Yvette Vickers
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2011) |
| Yvette Vickers | |
|---|---|
| Playboy centerfold appearance | |
| July 1959 | |
| Preceded by | Marilyn Hanold |
| Succeeded by | Clayre Peters |
| Personal details | |
| Born | August 26, 1928 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.[1] |
| Died | Late 2010 - Early 2011 Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, California |
| Height | 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m)[1] |
Yvette Vickers (born Yvette Vedder on August 26, 1928[1][2] — death discovered April 27, 2011, Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, California) was a blond-haired, blue-eyed American actress, pin-up model and singer.[3]
Yvette Vedder was born Kansas City, Missouri, the daughter of the jazz musicians Charles and Iola Vedder. During her youth she traveled with her parents on the road. She decided to become a writer and took classes at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in journalism.[2] As a filler she took a class in acting and discovered she enjoyed it, so she changed her major to drama. While at UCLA she was discovered by the advertising industry and began making commercials. She moved to New York City to become the White Rain Girl but decided to return to California in order to enter the film industry.[4]
Her first movie appearance was as Yvette Vedder in Sunset Boulevard (1950). The role was minor, and she was uncredited. In 1953, she was married to Don Prell, but they were divorced by 1957. She made her first movie appearance under her own 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. Her centerfold was photographed by Russ Meyer. She also appeared in several other men's magazines.
Her second marriage was in 1959 to Leonard Burns, but they were divorced the same year. Her film career began to wind down at about that point. 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.
Although she never remarried, Vickers had a long-term relationship with actor Jim Hutton.[5]
More contemporary audiences were introduced to Vickers when Attack of the Giant Leeches appeared on the satirical TV series, Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Also a singer, during during the 1990s Yvette released a jazz tribute to her parents on CD. In 2005, she visited Canada for the first time to appear at the Toronto Classic Movie Festival. With interviewer Tom Weaver, she is on the audio commentary track of the 2007 Warner Brothers DVD release of Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. She had been writing her autobiography prior to her death.
Her neighbor became concerned after noticing a large pile of yellowing mail in her mailbox as well as spider webs across her front door. Her mummified body was found inside her home on April 27, 2011. The exact date of her death is unknown.[3]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d "Playmate data". Retrieved May 4, 2011.
- ^ a b "Officials try to ID body in home of 1959 Playmate". Retrieved 4 May 2011.
- ^ a b 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. Retrieved May 3, 2011.
{{cite news}}: More than one of|work=and|newspaper=specified (help) - ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
External links
- 7 at Playboy Online
- Yvette Vickers at IMDb