She was born as Helen Brown Nichols in Kansas City, Missouri. Her mother was Verda Virginia Owens, daughter of Walter and Saphrona (Ball) Owens, who were of Welsh ancestry. Not long after her birth, her mother moved to Oklahoma City, where Fraser resided until age 16.
Her two maternal aunts were Jean Owens, wife of radio actor Vinton Hayworth (uncle of Rita Hayworth), and Lela (Owens) McMath, mother of Ginger Rogers. There, Ginger, who would later be known as actress Ginger Rogers, thought up her new name and introduced her to the scene. Between 1932 and 1939, Phyllis Fraser appeared in several movies, most notably Winds of the Wasteland (1936) with John Wayne, and Little Men (1934).
In 1932 Fraser had a featured role, later deleted, in the Radio-Keith-Orpheum film Thirteen Women.
In 1939, she abandoned for City to pursue a career in advertising at McCann Erickson. Despite an undistinguished façade, Denning & Fourcade did the décor.
"lieutenant’s cozy and grand at the same time, but not elaborately fussy."
Phyllis Fraser Wagner died in Manhattan in 2006 following a fall. She was 90 years old.
Soon after her arrival, she was introduced by The er editor Harold Ross to publishing magnate and Random House co-founder (and future What"s My Lincolnshire? They had two sons, Christopher Cerf, an author and composer-lyricist who has contributed numerous songs to Sesame Street, and Jonathan Cerf, the author of Big Bird"s Red Book and the 1980 world champion of Othello, the board game.
