manager, rejected the idea of Francis appearing in such “a dirty movie,” she was intrigued.
“For the first time, I defied my dad,” Francis told the Sun Sentinel in 2010.
“Where the Boys Are” changed Fort Lauderdale forever: Spring Break 1961 was “a police nightmare” — two nights of rioting and 400 arrests — according to front-page coverage in the Fort Lauderdale News. The “invasion” reached its peak on Easter Sunday when the newspaper estimated “45,000 students pranced along the beach.”
Francis was among the first people honored with a star on the Fort Lauderdale Walk of Fame in 2010, the 50th anniversary of “Where the Boys Are.”
Loves lost
In her 1984 autobiography, “Who’s Sorry Now?,” Francis recounted a life filled with trauma and regret.
Her early romance with fellow teen idol Bobby Darin ended when her disapproving father stormed into a rehearsal and pulled a gun on Darin, whom she considered the love of her life.
Francis was married four times, but only husband Joseph Garzilli lasted more than a year. Her companion of 18 years, Tony Ferretti, died in 2022. Her survivors include son Joseph Garzilli Jr.
Francis was still a popular touring performer when she appeared at the Westbury Music Fair near New York City in 1974 and a man broke into her hotel room and raped her at knifepoint. He was never captured.
Francis sued the hotel, and a jury awarded her $2.5 million in 1976. The two sides settled out of court for $1,475,000 as an appeal was pending. She said the attack destroyed her marriage and put her through years of emotional turmoil.
She suffered tragedy again in 1981 when her brother, George, was shot to death as he was leaving his New Jersey home.
As recounted in the book, her father had her committed to a mental hospital, where she was diagnosed as manic-depressive. At one point, she attempted suicide by swallowing dozens of sleeping tablets. After three days in a coma, she recovered.
Francis went on to be an outspoken advocate for victims of violence and became a national spokeswoman for Mental Health America.
“I have so been there,” she told the Sun Sentinel in 2010. “In the ’80s, I was committed against my will 17 times in nine years in five states. At that time, mental hospitals were dangerous places to be. I can do a lot in that area to raise awareness.”
Information from The Associated Press was used to supplement this news article.
