Vale Ann Francis

Earlier this year Ann Francis lost her battle with cancer. She was 80 years old and had not been in front of cameras for a while, but I had been watching her on almost a daily basis for some weeks around the time of her death. In February I worked my way through her TV series Honey West, a result of reading the comic series which caused me to purchase the 60's B& W TV series. After the death of her father, sexy Honey West took over his high-tech private detective firm. TVs first ever female Private Eye, Honey West would take on any tough case. She could handle herself mingling with millionaires just as well as scaling a thirty foot wall. Along with rugged Sam Bolt and her pet ocelot Bruce, Honey West was sure to solve the case. 


Francis played the karate-kicking detective, boss of her own small agency, appearing in jump suits similar to Diana Rigg's choice of apparel.

I had always enjoyed her in Forbidden Planet, one of the most memorable adaptations of The Tempest I'd seen. The Honey West series has its moments over the 30 episodes. Her interactions with her sidekick Sam and her pet ocelot Bruce made the series a hit for a while and Francis was almost an identical twin for Honor Blackman. Sets tended to be reused and some of the plots also develop a sameness towards the end of the second season, but Francis's on screen charm and presence carries it off.

“A lot of people speak to me about Honey West,” Francis recalled. “The character made young women think there was more they could reach for. It encouraged a lot of people,” she added.

An interesting mix of early feminism, Bond-type gadgetry with a strong female character that uses her sexuality to solve the cases, Francis/West is atypical in interesting ways, but I don't know that I can really recommend it - there were good reasons it was cancelled during the second season.

Burn brightly, Pete