Ashley Austin Morris (born Ashley Sue Morris) is an American comedian, playwright, and stage, television, and film actress. She is best known for her role as Francine Carruthers in the revival of the PBS Kids children's series The Electric Company, which ran from 2009 to 2011.
Career Morris was born in San Antonio, Texas. After finishing high school, she joined a comedy troupe called "Viva La Vulva!" and contributed to the group's writing and sketch comedy. The following year, she enrolled at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and co-starred in a production called Be Good, Daniel, a short comedy romance. She also wrote Libido Limbo, a play about Lady M, Nora, Blanche, and Medea being trapped in purgatory and being saved by Hillary Clinton, which was a finalist at Atlanta's Young Playwrights Festival.
Morris moved to New York City after graduating from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, and landed roles in off-Broadway productions, first as Edith in Die, Mommie, Die! and then in Paper Dolls. She also performed stand-up comedy and starred for three seasons as Francine Carruthers, the leader of the Pranksters and a character with a very high opinion of herself and the power to generate violet word balls, in the 2009-2011 revival of The Electric Company, an educational children's program that employed sketch comedy and other entertaining devices to help elementary school children develop their grammar and reading skills and shown on the Public Broadcasting Service .
While performing on The Electric Company, Morris continued to also act on stage, including in the New York City off-Broadway productions Isabel and Bees, Love, Loss, and What I Wore, and In the Daylight, and appeared in episodes of the television shows Ugly Betty, The Good Wife, and Gravity.
After The Electric Company stopped making new episodes, she joined the rotating cast of Reading Under the Influence, and appeared in episodes of The Big Bang Theory and Desperate Housewives.
She was also in the video for "K.I.A. (Killed in Action)" from the album Shaka Rock by Jet, and had roles in the movies Premium Rush, Art Machine, Generation Um..., Putzel, Joke Writer, and Sully. She has also continued to perform stand-up comedy routines, mainly in New York City.
Selected appearances
Film Date of U.S. ReleaseNameRoleNotesMay 28, 2004Be Good, Daniel (short)MaggieNorth Carolina School of the ArtsAugust 24, 2012Premium RushreceptionistColumbia PicturesOctober 12, 2012Art MachinebrunettePie Face PicturesMay 13, 2013Generation Um...girl dateindependentApril 8, 2014PutzelNaomiStouthearted FilmsOctober 18, 2014Joke WriterJessindependentSeptember 9, 2016SullyEmilyWarner BrothersJuly 13, 2018Dead SoundAlexaAdler Films
Stage DateNameRoleProduction Company/NotesOctober 10, 2007 (previews)October 21, 2007 (official) – January 2008Die, Mommie, Die!Edith ArdenAugust 13, 2008 – August 23, 2008Paper DollsLively Productions and Métropole Ink New York International Fringe Festival Fringe Award for Outstanding EnsembleSeptember 8, 2009 (preview)September 20, 2009 (official) – October 11, 2009In the DaylightCharlotte FontaineJune 30, 2010 – July 25, 2010Love, Loss, and What I Worealso performed in San Jose, Cal. during 2013April 6, 2011 (previews)April 16, 2011 (official) – May 29, 2011Reading Under the InfluenceKerry
Television Date First AiredNameEpisodeRoleNetwork orProduction CompanyOctober 23, 2008Ugly Betty"Granny Pants" (season 3, episode 5)HarmonyABCJanuary 19, 2009Electric Company3 seasons, 52 episodesFrancine CarruthersChildren's Television Workshop (PBS)May 7, 2010GravityOne Cold Swim Away (season 1, episode 3)NaomiStarzNovember 16, 2010The Good WifeBad Girls (season 2, episode 7)Corey LutzCBSAugust 28, 2011I Just Want My Pants BackpilotJocobyMTVNovember 10, 2011The Big Bang TheoryThe Ornithophobia Diffusion (season 5, episode 9)LauraCBSMarch 25, 2012Desperate HousewivesAny Moment (season 8, episode 18)Mary BethABCFebruary 15, 2013It Could Be WorseWhat's Your Secret? (season 1, episode 3)LisaFour A.M. ProductionsMarch 4, 2013Gracious CaféDetox (season 1, episode 3)AnsleyNovember 10, 2013Think TankJob Creation (episode 1)Panda Copulation (episode 3)Prostitution (episode 4)HannahA&E (web site)March 5, 2017Time After TimepilotABCJanuary 26, 2018High MaintenanceFagan (season 2, episode 2)CarrieHBOJanuary 28, 2018DivorceWorth It (season 2, episode 3)HBOApril 10, 2018The Last O.G.Bobo Beans (season 1, episode 2)MaggieTBSOctober 4, 2018Murphy BrownI (Don't) Heart Huckabee (season 11, episode 2)Addie AbramsCBSOctober 14, 2019The DeuceThis Trust Thing (season 3, episode 6)CherylHBO
References
External links http://www.ashleyaustinmorriscomedy.com/