According to various reports, Frances Conroy was involved in a car accident which resulted in corneal damage to her right eye, however, she still sees with it.
Frances Conroy is known for her role in the horror-thriller series, American Horror Story, and for her discolored right eye. A versatile American actress celebrated for her dexterity in voice acting as much as she is admired for the roles she has played both in the small and big screens, Conroy has been a part of the industry for over four decades without losing her relevance.
Her enigmatic personality and looks have had fans calling for her reappearance in a number of TV series. And her life away from the glitz of Hollywood has relentlessly piqued the interest of many with some wondering what happened to her eyes.
The Actress Suffered a Strike to the Eye in a Car Crash
If you’ve ever seen the talented actress on TV, you’ve probably wondered, like most of her fans, what happened to her right eye. According to various reports, the actress was involved in a car accident which resulted in damage to the right eye.
It is said that she suffered physical trauma to her face in the accident, such that usually makes the eye appear lighter in color or glazed. Although she underwent surgery, the eye remains discolored and for this reason, the actress sometimes wears a colored contact lens to hide it.
Is Frances Conroy Blind in One Eye?
Frances Conroy’s right eye is discolored and somewhat enlarged which makes it looks like she has a glass eye. As a result, some people have wondered if she is blind on that eye but the answer is no. According to different reports, the actress got involved in a car accident and suffered physical trauma to her face which severely affected the cornea of her right eye.
She went through surgery to fix the damaged cornea, however, the work that was done left her with a discolored, enlarged eye.
When Was Frances Conroy’s eye accident?
It is believed that the accident which affected Frances’ right eye happened sometime in the 90s. While that is over a decade ago, it definitely left an impact on her life. However, it had no negative impact on her career.
Her acting career began way back in the 1970s and she focused more on stage plays. She worked mostly with The Acting Company. One of her earliest appearances on stage includes Othello where she played the role of Desdemona at the Delacorte Theatre. In 1980, she played the character named Jo in The Lady from Dubuque.
Other theatre productions she has appeared in include Painting Churches, Zero Positive, Our Town, Booth, The Rehearsal, and The Subject Was Roses which remains her last theatre appearance. Since 2010, Conroy has been focusing more on feature films and television series.
The actress has conquered the film industry as she has appeared in over 30 films in her career. As early as 1978, she played the role of Diana in the movie All’s Well That Ends Well and as recently as 2019, she played Penny Fleck in Joker. Other movies this award-winning actress has appeared in include The Tale, Welcome to Happiness, Blood Worth, Love Happens, and Catwoman.
From the stage to feature films, television movies, and series, Frances Conroy has been a part of at least 130 projects. For someone with such a body of work, it is clear that her eye has not stood in the way of her career. Although we can’t tell if it was ever a problem, it’s most likely that it was never an issue as the corneal scarring she has can easily be concealed, and the actress wears a colored lens to do so.
Does Frances Conroy have a glass eye?
Frances Conroy does not have a glass eye even though it looks like she does. The accident she had in the 90s left her with severe injury on her right cornea which she had to undergo surgery to fix. However, the outcome of the surgery was a discolored eye that has led a lot of people to erroneously assume that she wears a glass eye, as the damage on her cornea appears to have enlarged her eye too.
While the actress does not wear a glass eye, she wears a colored contact lens from time to time. to hide the discoloration in her right eye.
Frances Conroy’s ‘Glass Eye’ Added Value to Her Character in “American Horror Story: Return to Murder House”
A significant milestone in Frances Conroy’s successful career has been her appearance in the horror-thriller series, American Horror Story. The show started in 2011 and has been an anthology series with each season bearing new characters. Frances Conroy has appeared in multiple seasons of this show playing multiple characters.
In the “Return to Murder House” episode of the eighth season of the FX horror anthology titled American Horror Story: Apocalypse, the actress played Moira O’Hara, a maid shot through the eye to death by her mistress after the latter caught her husband trying to rape the maid.
Conroy is known for using a colored lens but in the episode of the popular series, Ryan Murphy required her to not use the lens as it was a natural contribution to the story. Her character was shot in the eyes and her spirit had to reflect the wound.
Apart from American Horror Story, another popular role of the actress was that of Ruth Fisher in the HBO drama series, Six Feet Under, which started in 2001 and ended in 2005. In this series, Frances tapped into her emotional side, playing the role of the family matriarch to perfection. It earned her a lot of recognition and applause.
Frances Conroy before eye injury
The actress was born Frances Hardman Conroy on the 15th of March 1953 in Monroe, Georgia, to Vincent Paul Conroy and Ossie Hardman, who were both business people.
She studied at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, during the 1971–72 school year and while she was there, she was a member of the Mermaid Players and participated in college theatrical productions. Subsequently, she moved from Pennsylvania to New York City to hone her acting skills at the Neighborhood Playhouse and the Juilliard School where she studied from 1973–1977.
As a drama school student, Frances kicked off her acting career, performing regularly with touring and regional theatrical companies, particularly The Acting Company. In 1980, she debuted on the Broadway in Edward Albee’s The Lady From Dubuque and remained focused on her stage career for the next twenty years, appearing in many productions such as he Little Foxes, Our Town, and The Ride Down Mt. Morgan.
