By KEVIN WING | Chairperson, Media Museum of Northern California

Aug. 20, 2023 — Ann Fraser, who arose from an already successful New York theater career to become one of the Bay Area’s most popular television personalities as the bubbly, upbeat co-host of KPIX’s long-running “People Are Talking”, has died.

Fraser was 83 when she died peacefully on Dec. 28, 2022. Her family did not announce her passing until the weekend of Aug. 19. She had been living close to her family in Milwaukie, Oregon, at the time of her death.

For 14 years, Fraser was co-host of the very popular KPIX talk show which always included a live studio audience. KPIX hired her as the solo co-host of its new morning talk show, “The Morning Show”, in 1977. The following year, in 1978, Ross McGowan joined her as co-host and the program was rebranded as “People Are Talking”. For the next 13 years, the weekday morning show became appointment television in the Bay Area.

Fraser was born in Evanston, Illinois, on Feb, 26, 1939. She attended Northwestern University and traveled to Korea with the USO to entertain American troops.

After graduating from Northwestern, Fraser moved to New York to begin her theater career, which included roles in “Sail Away”, “Oklahoma!” and “Brigadoon”. She was also a close friend of actress and singer Ann-Margret.

In the early 1960s, Fraser was in a command performance of “Brigadoon” at the White House for President John F. Kennedy, which was organized by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy to honor the visiting King and Queen of Morocco.

Eventually moving to Chicago, Fraser began doing freelance work, which included everything from live demonstrations of how to fold fiberglass to performing as the first Egg McMuffin.

She also began her TV talk show career as a fill-in co-host on “Kennedy and Co.”, a popular Chicago TV talk show which aired on WLS-TV in Chicago.

In the late 1970s, San Francisco came calling. Fraser was hired by KPIX with the launch of the station’s “The Morning Show”. The following year, in 1978, Ross McGowan joined Fraser as co-host and the late-morning talk show was renamed “People Are Talking”. In addition to their in-studio broadcasts, Fraser and McGowan also took the show remotely for live telecasts from Napa State Hospital, San Quentin Prison and the AIDS ward at San Francisco General Hospital. One show, which created a lot of  buzz at the time, also originated from a nudist colony in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

“People Are Talking” on KPIX became so popular with Bay Area TV viewers that an afternoon companion show, “People Are Talking in the Afternoon”, was launched.

Fraser and McGowan entertained Bay Area viewers for 14 years until 1991, when the shows ended their long run. McGowan remained with KPIX until the following year, before joining KTVU in 1993 as host of its then still-burgeoning “Mornings On 2” newscast. Fraser would retire in 2000 to Sonoma County.

During retirement, she served as a trustee for 15 years for the Hanna Boys Center (now Hanna Center). She also performed occasionally, appearing in “A Rodgers and Hammerstein Revue” and “Love Letters” at the Raven Theater in Healdsburg.

In 2015, Fraser relocated to Oregon to be closer to her daughter and settled in a senior living community where she continued to be the life of the party.

Fraser is survived by her daughter, Jennifer, and her two nieces, Bonnie and Stacey.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Hanna Center in Sonoma, California; Oatfield Estates in Milwaukie, Oregon; or the Alzheimer’s Association.

A celebration of Fraser’s life will take place in the fall.

Thank you, Ann, for your many enjoyable years of informing and entertaining us on Bay Area television. May you rest in peace.