ANNE FRANCIS BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Anne Francis was born on September 16th, 1930 in Ossining, New York with the birth name Anne Lloyd Francis to parents Phillip and Edith Francis.  Anne was an only child and was interested in modeling and performing from a very young age.
 
Her parents got her involved with an agency called, John Robert Powers and by age six she was getting some modeling work through them.  From this point she was able to get a little work on a children's radio show called, "Let's Pretend" and "Coast-to-Coast on a Bus" which then lead to a couple parts on various radio soap operas.  She then made her stage debut at the age of eleven on Broadway in, "Lady in the Dark" (1941). 
 
While gaining experience working as a stage actress, Francis also attended New York's Professional Children's School.  She caught the eye of MGM after World War II and they signed her to a contract.  However, she was highly disappointed with the quality of films she was being cast on under her contract with MGM so she soon decided to leave California and go back to new York to pursue her stage career.
 
Francis found some summer stock work and also worked on Televisions Golden Age drama.  For this she again began to catch the attention of other studios in Hollywood who promised her better quality work if she were to return.
 
Francis agreed to come back to the film industry working under a new contract with 20th Century Fox Studio's.   Some of her higher quality work were in such films as, "Elopement" (1951), "Lydia Bailey" (1952) and "Dreamboat" (1952).  Even though these films were better then her last, she was still not getting the attention and reaching the level of stardom that she knew she was capable of.  

MGM returned to Francis borrowing her for a couple films they felt would help her reach a great success in her career.  Some of these films were, "Bay Day at Black Rock" (1955), "Blackboard Jungle" (1955) and "Forbidden Planet" (1956).  Although, these films were slightly more successful and her roles were a little more significant then others she had received, she was not really being cast on her acting talents, but more for her beauty and sexual appeal.  

Anne Francis felt that she might have more success returning to television and possibly stage work.  She starred in the, "Twilight Zone' (1959) episodes and also worked in a series called, "Honey West" (1965) which even though was not a long lasting series, the role did earn Francis a Golden Globe and Emmy nomination playing a sexy female detective. 
 
On the odd occasion, Francis would return to make a screen film appearance such as in, "Funny Girl" (1968) but for the most part,  she enjoyed working on television and so she stuck to where she felt she was most successful. Some of her later television appearances included, "The Intruders" (1970), "Haunts of the Very Rich" (1972) and "A Masterpiece of Murder" (1986).  Her most recent television appearance was in 2004 on an episode of, "Without a Trace".
 
Anne Francis never 100% retired from her career, as she would make occasional appearances, however as she began to age, her health began to decline being diagnosed with lung cancer in 2007 and undergoing surgery in 2008 to have part of her right lung removed.  Sadly on January 2nd, 2011, Francis passed away in Santa Barbara, California from pancreatic cancer.  
 
She had married twice and had one child biologically, Jane Elizabeth Abeloff.  Her first marriage was to Bamlet Lawrence Price jr. from 1952 through 1955.  Her second marriage was to Dr. Robert Abeloff from 1960 through 1964. Anne Francis never married again after her second divorce, however in 1970 she did adopt a second child, daughter, Margaret Francis West.      
 
Anne Francis was also a very spiritual person.  She was very involved with the metaphysical church and even wrote a book in 1982 titled, "Voices From Home: An Inner Journey".  She was also a very involved in charitable causes with organizations such as, "Direct Relief", "Angel View" and "Dessert AIDS Project".
 
She is survived by her two daughters and one grandson.  Even though Anne Francis never reached a level of major stardom, she did have a successful career and will always be remembered as a beautiful and generous kind woman.

 
Filmography

2004 Without a Trace 
1999 Fantasy Island 
1998 The Drew Carey Show 
1998 Nash Bridges 
1997 Conan 
1997 Home Improvement
1996 Lover's Knot 
1996 Wings 
1996 Have You Seen My Son
1994 Fortune Hunter 
1994 Burke's Law 
1993 Dark Justice 
1992 Love Can Be Murder
1992 The Double 0 Kid
1990 Little Vegas 
1984-1990 Murder, She Wrote 
1989 The Golden Girls 
1989 Matlock 
1988 My First Love
1987 Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story 
1987 Laguna Heat 
1987 Jake and the Fatman
1986 True Confessions
1986 A Masterpiece of Murder
1985 Return 
1985 Finder of Lost Loves 
1985 Hardcastle and McCormick 
1985 Crazy Like a Fox 
1984 Partners in Crime  
1984 The Love Boat
1984 The Murder of Sherlock Holmes
1984 Riptide 
1980-1983 Trapper John, M.D. 
1983 Simon & Simon
1983 Charley's Aunt
1982 Mazes and Monsters
1982 CHiPs 
1978-1981 Fantasy Island 
1981 Dallas
1978-1980 Charlie's Angels
1980 The Littlest Hobo 
1980 Detour to Terror
1980 O'Malley
1979 Beggarman, Thief 
1979 The Rebels
1979 Quincy M.E.
1978 Greatest Heroes of the Bible 
1978 Born Again 
1978 Vega$ 
1978 The Eddie Capra Mysteries
1978 Flying High
1978 Little Mo
1978 The Young Runaways
1965-1978 Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color 
1978 Hawaii Five-O
1976-1978 Police Woman 
1978 What Really Happened to the Class of '65? 
1977 Black Sheep Squadron
1976 The New Adventures of Wonder Woman 
1976 Bert D'Angelo/Superstar 
1976 Banjo Hackett: Roamin' Free
1976 Survival 
1975 Mobile One
1975 S.W.A.T. 
1975 Petrocelli 
1973-1975 Barnaby Jones 
1975 Ellery Queen
1975 A Girl Named Sooner
1975 Movin' On
1975 Archer 
1975 The Last Survivors
1974 The F.B.I. Story: The FBI Versus Alvin Karpis, Public Enemy Number One
1974 Kung Fu 
1972-1974 Ironside 
1974 Cry Panic
1974 Banacek 
1970-1973 The F.B.I. 
1973 Cannon 
1970-1973 Insight 
1973 Wide World Mystery 
1972-1973 Columbo 
1973 Search 
1972 Assignment Vienna
1972 Vendetta 
1972 Gunsmoke
1972 Haunts of the Very Rich
1972 Fireball Forward
1971 Mongo's Back in Town
1971 My Three Sons 
1971 The Forgotten Man
1970 The Intruders 
1970 Love, American Style 
1964-1970 The Virginian
1970 Wild Women
1970 Dan August 
1968-1970 The Name of the Game 
1969 Mission: Impossible
1969 The Love God? 
1969 I Impasse 
1969 Hook, Line and Sinker 
1969 More Dead Than Alive 
1969 Lost Flight
1968 Funny Girl 
1967 The Invaders
1967 The Fugitive 
1965-1966 Honey West 
1965 Brainstorm
1963-1965 Burke's Law
1965 The Satan Bug 
1963-1965 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour 
1964 The Man from U.N.C.L.E.
1964 The Reporter 
1964 Valentine's Day 
1963-1964 Ben Casey 
1964 Death Valley Days
1964 Temple Houston 
1963 Kraft Suspense Theatre 
1963 Arrest and Trial 
1963 The Eleventh Hour
1960-1963 Twilight Zone 
1963 Alcoa Premiere 
1962 Going My Way
1961 The New Breed 
1960-1961 Alfred Hitchcock Presents  
1961 Dr. Kildare 
1961 Route 66
1961 Hong Kong
1960 The United States Steel Hour
1960 Girl of the Night
1960 The Crowded Sky 
1960 The Untouchables
1960 Sunday Showcase
1960 Startime
1959 Adventures in Paradise
1959 Rawhide 
1959 The David Niven Show 
1959 The Ten Commandments 
1958 Climax!
1949-1958 Studio One in Hollywood 
1957 Don't Go Near the Water 
1957 The Hired Gun
1956 The Great American Pastime 
1956 The Rack 
1956 Forbidden Planet 
1955 The Scarlet Coat 
1955 Blackboard Jungle 
1955 Battle Cry 
1955 Bad Day at Black Rock  
1954 Rogue Cop 
1954 Susan Slept Here 
1954 Lux Video Theatre
1954 The Ford Television Theatre  
1954 The Rocket Man 
1953 A Lion Is in the Streets
1952 Dreamboat 
1952 Lydia Bailey 
1951 Elopement 
1951 The Whistle at Eaton Falls 
1949-1950 Kraft Theatre
1950 So Young So Bad 
1950 Lights Out
1950 Believe It or Not 
1949-1950 Versatile Varieties
1949 Suspense 
1948 Portrait of Jennie 
1948 Summer Holiday 
1947 This Time for Keeps