Actress Anne Francis died 2 January 2011 of pancreatic cancer. Born Ann Lloyd Francis (the New York Times claims her birth name was Ann Marvak) on 16 September 1930 in Ossining, New York, she was nominated for an Emmy and won a Golden Globe for her starring role as the title character in Honey West (1965-66). She also won long-lasting fame in the sf field for portraying Altaira “Alta” Morbius, the scientist’s daughter, in Forbidden Planet (1956).
She started her career as a model, at the age of 5, and was appearing in radio serials when she was 11. She went on to small Broadway roles, and then hit the big screen in 1947, under contract with MGM, in an uncredited role in This Time for Keeps. She made several television appearances in the late 1940s, and then her movie career took off. It declined again in the late 1950s, and she took on more television work. She retired at the end of the 1990s, but made one appearance in Without a Trace in 2004.
Her genre roles include: Fantasy Island (1999), Conan (1997), Love Can Be Murder (1992), Return (1985), Mazes and Monsters (1982), three episodes of Fantasy Island (1978-81), The New Adventures of Wonder Woman (1976), Wide World Mystery (1973), The Invaders (1967), The Satan Bug (1965), two episodes of Twilight Zone (1960 and 1963), The Rocket Man (1954), Lights Out (1950), and Portrait of Jennie (1948).
She was married briefly in the 1950s and again in the 1960s; both marriages ended in divorce. She is survived by two daughters and one grandchild.