Remembering Anne Francis

Actress Anne Francis who starred in the classic movie, “Forbidden Planet” has passed away at the age of 80.

Francis passed away Sunday in California, according to the Associated Press.

Francis was best known for her work in “Planet” and in the 60s television series “Honey West” where she played the title role of female private detective with a pet ocelot.

A shapely and pretty blonde with a signature beauty mark next to her lower lip, Ms. Francis was a former child model and radio actress when she first got attention in big-screen roles in the early 1950s.

She had leading or supporting parts in more than 30 movies, including “Bad Day at Black Rock,” “Battle Cry,” “Blackboard Jungle,” “The Hired Gun,” “Don’t Go Near the Water,” “Brainstorm,” “Funny Girl” and “Hook, Line and Sinker.”

She found a devoted following as one of the stars of “Forbidden Planet,” the 1956 MGM movie co-starring Walter Pidgeon and Leslie Nielsen and featuring a robot named Robby.

“I got that part because I was under contract to MGM and I had good legs,” Ms. Francis, who wore futuristically abbreviated costumes, said in a 1992 interview for Starlog magazine.

She was a frequent guest star on television in scores of series from the late ’50s and decades beyond, including an episode of “The Twilight Zone,” in which she played a department store mannequin who comes to life at night.

On television, she may be best remembered as the star of “Honey West,” one of the first female detectives to be featured in a weekly TV series.