Anne Francis

  1. Home
  2. Wiki
For the author, see Anne Francis (author).
Anne Francis
Black and white, with metallic-looking, off-the-shoulder wrap dress, turned left, facing camera, arm draped on chair
Studio publicity photo from the 1950s
Born(1930-09-16)September 16, 1930
Ossining, New York, U.S.
DiedJanuary 2, 2011(2011-01-02) (aged 80)
Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
Other names
  • Anne Lloyd Francis
  • Ann Francis
OccupationActress
Years active1936–2006
Known for
TelevisionHoney West
Spouses
  • Bamlet Lawrence Price, Jr.
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1952; div. 1955)​
  • Robert Abeloff
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1960; div. 1964)​
Children2
James Best, Laura Devon, and Anne Francis (right) in "Jess-Belle", an episode of The Twilight Zone (1963)

Anne Francis (September 16, 1930 – January 2, 2011) was an American actress known for her ground-breaking roles in the science fiction film Forbidden Planet (1956) and the television action-drama series Honey West (1965–1966). Forbidden Planet marked a first in in-color, big-budget, science-fiction-themed motion pictures. Nine years later, Francis challenged female stereotypes in Honey West, in which she played a perky blonde private investigator who was as quick with body slams as with witty one-liners. She earned a Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award nomination for her performance.[1]

Francis was known largely for her physical assets, including a trademark mole near her lower lip. The beauty mark was even written into the script of one of her films.[2] In 2005, TV Guide ranked Francis at number 18 on its "50 Sexiest Stars of All Time" list.[3]

Early life

[edit]

Francis was born in Ossining, New York, on September 16, 1930.[4][5] Contrary to some sources, which erroneously claim she was born Ann Marvak (rather than Francis),[1][6] her parents' marriage registration and census records from 1925 and 1930 confirm that their names were Philip Ward Francis and Edith (née Albertson) Francis.[7][8] She was their only child.[9]

Francis entered show business as a child, working as a model at 5 years old to assist her family during the Great Depression. She made her Broadway debut at the age of 11.[10][2]

Career

[edit]

Movies

[edit]
Francis and Clifton Webb in Dreamboat (1952)
Leslie Nielsen and Francis in Forbidden Planet, 1956

Francis made her first film appearances in This Time for Keeps (1947) and Summer Holiday (1948).[11] She played supporting roles in the films So Young, So Bad (1950), Lydia Bailey (1952), The Rocket Man (1954), Susan Slept Here (1954), and Bad Day at Black Rock (1955); her first leading role was in Blackboard Jungle (1955). Her best-known film role is that of Altaira in Forbidden Planet (1956), a science-fiction classic that was nominated for a best-effects Oscar.[12][13]

Her movie roles were then confined to low-budget efforts: a call girl in Girl of the Night (1960), a scheming trophy wife in Brainstorm (1965), as Jerry Lewis's wife in Hook, Line & Sinker (1969), and as co-star to a young Burt Reynolds in the adventure movie Impasse (1969). An exception was her role as chorine Georgia James in Funny Girl (1968).

Television

[edit]

When motion-picture opportunities became scarcer for Francis near the close of the 1950s, she moved, successfully, to television. Beginning as a guest on The Untouchables and as the title character in The Doreen Maney Story, she appeared in two episodes of The Twilight Zone ("The After Hours" and "Jess-Belle"), two episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents ("Hooked" and "Keep Me Company"), and three episodes of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour ("What Really Happened", "Blood Bargain", and "The Trap"). In 1961, she appeared twice in Route 66, first in "Play it Glissando" and then "A Month of Sundays". Francis appeared in two episodes of the Western series The Virginian, two episodes of Columbo ("Short Fuse" and "A Stitch in Crime") and the episode "Incident of the Shambling Man" on the CBS Western Rawhide. She was cast in an episode of Gene Kelly's drama series, Going My Way, based on the 1944 film of the same name. During 1964, she guest-starred in "Hideout" and "Rachel's Mother" in The Reporter, as well as two successive appearances in The Man from U.N.C.L.E..[14] She appeared in season four, episode 10 of Mission: Impossible, titled "The Double Circle".

Honey West

[edit]

Honey West was an action drama; the character was formally introduced in the April 21, 1965, episode of Burke's Law titled "Who Killed the Jackpot?", after which it was spun off as a series that lasted one season of 30 half-hour episodes. Honey was a shrewd, high-energy private investigator who collaborated with assistant Sam Bolt (John Ericson) in a company that was inherited from her father. At home, she cared for her pet ocelot named Bruce.

The show was cancelled due to budgetary considerations, and ABC executives imported the similarly-themed hit British show The Avengers.

Late television career

[edit]

Francis made a guest appearance in a 1967 episode of The Fugitive and in The Invaders the same year. She guest-starred in a 1973 episode of Barnaby Jones, "Murder in the Doll's House".[15]

At the start of the final season of My Three Sons in 1971, Francis played bowling-alley waitress Terri Dowling, who married character Laird Fergus McBain Douglas of Sithian Bridge, Scotland, and returned to his homeland as a member of the nobility. (Fred MacMurray played the dual-character roles of Steve Douglas and Fergus McBain Douglas in this four-part story arc.) She appeared twice as a guest star on Columbo, once as the manipulated lover of the murderer ("Short Fuse", 1972)[16] and once as the murder victim ("A Stitch in Crime", 1973).[17]

In 1974, Francis appeared as Ida, the madame of a bawdy house on the series Kung Fu in the episode "Night of the Owls, Day of the Doves". In 1975, she appeared as Abby in an episode of Movin' On titled "The Price of Loving". In 1976, she appeared as Lola Flynn in an episode of Wonder Woman, entitled "Beauty on Parade". In 1977, she appeared as Lieutenant Commander Gladys Hope, the head nurse in two episodes of the World War II series Baa Baa Black Sheep. She portrayed Melissa Osborne in the episode "How Do I Kill Thee?" of The Eddie Capra Mysteries in 1978.[citation needed]

During the 1980–81 season of Dallas, Francis had a recurring role as Arliss Cooper, the mother of Mitch and Afton Cooper. In 1982, she played an armored car robber and mother in "In the Best of Families" episode of CHiPs. The same year she had a cameo in the TV movie Mazes and Monsters starring Tom Hanks. She later played Mama Jo in the first few episodes (four total) of the 1984 TV-detective series Riptide.[18] In that same year, she guest-starred in the premiere episode of Murder, She Wrote, credited as Anne Lloyd Francis; she went on to guest-star in two more episodes during the show's run. In December 1984, again credited as Anne Lloyd Francis, she guest-starred in the Christmas-themed S8 E13 of The Love Boat playing the mother of Kim Lankford's character, Carol, in the vignette "Noel's Christmas Carol". She appeared on episodes of Matlock and The Golden Girls.

In 1996, Francis appeared in the Wings episode "The Lady Vanishes", as Vera, a 1940s gun moll. In 1997, in the Home Improvement episode "A Funny Valentine", she appeared as Liddy, Tim Allen's high-school classmate's mother. She guest-starred in 1998 on The Drew Carey Show as the mother of Drew's girlfriend Nicki in the episodes "Nicki's Parents" and "Nicki's Wedding". Francis's final television acting role was in "Shadows", a 2004 episode of Without a Trace.[11]

Personal life, illness and death

[edit]

From May 1952 through April 1955, Francis was married to former U.S. Army Air Forces pilot Bamlet Lawrence Price Jr.,[1] who became a director, writer, actor, producer and editor.[19] She then was married to Robert D. Abeloff, a Beverly Hills dentist, from 1960 through 1964.[20] She never remarried after divorcing Abeloff.[21][12]

Francis and Abeloff had one daughter.[22] Francis later adopted another daughter,[23][24] one of the first adoptions granted to an unmarried person in California.[1]

Francis studied flying toward the end of the 1960s, eventually earning her pilot's license.[25]

In 1982, Francis published an autobiography, Voices from Home: An Inner Journey.[26] On its cover, she wrote that the book "is my spiritual exposé. 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."[27] A subsequent biography titled Anne Francis: The Life and Career was written by Laura Wagner and published by McFarland & Company in 2011.[28]

A smoker for much of her adult life, Francis said that she quit the habit in the mid-1980s, but was diagnosed with non-small-cell lung cancer in 2006.[12]

Francis died from complications due to pancreatic cancer on January 2, 2011, at a retirement home in Santa Barbara, California.[5] Her ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.[29]

Filmography

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1947 This Time for Keeps Bobby Soxer Uncredited
1948 Summer Holiday Elsie Rand
The Pirate Nina Uncredited
Portrait of Jennie Teenager in Art Gallery
1950 So Young, So Bad Loretta Wilson
1951 The Whistle at Eaton Falls Jean
Elopement Jacqueline "Jake" Osborne
1952 Lydia Bailey Lydia Bailey
Dreamboat Carol Sayre
1953 A Lion Is in the Streets "Flamingo" McManamee
1954 The Rocket Man June Brown
Susan Slept Here Isabella Alexander
Rogue Cop Nancy Corlane
1955 Bad Day at Black Rock Liz Wirth
Battle Cry Rae
Blackboard Jungle Anne Dadier
The Scarlet Coat Sally Cameron
1956 Forbidden Planet Altaira Morbius
The Rack Aggie Hall
The Great American Pastime Betty Hallerton
1957 The Hired Gun Ellen Beldon
Don't Go Near the Water Lieutenant Alice Tomlen
1960 The Crowded Sky Kitty Foster
Girl of the Night Robin "Bobbie" Williams
1965 The Satan Bug Ann Williams
Brainstorm Lorrie Benson
1968 Funny Girl Georgia James
1969 More Dead Than Alive Monica Alton
Hook, Line & Sinker Nancy Ingersoll
Impasse Bobby Jones
The Love God? Lisa LaMonica
1976 Survive! Anne
1978 Born Again Patty Colson
1985 Return Eileen Sedgeley
1990 Little Vegas Martha

Television

[edit]
Year Title Role Notes
1949 Suspense Lois Episode: "Dr. Violet"
1949-1950 Kraft Theatre Odette 6 episodes
1949-1951 Versatile Varieties Bonny Maid
1949-1958 Studio One Wichita Jones/Kristin 2 episodes
1950 Lights Out Episode: "The Faithful Heart"
1954 The Ford Television Theatre Linda Wolcott Episode: "The Tryst"
Lux Video Theatre Episode: "Perished Leaves"
1958 Climax! Mary Bellason/Teddy Baxter 2 episodes
1959 The David Niven Show Marna Edwards Episode: "The Twist of the Key"
Rawhide Rose Whitman Episode: "Incident of the Shambling Man"
Adventures in Paradise Anne Meadow Episode: "The Bamboo Curtain"
The Ten Commandments TV film
1960 Startime Emma Episode: "Jeff Mcleaod, the Last Reb"
Sunday Showcase Fanny Holmes Episode: "Our American Heritage: Autocrat and Son"
The Untouchables Doreen Maney Episode: "The Doreen Maney Story"
1960-1961 Alfred Hitchcock Presents Nyla Foster/Julia Reddy 2 episodes
1960-1963 The Twilight Zone Jess-Belle Stone/Marsha White Episodes: "The After Hours" and "Jess-Belle"
1961 Route 66 Jana Johnson/Arline Simms 2 episodes
Dr. Kildare Kathy Stebbins Episode: "A Million Dollar Property"
1963-1965 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour Various 3 episodes
1963-1965 Burke's Law Suzanne Foster/Honey West 2 episodes
1964 Death Valley Days Pearl Hart Episode: "The Last Stagecoach Robbery
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. Gervaise Ravel 2 episodes
1964-1970 The Virginian Victoria Greenly/Myra Greencastle
1965 Honey West Honey West
1965-1978 The Magical World of Disney Adeline Jones/Marian Lockhart 4 episodes
1967 The Fugitive Felice Geer Episode: "The One That Got Away"
The Invaders Annie Rhodes Episode: "The Saucer"
1968-1970 The Name of the Game Carol Sherman/Marsha Ryman 2 episodes
1969 Mission: Impossible Gillian Colbee Episode: "The Double Circle"
Lost Flight Gina Talbott TV film
1970 Love, American Style Claudia Segment: "Love and the Visitor"
The Intruders Leora Garrison TV film
Wild Women Jean Marshek
Dan August Gina Talbott Episode: "Murder by Proxy"
1970-1973 Insight Claire/Gert Halpern 2 episodes
The F.B.I. Shelly Brimlow/Didi Lamarie
1971 The Forgotten Man Marie Hardy Forrest TV film
My Three Sons Terri Dowling 3 episodes
Steel Wreath Angel TV film
1972 Gunsmoke Sarah Episode: "Sarah"
Assignment Vienna Aline Masterson Episode: "Queen's Gambit"
1972-1973 Columbo Valerie Bishop/Nurse Sharon Martin 2 episodes
1972-1974 Ironside Angela Griffin/Karen Gillis
1973 Cannon Peggy Angel Episode: "Murder by Proxy"
Barnaby Jones Miriam Woodridge Episode: "Murder in a Dolls House"
1974 Banacek Katherine Wells Episode: "Horse of a Slightly Different Color"
Cry Panic Julie TV film
Kung Fu Ida Quinlan Episode: "Night of the Owls, Day of the Doves"
The F.B.I. Story: The FBI Versus Alvin Karpis, Public Enemy Number One Colette TV film
1975 The Last Survivors Helen Dixon
A Girl Named Sooner Selma Goss
Archer Angela Lawrence Episode: "The Vanished Man"
Movin' On Abby Episode: "The Price of Loving"
Ellery Queen Nurse Chandler Episode: "The Adventure of the Lover's Leap"
Petrocelli Emily Burke Episode: "Terror by the Book"
S.W.A.T. Doris Wainwright Bristol Episode: "Silent Night, Deadly Night"
Mobile One Ginny Dunn Episode: "The Listening Ear"
1976 Bert D'Angelo/Superstar Angela Griffin Episode: "Scag"
Wonder Woman Lola Flynn Episode: "Beauty on Parade"
Banjo Hackett: Roamin' Free Flora Dobbs TV film
1976-1978 Police Woman Sergeant Loretta Muldare/Liz Adams 2 episodes
1978 What Really Happened to the Class of '65? Carol Episode: "The Girl Who Always Said No"
Flying High Susan Vale Episode: "Fear of Cheesecake"
Vegas Lillian Ross Episode: "Mother Miskin"
Hawaii Five-O Alicia Wade Episode: "When Does a War End?"
The Eddie Capra Mysteries Melissa Osborne Episode: "How Do I Kill Thee"
Little Mo Sophie Fisher TV film
1978-1980 Charlie's Angels Margo/Cindy Barton 2 episodes
1978-1981 Fantasy Island Various 3 episodes
1979 Quincy, M.E. Elizabeth Shafer Episode: "Physician, Heal Thyself"
The Rebels Mrs. Harris Miniseries
Beggarman, Thief Teresa Kraler TV film
1980 The Littlest Hobo Mrs. Penelope Conrad Episode: "Romiet and Julio"
Detour to Terror Sheila TV film
Dan August: The Jealousy Factor Nina Porter
1980-1983 Trapper John, M.D. Gail Edsin/Mrs. Havenhurst 2 episodes
1981 Dallas Arliss Cooper 4 episodes
CHiPs Susan Wright Episode: "In the Best of Families"
1982 Mazes and Monsters Ellie TV film
1983 O'Malley Amanda O'Malley
Charley's Aunt Donna Lucia D'Alvadorez
1984 Riptide Mama Jo 6 episodes
The Love Boat Mrs. Kelsey 2 episodes
Partners in Crime Sarah Episode: "Getting in Shape"
1984-1990 Murder, She Wrote Various 3 episodes
1985 Crazy Like a Fox Sister Elizabeth Episode: "Premium for Murder"
Hardcastle and McCormick Jane Bigelow Episode: "The Long Ago Girl"
Finder of Lost Loves Ruth Cunningham Episode: "Connections"
1986 A Masterpiece of Murder Ruth Beekman TV film
1987 Laguna Heat Helene Long
Jake and the Fatman Dixie Episode: "Fatal Attraction"
Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story Marjorie Post Hutton TV film
1988 My First Love Terry
1989 Matlock Janet Masters Episode: "The Starlet"
The Golden Girls Trudy McMahon Episode: "Til Death Do We Volley"
1992 Love Can Be Murder Maggie O'Brien TV film
1993 The Double 0 Kid
1994 Burke's Law Honey Best Episode: "Who Killed Nick Hazard?"
Fortune Hunter Mrs. Brady Episode: "The Frostfire Intercept"
1996 Wings Vera Episode: "The Lady Vanishes"
Have You Seen My Son Catherine Pritcher TV film
1997 Home Improvement Liddy Talbot Episode: "A Funny Valentine"
Conan the Adventurer Gagool Episode: "The Curse of Afka"
1998 Nash Bridges Julia Ann Porter Episode: "Sacaraments"
The Drew Carey Show Charlene Fifer 2 episodes
1999 Fantasy Island Cassie Episode: "Heroes"
2004 Without a Trace Rose Atwood Episode: "Shadows"

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d "Anne Francis". The Daily Telegraph. London, UK. 2011-01-13. ISSN 0307-1235. OCLC 49632006. Archived from the original on 2022-01-12. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  2. ^ a b Corliss, Richard (2011-01-08). "Remembering Anne Francis (1930–2011)". Time. Archived from the original on 2013-08-23. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  3. ^ TV Guide Book of Lists. Running Press. 2007. p. 201. ISBN 978-0-7624-3007-9.
  4. ^ Some sources incorrectly cite Francis' year of birth as 1932
  5. ^ a b McLellan, Dennis (January 3, 2011). "Anne Francis dies at 80; co-starred in the 1950s science-fiction classic 'Forbidden Planet'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 3, 2011. Retrieved January 3, 2011.
  6. ^ Thomas, Bob (2011-01-07). "Anne Francis; at 80; actress was television's 'Honey West'". The Boston Globe. ISSN 0743-1791. Archived from the original on October 29, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2013.
  7. ^ Yorktown Heights, New York
    Enumeration District No. 375 or 376 (illegible)
    Sheet 5B
    April 8, 1930
    Philip Ward Francis (aged 29)
    Edith Francis (aged 29)
    Edna Francis (Philip's mother; aged 59)
    Helen Albertson (sister-in-law; aged 15)

    New York, State Census, 1925
    Philip Ward Francis (aged 24)
    Edith Francis (aged 24)
    Edna Francis (Philip's mother; aged 54)

    PARENTS MARRIAGE INFO
    New York, New York, Marriage Index 1866-1937
    Certificate Number: 6288
    Philip W Francis
    Gender: Male
    Marriage Date: 24 Feb 1923
    Marriage Place: Manhattan, New York, USA
    Spouse: Edith A Albertson
  8. ^ Wagner, Laura. Anne Francis: The Life and Career, McFarland & Company, 2011; ISBN 978-0-7864-6365-7.
  9. ^ "Anne Francis". walkoffame.com. Hollywood Walk of Fame / Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. 25 October 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2025. the only child of Phillip and Edith Francis
  10. ^ Weaver, Tom. Double Feature Creature Attack: A Monster Merger of Two More Volumes of Classic Interviews, p. 162 (McFarland & Company, 2003); ISBN 0-7864-1366-2
  11. ^ a b "Anne Francis: Actress who starred alongside Leslie Nielsen in the cult sci-fi film 'Forbidden Planet'". Independent.co.uk. 7 January 2011. Archived from the original on 2024-05-08. Retrieved 2024-05-08.
  12. ^ a b c Bergan, Ronald (January 3, 2011). "Anne Francis obituary". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 28, 2018. Retrieved December 11, 2016.
  13. ^ "The 29th Academy Awards | 1957". www.oscars.org. March 26, 2015. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved May 8, 2024.
  14. ^ "The Man From U.N.C.L.E., TV". tv24.co.uk.
  15. ^ Full cast and crew credits for Barnaby Jones, episode: "Murder in the Doll's House" from IMDb. [1] Archived 2023-05-10 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ "Short Fuse". January 19, 1972 – via IMDb.
  17. ^ "A Stitch in Crime". February 11, 1973. Archived from the original on December 13, 2023. Retrieved May 8, 2024 – via IMDb.
  18. ^ Kleiner, Dick (March 20, 1984). "Anne Francis is a victim of 'Riptide' Archived 2016-05-20 at the Wayback Machine. Newspaper Enterprise Association, Harlan Daily Enterprise (Harlan, Kentucky), Vol. 68. p. 7; retrieved May 2, 2013.
  19. ^ "Bamlet Lawrence Price Jr. - Profession Director, Writer, Actor, Producer, Editor". tvguide.com. TV Guide. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  20. ^ "Anne Francis Wins Divorce". The New York Times. December 15, 1964. Archived from the original on 5 July 2025. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  21. ^ Byrge, Duane (January 3, 2011). "'Forbidden Planet' Star Anne Francis Dies at Age 80". Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved May 2, 2013.
  22. ^ Michael, Paul and Parish, James Robert. The American Movies Reference Book: the Sound Era, p. 110. (Celestial Arts), 1969; ISBN 978-0130281340.
  23. ^ "Anne Francis – The Private Life and Times of Anne Francis. Anne Francis Pictures". Glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com. Retrieved 2016-10-14.
  24. ^ "Actress Adopts Child". Chicago Tribune (UPI Telephoto ), May 29, 1970. p. 17; retrieved May 2, 2013. (subscription required)
  25. ^ Anne Francis – Army Archerd interview on YouTube
  26. ^ "Actress to Introduce Her Autobiography at Round Table West Meeting Thursday". Los Angeles Times. September 14, 1982. p. F3. Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved May 2, 2013. (subscription required)
  27. ^ Francis, Anne (1982). Voices from Home: An Inner Journe (1st ed.). Celestial Arts. p. dust jacket. ISBN 978-0890873403. Because I am an actress, I am sure the first response to my having written a book will be, "Aha, another Hollywood biography." Since the market is flooded with biographies of professional revelations from many luminaries and super stars, the next response might quite possibly be, 'Who cares?'. I care! I care because VOICES FROM HOME is not a book about hidden skeletons, social calendars, and name revealing dalliances. It is far more intimate. It is my spiritual expose. It is about our essence of being, the unexplicable reality of mysticism, psychic phenomena, and the inner workings of mind and spirit which contribute to the growth of the invisible and most important part of us; hidden from the glare of lights and the camera's eye.
  28. ^ Amazon.co.uk. ASIN 0786463651.
  29. ^ Wilson, Scott (2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. ISBN 9781476625997 – via Google Books.
[edit]