Monday, March 14, 2011

Anne Francis, American actress (Honey West, Forbidden Planet, The Twilight Zone), died from pancreatic cancer she was , 80.

Anne Lloyd Francis [1] was an American actress, best known for her role in the science fiction film classic Forbidden Planet (1956), and as the female private detective in the television series Honey West (1965–66) died from  pancreatic cancer she was , 80.. She won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy award for her role in Honey West. Francis holds the distinction of starring in the first TV series with a female detective character's name in the title.


(September 16, 1930 – January 2, 2011)

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 Early life and career

Anne Lloyd Francis was born in Ossining, New York in 1930,[2] the only child of Philip and Edith Francis. Francis entered show business at a young age, working as a model at age five to help her family during the Great Depression, and made her Broadway debut at the age of 11.
Over her career, Francis appeared in scores of TV shows and movies. She made her film debut in This Time for Keeps (1947). In her early film career, she played supporting roles in films such as: Susan Slept Here, So Young So Bad, and Bad Day at Black Rock. Her first leading role was in Blackboard Jungle (1955). She is perhaps best-known on film for her role as Altaira in the science fiction movie Forbidden Planet. "Anne Francis stars in Forbidden Planet" is a line in the song "Science Fiction/Double Feature" from the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Francis found success in television, with several appearances on The Twilight Zone, including the title character in "Jess-Belle" and as Marsha White in "The After Hours." She was a frequent guest star in 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s TV movies and programs. She appeared in two episodes of the popular TV western The Virginian.

In 1964, Francis guest starred in two episodes, "Hideout" and "Rachel's Mother", of the CBS short-lived drama The Reporter. She made two successive appearances in 1964 in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. series. In 1965, Francis turned to series television and was cast as Honey West, a sexy private detective with a pet ocelot. The character was initially introduced on the popular ABC series Burke's Law. She made a guest appearance along with Charles Bronson in a 1967 episode of The Fugitive opposite David Janssen. She played the role of Georgia James in Funny Girl in 1968 and one year later, played Nancy Ingersoll, the wife of Jerry Lewis character in the comedy Hook, Line and Sinker. In 1971, at the start of the final season of My Three Sons, she played bowling alley waitress Terri Dowling who eventually married Laird Fergus McBain Douglas of Sithian Bridge, Scotland and returned to his homeland as royalty. (Fred MacMurray played the dual character roles of Steve Douglas and Fergus McBain Douglas in this four part story arc).
During the 1980–1981 season of Dallas, Francis had a recurring role as Arliss Cooper, the mother of Mitch and Afton Cooper. She later played "Mama Jo" in the 1984 TV-detective series Riptide.[3] She made an appearance in Matlock, another popular detective series; and in The Golden Girls as Trudy McMann, Dorothy's friend from college. In 1989 and 1990 she starred in several episodes of Murder, She Wrote. Her most recent television appearance was on a 2004 episode of the CBS series Without a Trace.

Personal life

Francis was married to Bamlet Lawrence Price, Jr., from May 1952 through April 1955; and then to Dr. Robert Abeloff from 1960 through 1964. She and Abeloff had one daughter together, Jane Elizabeth Abeloff (born on March 21, 1962, in Los Angeles). Francis never remarried after divorcing Abeloff. Francis adopted Margaret "Maggie" West in 1970 in one of the first adoptions granted to a single person in California.
Francis was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2007.[4] She kept her followers informed of her progress on her official website.

Death

Francis died on January 2, 2011, due to complications of pancreatic cancer at a retirement home in Santa Barbara, California, a city in which she was a longtime resident.[5]

Filmography





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