Farewell Anne Francis

She was known to most of us as “Altaira” in Forbidden Planet and as TV’s Honey West in the groundbreaking 1960’s series. The beautiful and wonderfully talented Anne Francis passed away today at the age of 80 due to complications from pancreatic cancer.




She will be missed. Especially by people of my generation who grew up with her during the 1950’s and 60’s. Anne was the first crush for many a young boy or as Steven Spielberg once said in an interview about Forbidden Planet, “I wanted her to be my babysitter”. She just had that sort of way about her. Beautiful but in no way distant or off putting. I had the good fortune to correspond with Ms. Francis a few times in the last couple of years and that was her in real life too. A truly lovely person.



Artists though, have a strange sort of immortality. They leave a piece of themselves behind in their body of work. She entertained and touched generations of fans. And she will find new fans who get to see her work for the first time. I envy them the discovery of this special person.



Anne left the world a bit richer than when she got here. That’s a fine legacy for anyone.



Mitch