Anne Francis Passes Away at 80

Actress Anne Francis, who starred in such big-screen adventures as Forbidden Planet and small-screen shows as Honey West, passed away at 80 years of age.

Francis passed on Sunday due to complications from pancreatic cancer in her Santa Barbara nursing home. She was first diagnosed with lung cancer in 2007 and had undergone both surgery and chemotherapy.

Although she appeared in more than 30 movies, Anne achieved cult fame with her role as Commander J.J. Adams in the 1956 sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet, where she starred alongside Walter Pidgeon and Leslie Nielsen.

She also broke new ground in television with her 1965 series Honey West, where she played the first female detective in a weekly series. Francis won a Golden Globe and scored an Emmy nomination for the show, which was canceled in 1966 after just 30 episodes. Despite the show's short life on the air, it was highly influential to women across the world.