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Thread: Francine Hughes/The Woman Behind The Burning Bed

  1. #1
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    Francine Hughes/The Woman Behind The Burning Bed

    http://www.people.com/people/archive...088845,00.html


    So if you don't remember the movie, there is also a book with the same title, This is the real Francine Hughes, who got tired of her husband beating her so she set the bed he was sleeping in on fire, she was found not guilty by reason of temporary insanity and helped changed the way domestic abuse cases were handled, this happened in 1977.
    http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=12947080

    http://www.lansingstatejournal.com/s...ence/16224277/
    Last edited by pkstracy; 09-19-2016 at 06:00 PM.

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    Oh I vividly remember this movie. Farrah Fawcett was Francine. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087010/?ref_=nv_sr_4 Great movie. Thanks for that link. I've never read up on the real person.
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  3. #3
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    Is Francine Hughes still alive? I remember The burning bed, Always kind of wondered what became of the real Francine Hughes and her children after the trial- Hope life changed for the better for them.

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    According to wiki or another link she is still alive, and you are welcome, I just started watching it last night on Youtube, never seen it before, I am going to get the book soon.
    Reading the people magazine article it looks like life didn't go that well for them at first....
    Last edited by pkstracy; 09-20-2016 at 08:19 AM.

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    I'm reading that link from the Lansing State Journal. Very interesting. People are saying the movie wasn't entirely accurate (big shock) and that Francine gave as good as she got. They both threw punches. Not that it's right at all but even after the divorce he wouldn't leave. This article talks about what things were like prior to this movie. There weren't very many battered women's shelters. There wasn't a lot done about domestic violence and this movie opened up a dialog that changed the way things are done now. Well the Tracy Thurman case did as well. (Nancy McKeon played Tracy in the movie) What I had no idea about was that Mickey's parents committed suicide.
    "Donovan and Berlin both committed suicide, she said. They just couldn't live with the grief. It's hard to lose a family member, she said. Hard to be part of a family with such a black mark on its name. Hard to reconcile the good memories with the bad."
    That's crazy! I wonder if his parents were just as screwed up in real life as the movie portrayed? In the movie both them and her mom seemed to be like "well you're his wife and it's your duty to stick by his side".
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  6. #6
    PurrPurr Guest
    I remember reading the book back in the day. A lot of horrible things detailed in there. I always wondered what happened to Francine and how she and her kids are doing now.

  7. #7
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    From the people article it seemed the movie was spot on, on a lot of it, wow, his parents committed suicide? Damn that's messed up.

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    Quote Originally Posted by pkstracy View Post
    From the people article it seemed the movie was spot on, on a lot of it, wow, his parents committed suicide? Damn that's messed up.
    The Lansing State Journal article said the opposite. Well they said Francine gave as good as she got but I looked at that as self defense because you can bet if a man hit me I'd be all over his ass.
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    I've often wondered if she did that in today's day and age if she would have been found innocent. Horrible what she had to go through.
    By my troth, I care not; a man can die but once; we owe God a death.... He that dies this year is quit for the next.
    --William Shakespeare!

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    I wonder that as well Bawb.

  11. #11
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    I remember that PEOPLE article. It appeared to me then that the family was on a fast track to being no better off than they ever were before.
    I don't doubt that all of them have had lousy lives.
    Francine remarried to the only man who would have her at that point, and look what happened. Once one is on that path, it can't have gotten much better in 30+ years.

  12. #12
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    Francine Hughes, Who Inspired "The Burning Bed"

    Stay in Drugs. Eat your School. Don't do Vegetables.

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  14. #14
    PurrPurr Guest

    Francine Hughes Wilson "The Burning Bed," 69

    The Washington Post reported that Francine Hughes Wilson, acquitted by reason of temporary insanity after setting her ex-husband on fire in 1977, died March 22. She was 69.

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...=.946c6e4e7edf


  15. #15
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    Purr purr there is already a thread on this.

    http://www.findadeath.com/forum/show...he-Burning-Bed
    Last edited by pkstracy; 04-03-2017 at 10:31 AM.

  16. #16
    navallint Guest
    I read up on her a few months ago. It was stated that she just as abusive as her husband. I don't know, it was all tragic. RIP, she was a pretty lady.

  17. #17
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    I'm just now finding this. I had no idea she died. I hope she had a better life after the hell she went through.
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  18. #18
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    Once again, I'm old enough to remember when the terms "wife beater" and "domestic abuse" were just coming to the forefront. Before, no one (in the legal/political world) seemed to be very concerned about it. Wives were still considered to be under their husband's thumb; fewer women were working, therefore leaving was virtually impossible. It's only been in the last 40+ years that women were able to get credit in their own name. Finally and with the help of these women, the words broke that invisible barrier and voices were heard. The problem, obviously, is still around, but at least there are resources and protections and credibility to these incidences

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