Melissa Ann Francis (also known as Missy Francis, born December 12, 1972 in Los Angeles, California) is an American former child actress. She started her acting career in telefilms at age 5. She is best known for her role as Cassandra Cooper Ingalls in 21 episodes of Little House on the Prairie. Other roles include the film Man, Woman and Child playing Paula Beckwith, the television series St. Elsewhere in the 1986 episode, Family Affair playing Cynthia; and the 1988 film Bad Dreams playing young Cynthia. Francis graduated from Harvard University in 1995 with a Bachelor of Arts degree and served as executive editor of the Harvard College Economist Magazine. She currently works as a news anchor for CNBC, originally providing live hourly reports from the New York Mercantile Exchange on trading in crude oil futures contracts. Francis earned the moniker "The Empress of Energy" from veteran CNBC anchor Larry Kudlow for successfully predicting the upcoming ethanol boom in the United States, weeks before it actually took place.
Prior to CNBC, Francis was a reporter for CNET. Prior to CNET, Francis was a reporter News 12 New Jersey and anchored and reported for many New England television stations in Hartford Manchester, New Hampshire, Providence and produced in Portland, Maine and was a researcher for MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour.
She has since appeared regularly on Kudlow's program, Kudlow and Company.
Graduated Harvard, Class of 1995.
Sister of a mainly commercial actress, Tiffany Ann Francis.
