Anne Francis, 'Forbidden Planet' star, dies

LOS ANGELES - Anne Francis, who was the love interest in the 1950s science-fiction classic "Forbidden Planet" and later was a sexy private eye in "Honey West" on TV, has died at age 80.

Francis died Sunday in a Santa Barbara nursing home, said Bill Guntle of McDermott-Crockett & Associates Mortuary.

Francis died of complications of pancreatic cancer, her daughter, Jane Uemura, told the Los Angeles Times.

Francis, a blonde with a prominent beauty mark, appeared opposite such stars as Spencer Tracy, Paul Newman, Robert Taylor and Glenn Ford in some of the most popular films of the 1950s.

But "Forbidden Planet" and her female James Bond character in "Honey West," which aired from 1965 to 1966, made her reputation. - AP