Anne Francis (9/16/1930 – 1/2/2011)

The American Mrs Peel!

Ironically, I had just watched Forbidden Planet on TCM last night (for the umpteeth time), and was discussing who, of the main cast, was still alive! (Leslie Nielsen [Commander J.J. Adams] had passed away in November.)
Plus, one of my projects for this year was expanding the Fantastic Femmes entries to include more past performers including Anne, Raquel Welch, Diana Rigg, etc.
Then this morning, I read about Anne's passing due to complications from cancer...

Her roles as Altaira "Alta" Morbius and Honey West alone would assure her a place as a Fantastic Femme.

The obligatory Forbidden Planet pic

She was also one of the few non-regulars to play the same character in several episodes of Man from U.N.C.L.E.!

Plus, she guest-starred on numerous genre shows from Burke's Law (where Honey West debuted) to Wonder Woman!

Besides being ravishingly-beautiful she had a great acting range, doing everything from comedies to westerns to film noir! We've included several of the harder-to-find ones below...

Her favorite performance was in the psychological thriller Girl of the Night, one of the few films she got top billing. (It's unavailable on Amazon, but you can get it directly from Warner Archives!)

Leslie Nielsen (2/11/26 – 11/28/10)

In Forbidden Planet, he was the prototype of starship captains for generations to come...

In Creepshow, he was a jealous husband with a video obsession who received his comeuppance in true EC Comics fashion...

In the final episode* of The Man from U.N.C.L.E., he was the last man to try (and fail) to kill Napoleon Solo...

And, as the Swamp Fox, he was Disney's attempt at another franchise based on a real-life American hero like Davy Crockett!
(DYK: Nielsen sang the show's theme song!)

You remember him from Airplane! and The Naked Gun series.

But this is how I remember Leslie Nielsen.

*The final 2-part episode of U.N.C.L.E., "The Seven Wonders of the World Affair". was released theatrically as How to Steal the World.