Anne Francis

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Anne Lloyd Francis (born September 16, 1930) is an American actress, famous for her role in the science fiction film classic Forbidden Planet (1956), and as the female private detective in the television series Honey West (1965-1966). She won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy award for her role in Honey West. Francis holds the distinction of starring in the first TV series with a woman detective character's name in the title.

Early life and career

Anne Lloyd Francis was born in Ossining, New York in 1930, the only child of Phillip 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, and made her Broadway debut at the age of 11. Over her career, Francis appeared in scores of TV shows and movies. She made her film debut in This Time for Keeps in 1947. In her early film career, she played supporting roles in films such as Susan Slept Here, So Young So Bad and Bad Day at Black Rock, where she starred alongside the great Spencer Tracy. Her first leading role was in the 1955 film, Blackboard Jungle.

She may be best-known on film for her role as Altaira in the significant S.F. film Forbidden Planet, which was made by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer, co-starring Walter Pidgeon and Leslie Nielsen and was based upon William Shakespeare's play The Tempest. Her character, the naive daughter of Dr. Morbius (Pidgeon) was reportedly based on the character Miranda from The Tempest.

Francis found success in television, with several appearances on The Twilight Zone, including the title character in "Jess-Belle" and as Marsha White, the iconic department store mannequin, who enjoyed a brief vacation among the living people ("The After Hours"). She was a frequent guest star in 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s TV movies and programs. She appeared in two episodes of the popular TV western The Virginian.

In 1964, Francis guest starred in two episodes, "Hideout" and Rachel's "Mother", of the CBS short-lived drama The Reporter. She made two successive appearances in 1964 in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. series. In 1965, Francis turned to series television and 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. She made a guest appearance along with Charles Bronson in a 1967 episode of The Fugitive opposite David Janssen. She played one of the leading roles in Funny Girl in 1968 and one year later, played Nancy Ingersoll the wife of Jerry Lewis character in the comedy Hook, Line and Sinker. In 1971, at the start of the final season of My Three Sons, she played Lady Terri Douglas.

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. In 1989 and 1990 she starred in several episodes of Murder, She Wrote. Her most recent television appearance was on a 2004 episode of the CBS series Without a Trace.

Personal life

Francis was married to Bamlet Lawrence Price, Jr. from May 1952 to April 1955, and to Dr. Robert Abeloff from 1960 to 1964. She and Dr. Abeloff had one child, Jane Elizabeth Abeloff (b. March 21, 1962, Los Angeles). Francis never remarried after divorcing Dr. Abeloff. She later adopted Margaret West in 1970 in one of the first adoptions granted to a single parent in California. As of 2009, she resides in Santa Barbara, California.

Francis was treated for lung cancer in 2007-2008. She has kept her followers informed of her progress on her official web site.