Frances Elizabeth Williams (September 17, 1905 – January 2, 1995) was an American actress, activist, theatre producer, organizer, and community worker.

She represented the World Peace Council at the first Angola Independence Celebration in 1975, and co-founded the Art Against Apartheid Movement in Los Angeles in the 1980s.

Her mother, Elizabeth, met and married Ben Williams, a policeman; the family moved to Cleveland, Ohio.

Down the street from the Bath House was the Playhouse Settlement founded by Russell and Rowena Jelliffe, who graduated with their masters in social work from Oberlin College.

She became the Settlement’s first resident worker and lived there fourteen years until she left to study theater in the Soviet Union.

She remained for fourteen years at Karamu House, taking part in eighty-five productions, writing and directing plays, making costumes, and designing sets, On the suggestion of her friend Langston Hughes, and the encouragement from playwright Friedrich Wolf who wrote "Sailors of Cattaro," she went to the Soviet Union to study theater.

Because of her friendship with the daughter of playwright Hella Wuolijoki, she was introduced to Ingmar Bergman and other writers and was invited to Marleback, a favorite meeting place of politicians and literary people including Bertolt Brecht.

Author Bill Reed, in his book Hot From Harlem: Profiles in Classic African-American Entertainment, dedicates an entire chapter to her career.

[2] He shares that Paul Robeson noted her "complete artistic contributions and integrity" in his inscription when autographing his autobiography, Here I Stand.

Shortly after her return from Europe, Williams moved to New York City and soon joined the cast of You Can't Take It with You.

After the tour, Williams returned to New York and became active in the newly formed Negro Actors Guild organized by Noble Sissle and Leigh Whipper.

What frustrated her most was she was never given the opportunity to play a lead role; instead she worked as stage manager, on lights, sets, and costumes.

[4] Produced by Reed and Hugh Wilson, and set in New Orleans, it featured an integrated cast of veteran actors.

The fact that CBS moved the show around a lot, changing its time slot and shuffling the night it came on was a contributing factor.

She was part of the Homeowners Protective Association organized by Charlotta Bass, publisher and editor of The California Eagle, a major newspaper in the community.

That same year, Williams became the first black woman to run for the California State Assembly for the 63rd District on the Progressive ticket.

As a trade unionist, Williams served on the board of the National Negro Labor Council (NNLC) and with her friend Paul Robeson, on October 27, 1951 she attended their first convention in Cincinnati.

In the early 1950s, with the growing popularity of television, several unions in the entertainment industry including Chorus Equity, the American Guild of Variety Artists, the American Guild of Musical Artists, and Actors' Equity formed the Television Authority (TVA).

In 1978 Williams served as chairperson of the National Anti-Imperialist Movement in Solidarity with African Liberation (NAIMSAL), Los Angeles office.

Williams' papers are housed at the Southern California Library for Social Studies and Research in Los Angeles.