Mummified Remains Of B Movie Actress And Playboy Model Yvette Vickers Discovered In Home

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: NBC LA

I said today was about the strange and this story is very strange ..... and actually very sad when you think about it.

By now you have probably already heard about this, but in case you haven't, the mummified remains of Actress and Playboy model Yvette Vickers were removed from her dilapidated Beverly Hills home on Monday.

Yes .... I said mummified .... that's not a typo.

The police were called to Vickers home after neighbors, finally, thought it was strange that they hadn't seen the actress in quite some time and that the house was falling apart. Upon entering the home the authorities discovered Vickers remains and estimated that she had been dead at least a year.

That's the sad part, she was an elderly 82-year-old woman, and her neighbors didn't realize that hadn't seen her in over a year?

Ug! Anyway Vickers was most noted for her roles in the classic B monster movies "Attack of the 50 Foot Woman" and "Attack of the Giant Leeches" and her modeling for Playboy magazine in the 1960s.

We really need to start paying more attention to the elderly. Here is a tragic story of a beloved actress that people just simply forgot about. Out of the spotlight out of mind. I'm sorry to report that this sort of thing has happened way too many times for my soul to remain silent about.

People shouldn't be pushed aside when their looks fade and they stop entertaining us in films and on TV.

THINK ABOUT IT PEOPLE!

Here is a video tribute to Yvette:



Attack of the Giant Leeches is a low-budget 1959 science fiction film from American International Pictures. It was directed by Bernard L. Kowalski, produced by Gene Corman, and the screenplay was written by Leo Gordon. The film is in black and white, and runs for 62 minutes. It was one of a spate of monster movies produced during the 1950s in response to cold war fears; in the film a character speculates that the leeches have been mutated to giant size by atomic radiation from nearby Cape Canaveral.



Nancy Archer (Allison Hayes) had something funny happen to her on the way home from the insane asylum. She saw a UFO. Only trouble is no one will believe her. Go figure.

Her husband couldn't be happier though. If Nancy is still insane than he can continue his affair with the curvy Honey Parker (Yvette Vickers). Her constant ramblings give him all the ammo he needs to have her shipped right back to the Nut House.

Nancy knows what she saw and is convinced that she is no longer the crazy person she once was so she flees her adulterous husband and returns to the dessert to find evidence to prove her story. She finds the UFO but its alien pilot uses a strange ray on her and she soon grows to an enormous size.

See Also: Attack Of The 50ft Woman (1958)

A Tribute To Elisabeth Sladen (1946-2011)

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: BBC / Wikipedia

I feel really bad that I didn't get a chance to touch on the untimely death of actress Elisabeth Sladen last week. Sladen was best known for her role of Sarah Jane Smith, a companion to the iconic Doctor from the UK sci fi TV series "Doctor Who". Though the Doctor has had numerous companions over the decades, Sladen's Sarah Jane was by far the most beloved by fans on both sides of the Atlantic.

The character of Sarah Jane Smith was so popular in fact that two "Doctor Who" spin-off series where created to feature her, one the short-lived "K-9 and Company" and the other "The Sarah Jane Adventures" has been airing on the BBC since 2007.

Here is a press release from the BBC on Sladen's passing:

Last night (Tuesday) with much sadness the BBC announced Elisabeth Sladen, the much-loved actress best known for her role as Sarah Jane Smith in Doctor Who and CBBC's The Sarah Jane Adventures, had passed away. She was 63.

Lis first appeared as Sarah Jane in Doctor Who in 1973 alongside the Third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, and stayed for three and half seasons working alongside Jon and the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker. She returned to the role on numerous occasions over the years and, in 2007, was given her own spin-off series on CBBC – The Sarah Jane Adventures – where she would appear alongside new Doctors David Tennant and Matt Smith.

The Sarah Jane Adventures brought Lis a whole new generation of fans who grew up to love her alien-busting adventures. The series was hugely popular with fans young and old and won this year's RTS Award for best children's drama.

Controller of CBBC Damian Kavanagh said last night: "I'm deeply saddened and shocked by the news of Lis' untimely death. Lis brought joy, excitement and a sense of wonder to her many fans in her role as Sarah Jane Smith. She was adored by our young audience and I know all of them will miss her as much as I will."

The creator of The Sarah Jane Adventures Russell T Davies said: "I absolutely loved Lis. She was funny and cheeky and clever and just simply wonderful. The universe was lucky to have Sarah Jane Smith; the world was lucky to have Lis."

Steven Moffat, Doctor Who's lead writer and executive producer said: "'Never meet your heroes' wise people say. They weren't thinking of Lis Sladen.

"Sarah Jane Smith was everybody's hero when I was younger, and as brave and funny and brilliant as people only ever are in stories. But many years later, when I met the real Sarah-Jane – Lis Sladen herself – she was exactly as any child ever have wanted her to be. Kind and gentle and clever; and a ferociously talented actress, of course, but in that perfectly English unassuming way.

“There are a blessed few who can carry a whole television show on their talent and charisma – but I can't think of one other who's done it quite so politely. I once showed my son Joshua an old episode of Doctor Who, in which Lis appeared. 'But that's Sarah Jane,' he said, confused, 'In old Doctor Who. From years ago. How come she always look exactly the same?' It's not a comfort today, of course, but children will still be saying that 50 years from now."

Matt Smith said: "What struck me about Lis was her grace. She welcomed me, educated me, and delighted me with her tales and adventures on Doctor Who. And she also seemed to have a quality of youth that not many people retain as they go through life. Her grace and kindness will stay with me because she had such qualities in abundance and shared them freely. I will miss her, as will the world of Doctor Who and all the Doctors that had the good pleasure to work with Lis Sladen and travel the universe with Sarah Jane."

David Tennant said: "I just can't believe that Lis is gone. She seemed invincible. The same woman who enchanted my childhood, enchanted my time on Doctor Who and enchanted generations who have watched her and fallen in love with her – just like I did. I feel very honoured to have shared a TARDIS with Sarah Jane Smith, and I feel very lucky to have shared some time with Lis Sladen. She was extraordinary."

Keith Jones, Director, BBC Cymru Wales, said: "The Sarah Jane Adventures has been one of the most successful children's programmes on television in recent years – and without Elisabeth Sladen it would not have happened. A brilliant presence on screen and on set, she brought the excitement and energy of the Doctor Who family of programmes, of which we are very proud at BBC Wales, to a whole new generation. She will be missed by all at BBC Wales who worked with her."

Roger Carey, who represented Lis for many years, said: "She was not just a client, but a dear friend. She was so positive about life and her natural energy was intoxicating. She couldn't believe her luck when her career was resurrected in her own series."

Lis had been suffering from cancer. She leaves behind a husband, actor Brian Miller, and her daughter, Sadie.

Here is her bio from Wikipedia:

Sladen was the only child of Tom Sladen, who fought in World War I and served in the Home Guard during World War II. Her mother Gladys' maiden name was Trainor, which is a Northern Irish name commonly seen in Liverpool.

Sladen developed an interest in performing at an early age, beginning dance lessons when she was five, and dancing in one production with the Royal Ballet. She was a primary school contemporary of future politician Edwina Currie (née Cohen), appearing in at least one school production with her; and a grammar school contemporary of Peter Goldsmith, the future Attorney-General, when both attended Quarry Bank School (now Calderstones School).

After attending drama school for two years, Sladen began work at the Liverpool Playhouse repertory company as an assistant stage manager. Her first stage appearance was as a corpse. However, she was scolded for giggling on stage, thanks to a young actor, Brian Miller, whispering the words, "Respiration nil, Aston Villa two" in her ear while he was playing a doctor. Sladen was so good as an assistant stage manager that she did not get many acting roles, a problem she solved by deliberately making mistakes on several occasions. This got her told off again, but she started to get more on-stage roles.

Sladen made her first, uncredited, screen appearance in 1965 in the film Ferry Cross the Mersey as an extra.

Sladen eventually moved into weekly repertory work, travelling around to various locations in England. Sladen and Miller, now married, moved to Manchester, spending three years there. She appeared in numerous roles, most notably as Desdemona in Othello, her first appearance as a leading lady. She also got the odd part on Leeds Radio and Granada Television, eventually appearing as a barmaid in 1970 in six episodes of the long-running soap opera Coronation Street. In 1971, Sladen was in two episodes of Z-Cars. Then, in 1972, she was appearing in a play that moved down to London, and they had to move along with it. Her first television role in London was as a terrorist in an episode of Doomwatch. This was followed by guest roles in Z-Cars (again),^[7] Public Eye, Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em and Special Branch.

In 1973, Doctor Who actress Katy Manning, who was playing the Third Doctor's assistant Jo Grant opposite Jon Pertwee, was leaving the series. Producer Barry Letts was growing increasingly desperate in his search for a replacement, when Z-Cars producer Ron Craddock gave Sladen an enthusiastic recommendation.

Sladen arrived at the audition not knowing it was for the new companion role, and was amazed at Letts's thoroughness. She was introduced to Pertwee, whom she found intimidating at the time. As she chatted with Letts and Pertwee, each time she turned to look at one of them the other would signal a thumbs-up. She was offered and accepted the part of investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith.

She stayed on Doctor Who for three and a half seasons, alongside Pertwee as the Third Doctor and Tom Baker as the Fourth, receiving both popular and critical acclaim for her role as Sarah Jane. When she left the series, in the 1976 serial The Hand of Fear, it made front page news,^{[citation needed]} where previously only a change of Doctors had received such attention. In October, 2009, Sladen paid tribute to her boss and friend, Barry Letts, after he died. She said Letts was her closest friend on Doctor Who.

Sladen returned to the character of Sarah Jane Smith on numerous occasions. In 1981, new Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner asked her to return to the series to ease the transition between Tom Baker and new Doctor Peter Davison. She declined but accepted his second offer of doing a pilot for a spin-off series called K-9 and Company, co-starring K-9, the popular robot dog from Doctor Who. However, the pilot was not picked up for a series. Two years later Sladen appeared in the 20th anniversary special The Five Doctors.

She reprised the role in the 1993 Children in Need special Dimensions in Time, and in the 1995 independently produced video Downtime alongside former co-star Nicholas Courtney as Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart and Deborah Watling as Victoria Waterfield. This was her last on-screen appearance as Sarah Jane Smith for some time.

Sladen played Sarah Jane in several audio plays. Two of them were produced for BBC Radio, The Paradise of Death (Radio 5, 1993), and The Ghosts of N-Space (Radio 2, 1996), together with Jon Pertwee and Nicholas Courtney. Big Finish Productions has also produced two series of Sarah Jane Smith audio adventures set in the present day, released in 2002 and 2006. Her daughter Sadie has also appeared in the audios.

In later years, Sladen had also participated re-visiting a few classic Doctor Who serials on DVD in doing audio commentaries and interviews (in the stories she starred in), but as of 2008 she stated in an interview that she was no longer doing them due to "contractual reasons with 2entertain".

Following the successful revival of Doctor Who in 2005, Sladen guest starred as Sarah Jane in "School Reunion", an episode of the 2006 series, along with John Leeson, who returned as the voice of the robot dog K-9, and David Tennant as the Tenth Doctor. Sladen was ever faithful to the character and worked a lot of the characterisation herself, in the lead-up to the broadcast of "School Reunion" she was quoted in The Daily Mirror as saying: "Sarah Jane used to be a bit of a cardboard cut-out. Each week it used to be, 'Yes Doctor, no Doctor', and you had to flesh your character out in your mind — because if you didn't, no one else would." She also spoke favourably of the characterisation in the new series.

Following her successful appearance in the series, Sladen later starred in The Sarah Jane Adventures, a Doctor Who spin-off focusing on Sarah Jane, produced by BBC Wales for CBBC and created by Russell T Davies. A 60-minute special aired on New Year's Day 2007, with a 10-episode series commencing broadcast in September 2007. The programme was nominated for a prestigious Royal Television Society award and was recommissioned for a second 12-episode series which was broadcast in late 2008. The third series was broadcast in Autumn 2009, and again achieved audience ratings well in excess of the usual average figures for the time slot (sometimes even double). A fourth season began airing in October 2010.

Sladen also read two original audio stories for The Sarah Jane Adventures, which were released in November 2007 on CD: The Glittering Storm by Stephen Cole and The Thirteenth Stone by Justin Richards. This was the first time that BBC Audiobooks have commissioned new content for exclusive release on audio. Two new audio stories ("Ghost House" and "Time Capsule") were released in November 2008, both read again by Sladen.

Sladen appeared in the final two episodes of Doctor Who’s 2008 series (season 4) finale "The Stolen Earth" and "Journey's End" and was credited in the title sequence of both episodes. Her final appearance in Doctor Who was a cameo in the concluding part of "The End of Time", Tennant's last episode as the Doctor.

After Doctor Who, Sladen returned to Liverpool with her husband and performed in a series of plays. This included a two-hander with Miller in Moonie and his Caravans. Notable appearances following that include a two-year stint as a presenter for the children's programme Stepping Stones, a lead role with Miller playing her husband in ITV drama Send In The Girls, a BBC Play For Today, a role as a stand-up comic's spouse in Take My Wife, and a small part in the movie Silver Dream Racer as a bank secretary in 1980, only her second motion picture appearance. In 1981, former Doctor Who producer Barry Letts cast her as the female lead in the BBC Classics production of Gulliver in Lilliput.

She continued to appear in various advertisements and in another Letts production, Alice in Wonderland (playing the Dormouse), as well as attending conventions in the United States. After the birth of her daughter Sadie Miller in 1985, Sladen went into semi-retirement, placing her family first, but finding time for the occasional television appearance. In 1995, she played Dr Pat Hewer in 4 episodes of Peak Practice. In 1996, she played Sophie in Faith in the Future, and appeared in 15 episodes of the BBC schools programme Numbertime, which was repeated annually for around ten years. This was her last television acting appearance until the 2006 Doctor Who episode "School Reunion".

In 1991, she starred as Alexa opposite Colin Baker in The Stranger audio adventure The Last Mission for BBV Audio. Sladen also appeared in a Bernice Summerfield audio drama, Kate Orman's Walking to Babylon.

In 2008–09, Sladen appeared in a panto production of Peter Pan at the Theatre Royal Windsor, playing Mrs. Darling and a beautiful mermaid.

See Also: Matt Smith And Karen Gillan Talk About DOCTOR WHO And Filming In America / UK Students To Create New DOCTOR WHO Adventure / Doctor Who Flight Controlled TARDIS Vehicle / New DOCTOR WHO Online Fan Group Launches / Doctor Who - 10th Doctor (David Tennant) - Collage T-Shirt / The 100 Greatest Monsters From Movies And Television #21 - #30 / The 100 Greatest Monsters From Movies And Television #31 - #40 / The Next Season Of DOCTOR WHO Will Be Split In Two - Will Have A Mid-Season Cliffhanger / Daleks The Greatest Monsters Ever? Proof Positive That The Brits Don't Know Their Creatures / Doctor Who Visual Dictionary Updated 10th Edition Book / Johnny Depp Confirmed As The Big Screen Doctor? / Doctor Who vs The Yeti - Merry Christmas! / New Toy Wednesday! - 11 Doctors, Limited Edition Spock Kit, Gundam, Vampirella And Some Killer Anime Cleavage! / New Toy Tuesday! Classic Star Trek vs Classic Doctor Who, A Slave Girl & The Creature! / Karen Gillan Talks About Playing Amy Pond On Doctor Who / Doctor Who To Make A 'Whistle-Stop' Tour Of The UK / A New Doctor - A New Logo / John Simm Promises That Tennant's Doctor Will Get A 'Brilliant Send-Off' / A Sneak Peek At The The Ultimate Monster Guide And Other Doctor Who Tidbits / 'Four Weddings And A Funeral' Scribe Richard Curtis To Write For Doctor Who / The Name Is 'Who'......'Doctor Who' / Doctor Who Black And White Action Figures - Second Doctor & Cyberman / The First Look At The Animated Doctor Who From Dreamland / Doctor Who Star David Tennant Sends 'Postcard' From America / Doctor Who - Filming Begins For The 11th Doctor / Doctor Who: The Waters Of Mars - Sneak Preview

A Tribute To Tura Satana (1938 - 2011)

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Source: NY Times

The cult movie genre lost one of it's most infamous icons on Friday when actress Tura Satana passed away from heart failure. The 73-year-old actress was the star of some of the most notable independent films of the 1960s and 70s including "The Astro Zombies", "The Doll Squad" and "Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!". Satana's portrayal of Varla in the Russ Meyer film would forever establish the Japanese born Tura Luna Pascual Yamaguchi (Real Name) as a pop culture icon.

To say that Satana lead a full and colorful life would be an understatement. As a young woman she had to endure the tribulation of being held in a Japanese internment camp in California. At thirteen she began a career as an exotic dancer after she developed the curvy figure that helped propel her to stardom. After that she became a nude model and then actress. At one point she even dated Elvis and turned down his marriage proposal.

In later life Satana continued to act and enjoyed interaction with her legions of fans at conventions and special appearances.

According to Tura's long-time manager Siouxzan Perry a memorial service will be held on July 10th which would have been her 74th birthday.

Fans by the hudreds have been leaving heart-felt messages of love for Tura on her Facebook page. If you would like to express your feelings about her life and career you can do so at: http://www.facebook.com/tsatana

Here is Tura Satana's bio (From Wikipedia):

Tura Satana (July 10, 1938 – February 4, 2011) was a Japanese-born American actress and former exotic dancer. She was best known for her role as "Varla" in Russ Meyer's 1965 cult film, Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!.

Satana was born Tura Luna Pascual Yamaguchi in Hokkaidō, Japan. Her father was a silent movie actor of Japanese and Filipino descent, and her mother was a circus performer of American Indian (Cheyenne) and Scots-Irish background. After the end of World War II and a stint in the Manzanar internment camp in Lone Pine, California, she and her family moved to the Westside of Chicago. She developed breasts very early and, despite being an excellent student, was constantly harassed for her figure and Asian heritage. Walking home from school at the age of nine she was gang raped by five men. Her attackers were never prosecuted and it was rumored that the judge had been paid off. This prompted her to learn the martial arts of aikido and karate and, over the next 15 years, track down each rapist and exact revenge. "I made a vow to myself that I would someday, somehow get even with all of them," she said years later. "They never knew who I was until I told them."

Because of the rape and the bribed judge, she was sent to reform school as a teenager and became the leader of a gang. In an interview with Psychotronic Video, she said, "We had leather motorcycle jackets, jeans and boots and we kicked butt." At 13, she was married in Hernando, Mississippi, a short-lived union arranged by her parents and the family of her 17-year-old groom.

Satana then came to Los Angeles at age 13 with a fake ID and tried her hand at blues singing. When that failed, she started modeling as a bathing suit photography model and posed nude for the silent screen comic Harold Lloyd, who did not know she was underage. Lloyd told Satana she should be in films because she was photogenic. While working as a photographic model, Satana contracted makeup poisoning and could not wear any makeup due to the ensuing skin erosions. She returned to Chicago to live with her parents and started dancing. Satana danced at the Club Rendevouz in Calumet City, Illinois, where she was known as Galatea, the Statue that Came to Life. She was offered a raise to become a stripper. She eventually became a successful exotic dancer, traveling from city to city and working with Rose Le Rose, Maxine Martin, The Skyscraper Girl, Tempest Storm, Candy Barr and Stunning Smith the Purple Lady. Satana credited Lloyd with giving her the confidence to pursue a career in show business: "I saw myself as an ugly child." Mr. Lloyd said, "You have such a symmetrical face, the camera loves your face... you should be seen." Because of her dancing, her face, and her figure, she was ultimately voted one of the 10 Best Undressed Burlesque Dancers of the 20th Century by Bill Hanna of Hanna-Barbera.

At 19, Satana got pregnant, but continued dancing for the next eight months, earning a typical weekly salary of about $1,500

During her early career, Satana appeared on television shows such as Burke's Law, The Greatest Show On Earth, Hawaiian Eye, and The Man From U.N.C.L.E.. She also appeared as a dancer in Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? with Dean Martin and Elizabeth Montgomery. That same year, she had a cameo as a Parisian prostitute in the musical Irma La Douce with Jack Lemmon and Shirley Maclaine.

After starring in Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, Satana worked mainly with cult film director Ted V. Mikels in such films as The Astro-Zombies (1968), The Doll Squad (1974) and Mark of the Astro-Zombies (2002). She has also appeared as herself in various documentaries and TV shows including The Incredibly Strange Film Show (1988), A & E's documentary called "Cleavage"(2003),Strip de velours (2005) and Sugar Boxx (2007) which is currently in post production and co-stars fellow Russ Meyer alumna Kitten Natividad.

After making Ted V. Mikels' The Doll Squad in 1973, Satana was shot by a former lover. She later found employment in a hospital, a position she kept for four years. She had studied nursing at Firmin Deloos Hospital. She was then briefly employed as a dispatcher for the Los Angeles Police Department. In 1981, her back was broken in a car accident. She spent the next two years in and out of hospitals, having two major operations and approximately fifteen others.

Satana dated Elvis Presley but turned down his marriage proposal, though she did keep the ring. Satana married a retired Los Angeles police officer in 1981, and remained married until her husband died in October 2000. She has two daughters from a previous relationship. Her older daughter Kalani had a cameo role in Mikels' Ten Violent Women. She had remained friends with Mikels till her death.

Tura Satana Photos:

See Also: 100 Most Popular (Sexiest) Women In Movies, TV, SciFi And Fantasy #71- #80 / Celluloid Philosophers - Varla / Ted Mikels' Grindhouse Reunion - Vegas Style! / Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1965)(Russ Meyer)

A Tribute To Anne Francis (1930 - 2011)

Written By: Ken Hulsey

The death of the iconic movie and television actress Anne Francis has shaken me to the core.

It's not just the fact that I was a huge fan of the actress who is known for her roles in the classic sci fi film "Forbidden Planet", the lesser known TV series "Honey West", the legendary series "Twilight Zone" and numerous other roles spanning five decades.

No, it not just the fact that Hollywood has lost one of it's true beauties that has me "shaken", it is the time and date of her death. Call it some kind of cosmic connection, call it a coincidence, but on the same day that Francis passed my wife and I were watching an old VHS tape of "Twilight Zone" episodes that included "Jess-Belle". You may remember that in that episode of the sci fi anthology Francis played the title character, a hillbilly girl who sold her soul to a back woods witch to win the heart of a young man who was betrothed to another.

Upon viewing the episode we both wondered if Francis was still with us and where she may be.? We also pulled out a copy of "Dimensions Behind the Twilight Zone", an excellent book by Stewart T. Stanyard (See Below), and read a interview with the actress about her role in "Jess-Belle" and also "The After Hours".

I had even pondered trying to contact the actress about a possible interview.

Imagine my shock today when I learned that Francis had passed? The news really hit me hard, then after thinking about it, I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

Could it have been possible that Francis had died at about the same time that my wife and I were watching her on television or reading about her?

The whole thing was just too eerie for me.

Being a huge fan of Anne Francis I felt compelled to compose this tribute, heck, maybe due to these strange coincidences I was destined to put this whole thing together?

Here is a bio of Anne Francis from Wikipedia:

Anne Lloyd Francis was born in Ossining, New York in 1930, the only child of Philip 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 (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. Her first leading role was in Blackboard Jungle (1955). She is perhaps best-known on film for her role as Altaira in the science fiction movie Forbidden Planet. "Anne Francis stars in Forbidden Planet" is a line in the song "Science Fiction/Double Feature" from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, large numbers of whose audience sing the line without ever having seen Forbidden Planet.

Francis found success in television, with several appearances on The Twilight Zone, including the title character in "Jess-Belle" and as Marsha White in "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 bowling alley waitress Terri Dowling who eventually married Laird Fergus McBain Douglas of Sithian Bridge, Scotland and returned to his homeland as royalty. (Fred MacMurray played the dual character roles of Steve Douglas and Fergus McBain Douglas in this four part story arc).

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.^[3] She made an appearance in Matlock, another popular detective series; and in The Golden Girls as Truvy McMann, Dorothy's friend from college. 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.

And here is some info on the series "Honey West":

Honey West is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC during the 1965-1966 television season. The series stars Anne Francis as female private detective Honey West.

The Honey West character was created by Gloria and Forrest E. "Skip" Fickling under the pseudonym "G.G. Fickling" in the late 1950s. West was one of the first female "private eyes" to ever appear on television. Francis first played West in the Second Season (Episode #2) of Burke's Law entitled "Who Killed the Jackpot?", broadcast on April 2, 1965, which led to this series being commissioned as a spin-off.

In the series, West had a partner and man-Friday "Sam" (John Ericson, who had played the Francis character's brother Pete in Bad Day at Black Rock), who usually stayed in the background or sat in their high-tech surveillance van talking to Honey via a radio hidden in her lipstick case. Her alluring feline qualities were reflected by her animal-print wardrobe and decor. She also kept an exotic pet ocelot named Bruce (in one episode, the African series Daktari was showing on Honey's TV set, and Honey said "Oh Bruce, why do we always have to watch your show?"). For sneaking around at night and engaging in energetic fight scenes, she wore a black fabric bodystocking reminiscent of Emma Peel's leather jumpsuit. Like Peel's Lotus Elan sports car, Honey's similar-looking AC Cobra convertible also emphasized her independence and vitality. Although the racy content of the novels was excised for television, West often went on solo undercover missions that required a provocative or revealing outfit. She also used a number of James Bond-type gimmicks: an exploding compact, a garter-belt gas mask, and tear-gas earrings. West was also a black-belt in Judo, as was her partner, Sam.

In her own words:

Earlier is this piece I talked about Anne's appearance in the classic episode of the "Twilight Zone" entitled "The After Hours" for which she later reminisced about in the book "Dimensions Behind the Twilight Zone" by Stewart T. Stanyard (See Below):

"I loved it. My first impression was what fun it was going to be to play that role. The humor in the beginning. The spaciness of each little step that took place, sort of just a little bit off-center until the horror begins for this young woman who has absolutely no memory at all of who she is or why she's on the ninth floor. The progression of that character was a lot of fun.

And then about the episode "Jess-Belle":

"(In) This one, we were able to indulge more in the different characters. Like Jeanette Nolan as the witch was wonderful, and she had her great scenes. And Jimmy (Best) as the innocent young man who is tormented really with these two women - the darkness of Jess-Belle and the spell of Jess-Belle, and the other woman, the sweet woman that really should be his love. But every time Jess-Belle was around, her spirit invaded him. There was more time to play with these emotions (referring to the fact that the episode was an hour long) and characters, and sit back and see how all of them were tormented in their own way. Except for the witch. I've told Earl (Hammer) I want to play the witch in his musical version. and he said 'No, I want you to do Jess-Belle.' But I think that it would be such fun to play the witch. With all the little potions, and wear the wonderful crazy nose and put warts on and the wild hair..."

This is from People.com:

Anne Francis, a sweet-voiced honey blonde who starred as a sexy Jane Bond-type detective on TV's Honey West in the mid-'60s and was a CinemaScope eyeful in the '50s sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet, died Sunday of complications of pancreatic cancer at a retirement home in Santa Barbara, Calif., the Los Angeles Times reports. She was 80.

With a distinctive beauty mark below her lower right lip, Francis, though never a top-ranking star, always had her devoted cult followers. Among her better-known movies were Bad Day at Black Rock, Blackboard Jungle, Don't Go Near the Water and Funny Girl, though in that last picture she claimed her best scenes ended up on the cutting-room floor. She played a Ziegfeld Girl gal pal of headliner Fanny Brice, played by Barbra Streisand.

In Forbidden Planet Francis was Altaira, the daughter of the space scientist played by Walter Pidgeon."I got that part because I was under contract to MGM and I had good legs," Francis later said. Her love interest in the movie was a handsome young Leslie Nielsen, who died in November.

A native of Ossining, N.Y., the former child actress went to Hollywood and signed contracts with the studios in the '40s, but her career finally took hold in the next decade thanks to live-TV productions. She is survived by two daughters and a grandson.