Actress Anne Francis, who is probably best remembered as the main female star of 1950s sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet, has passed away at 80 years of age. Francis died on Sunday due to complications from pancreatic cancer in her Santa Barbara nursing home. She was first diagnosed with lung cancer in 2007 and had undergone both surgery and chemotherapy.
Although she appeared in more than 30 movies, Anne achieved cult fame with her role as Altair, the naive daughter of dubious scientist Dr. Edward Morbius in the 1956 sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet, where she starred alongside Walter Pidgeon and Leslie Nielsen.
She also broke new ground in television with her 1965 series Honey West, where she played the first female detective in a weekly series. Francis won a Golden Globe and scored an Emmy nomination for the show, which was canceled in 1966 after just 30 episodes. Despite the show’s short life on the air, it was highly influential for women on screen across the world. She also made numerous TV guest appearances, with her final on-screen role coming in a 2004 episode of Without A Trace.
Francis was born in 1930 in Ossining, New York and moved to New York City with her family at the age of 7 to start modeling. She first arrived in Hollywood in 1946 when she signed on with MGM. Anne Francis is survived by two daughters, Jane and Maggie, and a grandson.
Anne Francis – September 16th, 1930-January 2nd, 2011 – RIP