Anne Francis Dies at 80

Lovely actress Anne Francis has passed away at the age of 80.

Francis passed on Sunday, just a few weeks after her FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956) costar, Leslie Nielsen. She's pictured here with another FORBIDDEN PLANET costar, the late Jack Kelly.

Francis had battled cancer for the past few years and put up a note at her official website a while back saying that health issues were preventing her from answering fan mail.

In addition to FORBIDDEN PLANET, Francis's credits included DREAMBOAT (1952), SUSAN SLEPT HERE (1954), ROGUE COP (1954), BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (1955), BATTLE CRY (1955), BLACKBOARD JUNGLE (1955), and THE CROWDED SKY (1960).

Beginning in the late 1950s she shifted to doing a great deal of television work, including starring in the TV series HONEY WEST (1965), but she continued to appear in films occasionally, including FUNNY GIRL (1968). Her last acting role was a 2004 episode of the series WITHOUT A TRACE.

A tribute at 50 Westerns From the 50s includes a link to an interview with Francis.

I also recommend Issue #55 (Winter 2008-09) of Films of the Golden Age, which had a really terrific article on Francis by Laura Wagner.

January 4th Update: I was delighted to learn that Laura Wagner will have a full-length biography of Anne Francis published by McFarland later this year. It's titled ANNE FRANCIS: THE LIFE AND CAREER. Amazon indicates the publication date is May 31, 2011.

Update: Here are reviews of additional Anne Francis films: THE PIRATE (1948) (bit role), PORTRAIT OF JENNIE (1948), SO YOUNG SO BAD (1950), THE WHISTLE AT EATON FALLS (1951), ELOPEMENT (1951), A LION IS IN THE STREETS (1953), BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK (1955) (also here), BATTLE CRY (1955), THE SCARLET COAT (1955), THE HIRED GUN (1957).