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Frances Reid in 1990

Frances Reid (born on December 9, 1914 in Wichita Falls, Texas) is an American actress, who's known to millions of younger audiences as matriarch and widow Alice Horton on Days of our Lives since its debut in November 1965. She grew up in Berkeley, California.

Her acting career started in 1938 with a bit part in the movie Man-Proof. In 1954, she was awarded the title part in the soap opera Portia Faces Life.

When that show was canceled, she took bit parts on nighttime television programs until she was given a three-year contract on As The World Turns, playing Grace Baker from 1959 to 1962. She moved on to The Edge of Night before she was offered the role of matriarch Alice Horton on Days of Our Lives, which premiered in November 1965 and has run ever since. With the retirement of John Clarke, who played Mickey Horton, in 2004, she is the only original cast member still on the show.

Not even a grisly murder plot has taken her off the air; when she was "killed" off the soap in 2004, she was told that she would be coming back to live (at least temporarily) on a tropical island. Miss Reid was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Daytime Emmy board in 2004; she had never won an Emmy in her almost forty years on the show. Since the murder plot, Alice (and portrayer Reid) returned to Salem as if nothing had happened.

Miss Reid's involvement with Days has been limited over the last few years, a combination of her advancing age and having suffered a minor stroke.

However, she still remains an important part of the show -- which is notable, as veterans on many other daytime series (notably the late Anna Lee on General Hospital) have had their screen time significantly reduced or had their contracts severed entirely. On average, Reid is seen on Days about four times a month, sometimes more if the storyline (and her health) permits.

Miss Reid's most notable film appearance was in the 1966 John Frankenheimer drama Seconds, opposite Rock Hudson. In the audio commentary for the DVD version of the film, Frankenheimer calls Frances Reid one of his favorite actresses.

Reid was briefly married to actor Philip Bourneuf, but the marriage ended in divorce; she has no children.

• Frances Reid at the Internet Movie Database