Anne Francis

Anne Lloyd Francis (September 16, 1930 – January 2, 2011) was an American actress. Francis was best known for her role in the science fiction film classic Forbidden Planet (1956) and for starring in the television series Honey West (1965–1966) which was the first TV series with a female detective character's name in the title. She won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy award for her role in the series.

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; she made her Broadway debut at the age of 11. She went on to appear in scores of TV shows and movies during her career.

Francis made her film debut in This Time for Keeps (1947) and in her early career played supporting roles in the films 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 MGM science fiction classic Forbidden Planet (1956).

Her signature trademarks were her blonde, smouldering good-looks and a small beauty mark/mole just to the right of her lower lip.

Francis also found success in television and was a frequent guest star in 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s made-for-TV movies and series programs.

She had two appearances on The Untouchables as a gangster's girlfriend, two appearances in The Twilight Zone, including the title character in "Jess-Belle" and as Marsha White in "The After Hours." Francis appeared in two episodes of the popular western series The Virginian and in the episode "Incident of the Shambling Man" on the popular western Rawhide. During 1964 she guest starred in two episodes ("Hideout" and "Rachel's Mother") of the CBS short-lived drama The Reporter and two successive appearances the same year inThe Man From U.N.C.L.E. series. In 1965 Francis 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 and then spun-off as a series. Francis made a guest appearance along with Charles Bronson in a 1967 episode of The Fugitive opposite David Janssen.

In 1968 she played the role of Georgia James in the feature film Funny Girl and one year later played Nancy Ingersoll, the wife of Jerry Lewis' character in the comedy Hook, Line and Sinker. She also co-starred in Impasse, an adventure film starring Burt Reynolds.

At the start of the final season in 1971 of My Three Sons, Francis played bowling alley waitress Terri Dowling, who eventually married character 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 guest star 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 guest-starred in several episodes of Murder, She Wrote, returning to her full name of Anne Lloyd Francis in the show's credits. She guest starred in 1998 as Kate Walsh's mom in a two-part episode of The Drew Carey Show.

Francis' final television acting role came in a 2004 episode of the CBS series Without a Trace.

Personal life

In 1982 Francis published the book 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 married to Bamlet Lawrence Price, Jr., from May 1952 through April 1955 and to Robert Abeloff from 1960 through 1964; she never remarried after divorcing Abeloff. She and Abeloff had one daughter together, Jane Elizabeth Abeloff (born on March 21, 1962, in Los Angeles); Francis later adopted Margaret "Maggie" West in 1970, one of the first adoptions granted to a single person in California.

Francis was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2007; she kept her followers informed of her progress on her official website.

Reception

In 2005, TV Guide ranked Francis # 18 on its "50 Sexiest Stars of All Time" list.