Frans Hals (c. 1580 – August 26, 1666) was a Dutch painter during the Dutch Golden Age. As a portrait painter, considered by some as second in the Netherlands only to Rembrandt, he displayed extraordinary talent and quickness in his art.

Hals was born in 1580 or 1581, in Antwerp. In 1585, after Antwerp fell to Spain in the Eighty Years' War his family moved to Haarlem in the Northern Low Countries, where he lived the remainder of his life. It wasn't until he was 27 that Hals became a member of the Sint-Lucasgilde (Guild of Saint Luke). He took painting lessons from Flemish painter Karel van Mander (1548–1606), who had also fled from the Spaniards, but Mander's ideas are not visible in Hals' work. The earliest known example of Hals' art is the 1611, Jacobus Zaffius. His 'breakthrough' came in 1616, with the life-size group portrait, The Banquet of the Officers of the St George Militia Company.

Historians have erroneously reported that he mistreated his first wife, Anneke Hermansz (Annetje Harmensdochter Abeel), based on records that a Frans Hals was charged with spousal abuse in Haarlem in 1616. However, as Seymour Slive has pointed out, the Frans Hals in question was not the artist, but another Haarlem resident of the same name. Indeed, at the time of these charges, the artist had no wife to mistreat as Anneke had died earlier in 1616. Similarly, historical accounts of Hals' propensity for drink have been largely based on embellished anecdotes of his early biographers, namely Arnold Houbraken, with no direct evidence existing documenting such. In 1617, already with two children by Anneke, he married Lysbeth Reyniers, with whom he had eight children.

Although Hals' work was in demand throughout his life, he experienced financial difficulties. In addition to painting, he worked as an art dealer and restorer. His creditors took him to court several times, and to settle his debt with a baker in 1652 he sold his belongings. The inventory of the property seized mentions only three mattresses and bolsters, an armoire, a table and five pictures. Left destitute, the municipality gave him an annuity of 200 forms in 1664.

At a time when the Dutch nation fought for independence, Hals appeared in the ranks of its military guilds. He was also a member of the Chamber of Rhetoric, and in 1644 chairman of the Painters Corporation at Haarlem.

Frans Hals died in Haarlem in 1666 and was buried in the city's St. Bavo Church. His widow later died obscurely in a hospital after seeking outdoor relief from the guardians of the poor.