Welcome to East Village Afternoon... enjoy your pop.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Anne Francis 1930 - 2011

.
.Right on the heels of the news of the death of actor Pete Postlethwaite today comes the news of the passing of actress Anne Francis at age 80 of pancreatic cancer.
.
.
.
..Anne Francis was a stunningly beautiful blonde, most famous for her roles in the 1956 cult sci-fi classic, "Forbidden Planet", and for playing Honey West in the self-titled detective series in 1965-66. "Honey West" is credited as being the first female t.v. detective; the James Bond-influenced character won Francis a Golden Globe and an Emmy nomination in 1966.
.

(anne francis with barbra streisand in "funny girl")
.Many others will remember Francis for playing Barbra Streisand's friend, Georgia James, in the 1968 movie, "Funny Girl". Over the years, many myths sprang up concerning Francis's role in the movie. Evidently, the part of Georgia James in the original script was much larger, and more pivotal to the story. Francis stated that she took the role because of its heft and its potential to possibly win her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. But most of her scenes ended up on the cutting room floor, and the rumors flew that Francis and director William Wyler didn't get along, while other rumors blamed Streisand for demanding that Francis be cut out of the film. Whatever the truth is, when watching the movie today, it does seem pointless that the Georgia James should have been larger; the movie simply wasn't about Georgia James. The movie was about Fanny Brice, and James was there only to support Brice's story. Many years later, Anne Francis wrote Barbra Streisand a letter in which she explained that she never blamed Streisand for her role being whittled down in the movie.
.
Francis's career span as an actress was a staggering 68 years. She started working on Broadway at age 6, made her first movie in 1947 and never stopped working in t.v. and movies until her final appearance on the t.v. show, "Without A Trace", in 2004. It's almost impossible to watch old t.v. shows or movies without seeing her pop up somewhere. Fans of "The Golden Girls" will remember her as Trudy, Dorothy's tennis-playing best friend from a 1989 episode, and just last night, we watched Francis in a famous "Twilight Zone" episode from 1960 in which she played Marsha White, a department store mannequin come to life.
.
.
.
(the original face of Barbie and the very similar face of Anne Francis)
.Another rumor that has followed Anne Francis for most of her life is that she was the model for the original face of the Barbie Doll, which launched in 1959, and which bears a striking resemblance to Francis's face at the time. But to our knowledge, the creators of the Barbie Doll have never stated that their famous toy was modeled after Francis.
.
.
.The deaths of Anne Francis and Pete Postlethwaite have us a little spooked today. We woke up this morning with the intention of writing about Postlethwaite for his role in the movie "The Town", and boom, he's dead. And just last night, we watched Anne Francis on t.v. and boom, she's gone. Which makes us wonder, if we think very hard about someone else today, will they also disappear from our sight forever? Do you think? Sarah Palin... Sarah Palin... Sarah Palin...

No comments:

LinkWithin