Who was Anne Francis? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Anne Lloyd Francis, Ann Francis

Died At Age: 80

Family:

Spouse/Ex-: Bamlet Lawrence Price Jr. (m. 1952 – div. 1955), Robert Abeloff (m. 1960 – div. 1964)

father: Philip Francis

mother: Edith Francis

children: Jane Elizabeth Abeloff, Margaret Francis West

Actresses American Women

Height: 5'8" (173 cm), 5'8" Females

Died on: January 2, 2011

place of death: Santa Barbara, California, United States

: Lung Cancer

Cause of Death: Pancreatic Cancer

U.S. State: New Yorkers

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Childhood & Early Life

Anne Lloyd Francis was born on September 16, 1930, in Ossining, New York, to Edith and Philip Ward Francis, who was a businessman. She was the only child of her parents. She attended New York's Professional Children's School.

To help her financially struggling family during the Great Depression, she began working as a John Robert Powers model when she was five. At the age of 11, she made her Broadway debut, playing the child version of Gertrude Lawrence's character in 'Lady in the Dark'.

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Film Career

Following her film debut in an uncredited role in the 1947 musical 'This Time for Keeps', Anne Francis played supporting roles in films like 'Susan Slept Here', 'So Young, So Bad', and 'Bad Day at Black Rock'. Her first starring role came in the 1955 movie 'Blackboard Jungle', which paved the way for her best-known film role of Altaira Morbius in the Oscar-nominated sci-fi classic 'Forbidden Planet' the next year.

Throughout the 1960s, she played diverse roles, including a high-priced call girl in 'Girl of the Night', a lead role in 'Brainstorm', Georgia James in 'Funny Girl', and Nancy Ingersoll in 'Hook, Line & Sinker'. Her limited film credits in the later decades include 'The Love God?', 'Pancho Villa', 'Born Again', 'Return: A Case of Passion' and 'The Double 0 Kid'.

Television Career

During the 1950s and 1960s, Anne Francis regularly guest starred on television series, such as 'Kraft Theatre', 'Climax!', 'The Twilight Zone', 'Alfred Hitchcock Presents', and 'The Alfred Hitchcock Hour'. She also appeared in one episode each of 'The Untouchables', 'Rawhide', and 'Going My Way'; and two episodes each of 'The Virginian', 'Columbo', 'The Reporter', and 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'

In 1965, she had a guest role as Honey West on the ABC series 'Burke's Law', a character that gained its own eponymous show later that year. Her performance as the sexy private investigator who drove a Cobra and had a pet ocelot earned her a 'Golden Globe' award and an 'Emmy' nomination.

During the latter half of the decade, she had guest roles on 'The Fugitive', 'The Invaders', 'Mission: Impossible' and 'The Name of the Game'. In 1971, she played the bowling-alley waitress Terri Dowling in the final season of 'My Three Sons'.

In the 1970s, she appeared on one episode each of 'Barnaby Jones', 'Kung Fu', 'Movin' On', 'Wonder Woman', 'Baa Baa Black Sheep' and 'The Eddie Capra Mysteries'. Her later television appearances include a recurring role on 'Dallas', three guest roles on 'Murder, She Wrote', and on several other television series. Her last appearance was on the show 'Without a Trace' in 2004.

Major Works

Anne Francis's best film role was portraying Altaira Morbius in 'Forbidden Planet', a science-fiction retelling of Shakespeare’s 'Tempest'. On television, she earned several awards and accolades for her role as the eponymous private investigator on the show 'Honey West' (1965–1966).

Family & Personal Life

Anne Francis married United States Air Force pilot Bamlet Lawrence Price, Jr. on May 17, 1952, but got a divorce from him on April 6, 1955. She later married Dr. Robert David Abeloff on January 31, 1960, and divorced him four years later on December 14, 1964.

She and her second husband welcomed daughter Jane Elizabeth Abeloff on March 21, 1962. Later in 1970, she adopted Margaret 'Maggie' West, becoming one of the first unmarried persons in California to be granted adoption.

A Democrat, she supported Adlai Stevenson's campaign during the 1952 presidential election. She published her autobiography 'Voices from Home', subtitled 'An Inner Journey', in 1982.

She was diagnosed with lung cancer in 2007 and died from complications from pancreatic cancer at a retirement home in Santa Barbara, California, on January 2, 2011. She was cremated after death and her ashes were scattered at sea.

Trivia

Anne Francis began studying flying during the latter half of the 1960s, receiving her pilot's certificate soon after.

Anne Francis Biography