Anne Francis

For the author, see Anne Francis (author).

Anne Francis
Born	Anne Lloyd Francis September 16, 1930(1930-09-16) Ossining, New York, U.S.
Died	January 2, 2011(2011-01-02) (aged 80) Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Pancreatic cancer
Nationality	American
Other names	Anne Lloyd Francis Ann Francis
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1936–2006
Television	Honey West
Spouse	Bamlet Lawrence Price, Jr. (m. 1952–1955) «start: (1952)–end+1: (1956)»"Marriage: Bamlet Lawrence Price, Jr. to Anne Francis" Location: (linkback://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Francis) Dr. Robert Abeloff (m. 1960–1964) «start: (1960)–end+1: (1965)»"Marriage: Dr. Robert Abeloff to Anne Francis" Location: (linkback://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_Francis) (divorced)

Anne Lloyd Francis (September 16, 1930 – January 2, 2011) 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 (1965–1966). 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.

Early life and career

Anne Lloyd Francis was born in Ossining, New York in 1930, 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. Her trademark was a mole on the right side of her lip.

Francis found success in television, with two 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 and Incident of the Shambling Man of Rawhide. She was also on the Untouchables as a gangsters girlfriend.

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.

Francis 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). She was also a murder victim in the Columbo episode "A Stitch in Crime", with Leonard Nimoy.

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. She made an appearance in Matlock, another popular detective series; and in The Golden Girls as Trudy McMann, Dorothy's friend from high school.

In 1989 and 1990, she starred in several episodes of Murder, She Wrote, returning to her full name of Anne Lloyd Francis in the show's credits. She did a two-part episode of The Drew Carey Show in 1998.

Francis's final television acting role came 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.

In 1982 Francis published a book she had written, Voices from Home, subtitled An Inner Journey. To quote from the cover, "(This book) is my spiritual expose. It is about our essence of being, the inner workings of mind and spirit which contribute to the growth of the invisible and most important part of us."

Francis was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2007. 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, just over a month after the death of Forbidden Planet co-star Leslie Nielsen.

Filmography

With Leslie Nielsen in Forbidden Planet (1956)

• This Time for Keeps (1947) (uncredited)
• Summer Holiday (1948)
• Portrait of Jennie (1948) (uncredited)
• So Young So Bad (1950)
• The Whistle at Eaton Falls (1951)
• Elopement (1951)
• Lydia Bailey (1952)
• Dreamboat (1952)
• A Lion Is in the Streets (1953)
• The Rocket Man (1954)
• Susan Slept Here (1954)
• Rogue Cop (1954)
• Bad Day at Black Rock (1955)
• Battle Cry (1955)
• Blackboard Jungle (1955)
• The Scarlet Coat (1955)
• Forbidden Planet (1956)
• The Rack (1956)
• The Great American Pastime (1956)
• The Hired Gun (1957)
• Don't Go Near the Water (1957)
• The Crowded Sky (1960)
• The Girl of the Night (1960)
• The Satan Bug (1965)
• Brainstorm (1965)
• Funny Girl (1968)
• More Dead Than Alive (1968)
• Impasse (1969)
• Lost Flight (1969)
• Hook, Line & Sinker (1969)
• The Love God? (1969)
• Pancho Villa (1972)
• Haunts of the Very Rich (1972)
• Survival (1976)
• Born Again (1978)
• Greatest Heroes of the Bible
• Return (1986)
• The Double 0 Kid (1992)
• Lover's Knot (1996)

External links

• Anne Francis at the Internet Broadway Database
• Anne Francis at the Internet Movie Database
• obituary from The Guardian
• Anne Francis at Find a Grave