In Memoriam: Anne Lloyd Francis, 1930-2011

[thatcrazycajun]

Film and television actress Anne Francis, Golden Globe winner, Emmy Award nominee and icon for generations of science-fiction fans, died yesterday at age 80 of complications from pancreatic cancer at her Santa Barbara, CA retirement home. Her Los Angeles Times obituary appears here, and her pages on IMDB and Wikipedia detail her career more comprehensively.

Ironically—or perhaps fittingly—she passed just as the cable-TV channel Turner Classic Movies was airing what many consider her signature film: Forbidden Planet, in which she played the female lead role of Altaira "Alta" Morbius. Genre fans will also remember her from the title role in the Honey West TV series and guest shots in two episodes of the late Rod Serling's original series The Twilight Zone, among many other television roles. She was also immortalized in the chorus of The Rocky Horror Show's opening theme song (see "Music" above).

Deepest sympathies go out to her family, friends, colleagues and fans. Thank you, dear lady, and sleep sweet.

Comments

[starmalachite.livejournal.com]

Emotion seconded. I didn't see Forbidden Planet until I found fandom, but back in the day Honey West was one of my very 1st role models -- yup, I was a feminist long before I had a word for it. But the pet ocelot alone would have made me a fan.

[sffilk.livejournal.com]

I never realized it was the same Anne Francis in "Honey West" and "Forbidden Planet." Still, I enjoyed her in both.