A tragic tale of kindred spirits: Nirvana, Kurt Cobain and Hollywood icon Frances Farmer
Late Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain had one of the most vivid imaginations in rock music, possessing a penchant for telling surreal stories that had one eye on the darker side of life and the human condition. A true cynic, some of Cobain’s songs rank amongst the bleakest out there, with the Nevermind classic ‘Something in the Way’ and the primal ‘Scentless Apprenctice’ acting as two that instantly spring to mind.
One of the darkest subjects of his songs is the legendary Seattle actress Frances Farmer, whose life is one of the great tragedies of the film industry. In the In Utero fan favourite ‘Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle’, Cobain appeared to liken himself to Farmer via their struggles with the corporate sides of their respective fields, with both artistically stifled by their contracts with the proverbial man.
Farmer’s story is a notorious one. She was a famous actor in the 1930s and 1940s, starring in hit films of the day, such as Rhythm on the Range and World Premiere, and made a reputation for being a primadonna on set. In 1942, she was arrested for drunk driving and then went to Mexico, which violated her parole. Indicative of how brutal the time could be, upon returning to America, she was interred in a mental institution where it is claimed she suffered horrific abuse, including rape, shock therapy and even a lobotomy.
She was released in 1950 and made a slight comeback with the 1958 movie The Party Crashers and her own TV show Frances Farmer Presents. However, she passed away aged just 56 in 1970 due to oesophagal cancer.
Cobain first became captivated by Farmer’s story when he was in high school after reading the 1978 biography Shadowland by Seattle Post-Intelligencer film critic William Arnold. Per some reports, Cobain began to identify more with Farmer’s tale after his earth-shattering success with Nirvana, with the actor’s unconventional nature, hatred of commercialism and her treatment by the media as the three main aspects of her life that resonated with him.
In 1993, just months before his own tragic death, Cobain made a handful of attempts to contact Arnold, who never responded. At one point, the Nirvana frontman even reached the Post-Intelligencer’s Arts and Entertainment editor and was surprised that Arnold wasn’t aware of him.
Later, the critic claimed that Cobain “called and left this rambling message,” which included his theory that he was related to the judge who signed the order that institutionalised Farmer.
“I thought to myself, ‘I’ve really got to talk to this guy,'” Arnold later said, “but I was going through some other stuff then and I just didn’t. Then he killed himself and I felt really bad.”
Interestingly, Arnold had never heard ‘Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge on Seattle’ when Cobain was alive, and on April 8th, 1994, the day Cobain’s body was discovered, he had written “Return the call of K.C. – the Nirvana guy!” at the top of his to-do list.
