Anne Francis, RIP

Shown here, Leslie Nielsen and Anne Francis in "Forbidden Planet."Color enhanced image from Wiki Commons)

                          

Anne Francis starred in "Honey West," the first American TV series (on ABC-TV) with a woman as the lead detective, for which she was nominated for an Emmy. Remember her in "The Man From U.N.C.L.E"? Wasn't she gorgeous? She also guest starred in the classic "Twilight Zone" episode as the scared woman who becomes one of the mannequins in the department store in the episode, 'The After Hours.' I actually saw it recently: quite brilliant. She appeared in the 1950's classics, "Bad Day at Black Rock," "Blackboard Jungle," and "Forbidden Planet."

She passed yesterday at 80 from pancreatic cancer (having survived lung cancer for a long time), leaving behind two children and a grandchild. She had been married twice, briefly, and as a single mother, adopted a daughter in the 1970's.

See: http://www.tvsquad.com/2011/01/03/anne-francis-star-of-honey-west-dead-at-80/


Now here's an Anne Francis quote I love: "Most young blondes in those days ['50s] were not taken too seriously. I had wanted to work on a project [directing] all my own from beginning to end for many years. I had managers who said, 'Look, you're an actress. You're not supposed to do that other business,' And now I look at all the women today who are doing it, and no one's batting an eyelash."