Frances Doel, neé Frances Margaret Doel, writer-producer-executive known for her work with indie film legend Roger Corman, died May 26 after a long illness. She was 83.
Born April 15, 1942 in London, Doel was the daughter of Iris Doel and Sgt. Francis Doel, a Royal Armoured Corps soldier killed in action in France during World War II. Doel found Corman’s job posting for an assistant on a jobs board at Oxford University as a graduating scholarship student of St. Hilda’s College.
A devoted daughter, loving sister, animal lover, and deeply caring friend, Doel died on May 26th after a long illness. She was born on April 15, 1942 in London to Iris Doel and Sgt. Francis Doel of the Royal Armoured Corps, who was killed in action in France during WW2. As a graduating scholarship student of St. Hilda’s College at Oxford University in the U.K., Doel found Corman’s job posting for an assistant on a jobs board at school.
After moving to Los Angeles and taking up residence at the Women’s Y in Hollywood, she worked for Corman’s New World Pictures throughout its heyday, which spanned the 1960s, 70s and early 80s. Doel was Corman’s right-hand, writing scripts, developing scripts with other scribes, coordinating projects in production and serving as script supervisor on location.
Many Corman-produced films have been thought to have uncredited writing contributions from Doel, an influential creative force at New World. She was officially credited for writing on New World’s cult classics, Big Bad Mama (1974) and Crazy Mama (1975). At New World, Doel worked alongside several future Hollywood luminaries, Oscar winners, Emmy winners and legends, including Chinatown screenwriter Robert Towne; actors like Warren Beaty, Angie Dickinson, Peter Fonda, Jack Nicholson, William Shatner, and Shelley Winters; producers Jon Davison and Gale Anne Hurd; directors Peter Bogdanovich, James Cameron, Francis Ford Coppola, Jonathan Demme, Martin Scorsese, Joe Dante and Allan Arkush.
From Corman’s New World Pictures, Doel went on to serve as a creative executive for Orion Pictures under Mike Medavoy for the filming of The Terminator (1984), Robocop (1987), The Falcon and the Snowman (1985) and Desperately Seeking Susan (1985). She was a development executive for Disney during the Katzenberg era when Outrageous Fortune (1987), Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) and Dead Poets Society (1989) were made.
Doel later joined forces with fellow Corman veteran Jon Davison to co-produce TriStar’s now cult classic, Starship Troopers (1997). In the last decade of her career, Doel returned to working with Corman, serving as his VP of Production at Concorde-New Horizons, where she continued to successfully produce and write on a slate of film and television projects.
In a 2024 YouTube reel, “The Terminator at 40!,” The Terminator’s writer-director James Cameron and its writer-producer Gale Anne Hurd credit Doel for geƫting The Terminator made at Orion when it could not find a home elsewhere. Doel married and later divorced Broadway, film, and television actor- director Clint Kimbrough.
Doel is survived by her younger siblings, Rosemary Tannock, Diana Clayden and Roger Clayden and their families, by longtime companion Harrison Reiner, and by her beloved friends Pam Abraham, Jon Davison, Robert L. Goodman, Gale Anne Hurd, Guy Prevost, Anne Dyer Rodman, Adam Rodman, Stephanie Rothman, and Jeffrey Sturges. Those wishing to honor Doel can make a donation to Best Friends Animal Society in her memory at Best Friends Animal Society or by fostering or adopting a rescue shelter animal.
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