Francesca James is an American actress, writer, director, producer. She grew up in Michigan where she began her professional career in the theater at the age of sixteen. After studying theater at Carnegie-Mellon University, she moved to New York City where she worked in theater and, for several years, in daytime dramas including As the World Turns, One Life to Live and All My Children (for which she was awarded a Best Supporting Actress Emmy in 1980).
James left the cast of All My Children in 1980 to pursue a career in directing. Her directing credits include All My Children and Loving. She then moved to Los Angeles as a producer, where she worked on General Hospital, Santa Barbara and Days of our Lives. While she was producing General Hospital in 1994-95, the show was twice awarded the Daytime Emmy as "Outstanding Drama Series." In 1995, James returned to New York and All My Children, which earned its second "Outstanding Daytime Drama" with her as producer.