Anne Francis

Smoldering sex symbol Anne Francis is most remembered for her role in the sci-fi movie "Forbidden Planet" and her title part in the detective show "Honey West." Born in Ossining, New York, Francis began work as a model as a young girl and made her Broadway debut at just 11 years old. She starting appearing as beautiful blondes in motion pictures in the late '40s, an archetype that continued into the mid-'50s when she starred opposite Spencer Tracy in the thriller "Bad Day at Black Rock" as the only kind soul in an inhospitable town. Francis took the lead in the '55 juvenile delinquent classic "Blackboard Jungle" before journeying to the future with Leslie Nielsen's hero in "Forbidden Planet," playing one of the alien world's few surviving inhabitants. In the '60s, Francis began to act extensively on the small screen, and took the starring role in "Honey West"; she played a comely private eye who solves her cases with the help of hi-tech gadgets, sex appeal, and her pet ocelot, Bruce. Although she rarely appeared in feature films during subsequent decades, Francis maintained an active career on television well into her 70s; she died in 2011 at age 80.