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Francine York

Francine York
Francine York in Batman 1966
Born
Francine Yerich

(1936-08-26)August 26, 1936
Aurora, Minnesota, U.S.
DiedJanuary 6, 2017(2017-01-06) (aged 80)
Van Nuys, California, U.S.
OccupationActress
Years active1960–2017
Known forIt's Only Money
Batman

Francine York (born Francine Yerich; August 26, 1936 – January 6, 2017)[1] was an American actress and model. She also used her birth name Francine Yerick in her occupation.[2]

Early life

Francine Yerich was born to Frank and Sophie Yerich in the small mining town Aurora, Minnesota.[3] She attended Hamline University for a few terms on a drama scholarship.[4]

Career

Model

At age 17, she was runner-up in the Miss Minnesota contest.[3]

Nightclub performer

York soon got a job as a showgirl at Bimbo's nightclub in San Francisco. Bimbo's headliner, Mary Meade French, brought her to Hollywood and helped get her signed with an agent. York worked at Frank Sennes' Moulin Rouge, a popular Hollywood nightclub on Sunset Blvd., where she performed in three shows a night, seven nights a week, for six months. Tired of sharing a stage with elephants, pigeons, and horses, she began taking acting classes with actor/teacher Jeff Corey. A theatrical producer cast her in a play called Whisper in God's Ear at the Circle Theatre, and she was also cast in her first movie, Secret File: Hollywood, a film about the day-to-day operations of a sleazy Hollywood tabloid.[5][3]

Actress

Film

York's first screen role was in Robert Clarke's Hollywood exploitation film Secret File Hollywood shot in 1960 but not distributed until 1962. Her big break came when Jerry Lewis cast her in It's Only Money, in which she played a tantalizing sexpot, a role which brought her much publicity. This led to Lewis hiring her for five more of his films, including The Nutty Professor, The Patsy, The Disorderly Orderly, The Family Jewels, and Cracking Up, in which she portrayed a 15th-century marquise. Other film appearances include Bedtime Story, Tickle Me, Cannon for Cordoba, and science fiction cult films such as Curse of the Swamp Creature, Mutiny in Outer Space, and Space Probe Taurus.[citation needed] In The Doll Squad (1973), she played CIA agent Sabrina Kincaid. She portrayed Marilyn Monroe in Marilyn: Alive and Behind Bars, and in 2000, she played Nicolas Cage's mother-in-law in The Family Man.[5]

Television

Francine York from a guest appearance on It Takes a Thief (1968).

York portrayed Amanda Agnew on It Takes a Thief,[6] Wendy Wendkoski on Slattery's People,[7]: 980  and Kate Landis on The Courtship of Eddie's Father.[7] In 1964, she appeared as Nurse Norma in My Favorite Martian S1 E37 "Uncle Martins Wisdom Tooth". York played Lillie Langtry (with Peter Whitney as Judge Roy Bean) in the 1965 episode "A Picture of a Lady" of the syndicated television anthology series, Death Valley Days. York was featured in five episodes of Burke's Law between 1964 and 1965, and made two guest appearances on Perry Mason, including the role of Ursula Quigley in the 1965 episode "The Case of the Wrongful Writ" and as co-defendant Bobbi Dane in the 1966 episode "The Case of the Sausalito Sunrise".

She appeared as Noble Niolani, a military leader from a matriarchal society where males were subjugated, in Lost in Space Season 2, Episode 25 "The Colonists" (1966). She also appeared in the Green Acres segment “The Agricultural Student;” and in “Marry Me, Marry Me”, a 1966 episode of Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C..

On Batman she appeared as Lydia Limpit[4] in episodes 29 and 30 "The Bookworm Turns/While Gotham City Burns" (1966).[3][5] She continued to act in films and on television, with TV appearances including Hot in Cleveland (as British matriarch Lady Natalie), and The Mindy Project.[3]

She appeared on Bewitched as a statue of the goddess Venus which came to life and became Samantha and Darrin's maid in season 8 episode 5, "Bewitched, Bothered and Baldoni" (1971), which became infamous because of her skimpy costumes. She also appeared in an episode of Adam-12, "Reason to Run", Season 3 episode 25.

She appeared on Columbo in Season 5, episode 1, "Forgotten Lady", as Sgt. Leftkowitz in 1975.

She appeared as Queen Medusa during the second season of Jason of Star Command in 1979: in episode 3 "Web of the Star Witch", in episode 10 "Little Girl Lost", and in episode 11 "Mimi's Secret".[citation needed]

In March 1991, York made guest appearances on All My Children, One Life to Live, and Santa Barbara.

Other pursuits

York also worked as a fitness/nutrition expert and a gourmet cook.[3]

Personal life and death

York never married, and once joked that "Like Cinderella, I always wanted to marry the handsome prince...but they don't make glass slippers in size ten!"[8] However, she was the decade-long companion to director Vincent Sherman until his death in 2006.[8] She died on January 6, 2017, in Van Nuys, California from cancer, aged 80.[3] She had been working on her autobiography.[3]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
1961 The Right Approach Freer's Secretary Uncredited
1961 The Sergeant Was a Lady Tina Baird
1962 The Interns Verna Uncredited
1962 It's Only Money Sexy Girl
1962 Secret File: Hollywood Nan Torr
1963 The Nutty Professor College Student Uncredited
1963 A New Kind of Love Uncredited
1964 Bedtime Story Gina
1964 The Disorderly Orderly Nurse Uncredited
1965 Mutiny in Outer Space Capt. Stevens
1965 Tickle Me Mildred Uncredited
1965 The Family Jewels Air Hostess
1965 Space Probe Taurus Dr. Lisa Wayne
1966 Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. Alice Borden Marry Me, Marry Me S03E10
1967 The Ride to Hangman's Tree Connie Uncredited
1967 Lost In Space Noble Niolani The Colonists S02E25
1968 Green Acres Terry Harper
1970 Cannon for Cordoba Sophia
1971 The Odd Couple (1970 TV series) Sharon They Use Horse Radish, Don't They
1971 Welcome Home, Soldier Boys Lydia
1971 Bewitched Venus Bewitched, Bothered and Baldoni S08E05
1972 Mission Impossible Waitress Episode: Break
1973 The Doll Squad Sabrina Kincaid
1974 The Centerfold Girls Melissa (segment "The Second Story")
1975 Half a House Jessica
1978 Zero to Sixty Mrs. Finch
1983 Cracking Up Marie Du Bois
1987 The Underachievers June Patterson
1992 Marilyn Alive and Behind Bars Marilyn Monroe
1999 The Big Tease Elegant Woman
2000 The Family Man Lorraine
2003-2004 King of Queens Arthur Spooner's date - Evelyn “Animal Attraction” Penguins “Multiple Plots”
2005 Miracle at Sage Creek Mrs. Stanley
2005 Hercules in Hollywood Hera
2010 Astro Zombies: M3 - Cloned Sabrina
2017 Ten Violent Women: Part Two Gloria (final film role)

References

  1. ^ "Francine York". tcm.com. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 10 November 2024.
  2. ^ "TV Mailbag". Chicago Tribune. December 4, 1965. p. 62. Retrieved June 27, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnes, Mike (January 6, 2017). "Francine York, Alluring Actress of the 1960s, Dies at 80". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 6, 2017. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  4. ^ a b Freeman, Donald (February 18, 1968). "Actress Francine York In New ABC-TV Series". The Press Democrat. California, Santa Rosa. Copley News Service. p. 52. Retrieved June 27, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b c Sabatino, Joe (April 23, 2012). "Exclusive Interview with Veteran Actress Francine York". actorsreporter.com. Archived from the original on September 10, 2016. Retrieved January 6, 2017.
  6. ^ Lisanti, Tom; Paul, Louis (2002). Film Fatales: Women in Espionage Films and Television, 1962–1973. McFarland. p. 316. ISBN 978-0-7864-1194-8. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
  7. ^ a b Terrace, Vincent (2011). Encyclopedia of Television Shows, 1925 through 2010 (2nd ed.). Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. p. 214. ISBN 978-0-7864-6477-7.
  8. ^ a b Watters, Bill (January 7, 2017). "Silver Age Television Actress Francine York Of Batman, Lost In Space, And Perry Mason, Dies At 80". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
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