[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 152 (2006), Part 5]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 6261]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    PAYING TRIBUTE TO FRANCES WRIGHT

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JON C. PORTER

                               of nevada

                    in the house of representatives

                       Wednesday, April 26, 2006

  Mr. PORTER. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the memory of Frances 
Wright, a resident of Henderson Nevada, who died at the age of 101.
  Born Fanny Schneider on Feb. 14, 1905, in Poland, she was the third 
of four children of Louis and Molly Schneider. Her family came to the 
United States when she was 6 months old. Her father was a tailor for an 
upscale men's clothier on Temple Street in Los Angeles. By the time she 
was 10, Frances was an aspiring child actress who took the stage name 
of Fanny Snyder. She claimed to have had a big part in the classic and 
controversial 1915 silent film ``The Birth of a Nation'' and often told 
friends that she enjoyed working on the film, which paid 50 cents a day 
and included a box lunch.
  Fanny attended Los Angeles Polytechnic High School where she lettered 
in volleyball, swimming and softball and was captain of those teams. 
She also was senior class president. Her yearbook listed her as most 
likely to become the ``first woman president of the United States.'' 
After graduating in 1921, Fanny became a part of the flapper scene 
while attending business school. In 1927 she married car salesman David 
Wright. They were married for 71 years. He died in 1998.
  Adept at poker, mah-jongg, canasta and pan, Fanny was a longtime 
regular in Southern California card rooms. From the early 1950s until 
the late 1990s, she would alternate residences between Los Angeles and 
Las Vegas. She worked at Bains and Sloats, a women's clothing store on 
the Las Vegas strip, but Fanny's real love was hanging around Strip 
resorts, getting a deep tan at the poolside and hobnobbing with 
celebrities. She was a frequent patron at the Sahara's Casbah Lounge 
when Louis Prima and the Mary Kaye Trio performed there.
  Unconventional to the end, Fanny took her doctors' advice last month 
to start using medical marijuana so she would get ``the munchies'' and 
eat to bulk up her thin frame. Fanny credited her longevity to being a 
good athlete in her youth, maintaining a good diet and taking a shot of 
bourbon at 4 p.m. every day.
  In addition to her daughter, Wright is survived by a son, Ronald 
Wright of Los Angeles; six grandchildren; six great-grandchildren; and 
one great-great-granddaughter.
  Mr. Speaker, I am honored to recognize the life of Frances Wright on 
the floor of the House.

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