The experimental level structure of Fr has been studied using the 1.470 alpha decay of 21.8 yr Ac and subsequent gamma rays to extend the level scheme recently observed following the P decay of Rn. The level structure of Fr was also studied theoretically by using the quasiparticle model of Soloviev with octupole degrees of freedom. Both experimentally and theoretically there is strong evidence that Fr is reBection asymmetric. The theoretical study of microscopic structure of several of the positive-parity bands also indicates the presence of important Nilsson configurations arising from the shell below. The comparison of the level structures of Fr, Fr, and Fr tends to elaborate the mechanism by which the octupole-modified Nilsson orbitals collapse into the more degenerate shell model states as the mass number decreases.PACS number(s): 21.60. Ev, 23.60.+e, 27.90.+b