Yvette Vickers
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| Yvette Vickers | |
|---|---|
| Playboy centerfold appearance | |
| July 1959 | |
| Preceded by | Marilyn Hanold |
| Succeeded by | Clayre Peters |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 26, 1928 Kansas City, Missouri, United States[1] |
| Died | 2010 (aged 82) Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Measurements | Bust: 36"[1] Waist: 24" Hips: 36" |
| Height | 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)[1] |
| Weight | 105 lb (48 kg; 7.5 st) |
Yvette Iola Vickers (August 26, 1928 – circa 2010[1][2]) was an American actress, pin-up model and singer.[3]
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[edit] Early life and career
Vickers was born Yvette Vedder in Kansas City, Missouri, the daughter of jazz musician Charles Vedder. During her youth she traveled with her parents to their various performances. She attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and studied journalism.[2] While at the university, she took a class in acting and discovered she enjoyed it, so she changed her major to drama. While at UCLA she began making television commercials. She later moved to New York City to model for White Rain shampoo advertisements but eventually returned to California to pursue an acting careet.[4]
Her first movie appearance is listed as Yvette Vedder in Sunset Boulevard (1950) although she was not listed in the production credits. She made her first movie appearance under the Vickers name in Short Cut to Hell (1957), directed by James Cagney. In 1958, she appeared in Attack of the 50 Foot Woman as Honey Parker. The following year she played the role of Liz Walker in Attack of the Giant Leeches. During the same period she also made a number of appearances in TV shows.[4]
In 1959, she appeared as the Playboy Playmate of the Month for the July issue.[5] Her centerfold was photographed by Russ Meyer. She also appeared in several other men's magazines. Her film roles began to decrease around this time. She did play some small parts in films from 1962 onward, including a small role in Hud (1963). Her last role was in Evil Spirits, a 1991 horror film.
Vickers was also a singer and in the 1990s she released a jazz tribute to her parents on CD called A Tribute to Charlie and Maria. In 2005, she visited Canada for the first time to appear at the Toronto Classic Movie Festival. She appears with interviewer Tom Weaver on the audio commentary track of the 2007 DVD release of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. She had been writing her autobiography prior to her death.
[edit] Personal life
In 1953, Vickers married Don Prell, but they were divorced by 1957. Her second marriage was in 1959 to Leonard Burns, but they were divorced the same year. She had no children. Although she never remarried, Vickers had a long-term relationship with actor Jim Hutton.[6] Many of her modeling photos were taken in the 1920s-vintage house in Benedict Canyon, California, where she lived for decades. In her later years, she was described by neighbors as a private person, but always friendly, and receiving many letters from fans.
[edit] Death
Vickers was last seen alive in 2010. On April 27, 2011, her body was discovered in her home by a neighbor who had not seen Vickers for some time. The date of her death is unknown, but forensic scientists concluded that she may have been dead for as long as a year prior to the discovery of her body.[3][3] There were no signs of foul play, and after an autopsy, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled the cause of death to have been heart failure resulting from coronary artery disease. Her remains were cremated.[7]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d "Playmate data". http://wekinglypigs.com/cgi-bin/nand/search/pmstat?browse=%3A%3ACONFIG%3A%3Amodelbrowse&key=vickers%2C+yvette&limit=0. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
- ^ a b "Officials try to ID body in home of 1959 Playmate". http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110503/decomposed-body-found-home-ex-playmate-110503. Retrieved May 4, 2011.
- ^ a b c Blankstein, Andrew (May 2, 2011). "Mummified body of former Playboy playmate Yvette Vickers found in her Benedict Canyon home". Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California). http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/05/early-playboy-playmate-and-b-movie-acress-yvette-vickers-found-dead-in-benedict-canyon.html#comments. Retrieved May 3, 2011.
- ^ a b Weaver, Tom (2006). Science Fiction Stars and Horror Heroes: Interviews with Actors, Directors, Producers and Writers of the 1940s Through 1960s. McFarland and Company. pp. 370–84. ISBN 9780786428571. http://books.google.com/books?id=wOsGOm3YwokC.
- ^ "Yvette Vickers". The Daily Telegraph (London). May 12, 2011. ISSN 0307-1235. OCLC 49632006. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/8510335/Yvette-Vickers.html. Retrieved May 13, 2011.
- ^ Lamparski, Richard (1989). Whatever became of-- ? all new eleventh series: 100 profiles of the most-asked-about movie, TV, and media personalities, hundreds of never-before-published facts, dates, etc. on celebrities, 227 then-and-now photographs. Crown Publishers. ISBN 9780517571507.
- ^ Gaynor, Tim (May 15, 2011). "Mummified Playboy Playmate died of heart failure". Yahoo!7 News (Sydney: Yahoo!7). http://au.news.yahoo.com/entertainment/a/-/entertainment/9444787/mummified-playboy-playmate-died-of-heart-failure. Retrieved May 15, 2011.
[edit] External links
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