Frances Fisher began by apprenticing at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia. She spent 14 years based in New York City, playing leads in over 30 productions of plays by such noted writers as John Arden, Noel Coward, Emily Mann, Joe Orton, Sam Shepard, William Shakespeare, Jean Claude Van Italie, Eudora Welty and Tennessee Williams. She won a Drama Desk Award - Best Ensemble for the American Premier of Caryl Churchill's Three More Sleepless Nights, played in the American premier of Judith Thompson's I and originated roles in Elia Kazan's I and Arthur Miller's last play, Finishing the Picture. Besides working with Kazan and Miller, some of Ms. Fisher's more interesting theater experiences were creating roles from two great works of literature: George Orwell's 1984 and Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Ms. Fisher is looking forward to getting back on the boards at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in the beginning of 2006 with Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard. She studied with Stella Adler and became a lifetime member of the Actors Studio by actually "walking up the stairs" and auditioning for legendary acting teacher Lee Strasberg.