Francine York was a versatile and prolific actress who appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows, from comedy to drama, from sci-fi to westerns. She was best known for her roles as Lydia Limpet, the henchwoman of The Bookworm (Roddy McDowall) in the 1960s Batman series, and as Sabrina Kincaid, the leader of a team of female spies in The Doll Squad (1973). She also worked with Jerry Lewis in several of his films, such as The Nutty Professor (1963) and The Patsy (1964). She died on January 6, 2017, at the age of 80, after a long and courageous fight with cancer. Here is a look at her life, career, and legacy.
Early Life and Career
Francine York was born as Francine Yerich on August 26, 1936, in Aurora, Minnesota, a small mining town. She was the eldest of two daughters of Frank and Sophie Yerich, who were of Croatian descent. She developed a passion for acting and writing at a young age, and participated in school plays and declamation contests. She also won several beauty pageants, including Miss Eveleth and Miss Minnesota runner-up. She attended Hamline University on a drama scholarship, but dropped out after a year to pursue a modeling career. She moved to San Francisco, where she modeled for major department stores and took acting classes. She then relocated to Los Angeles, where she got her first film role in Secret File: Hollywood (1962), a low-budget movie about a tabloid magazine. She soon caught the attention of Jerry Lewis, who cast her as a sexy secretary in It’s Only Money (1962), and later gave her small parts in his other films. She also appeared in Bedtime Story (1964), opposite Marlon Brando and David Niven, and Tickle Me (1965), with Elvis Presley.
Television Fame
Francine York made a name for herself on television, where she guest-starred in numerous shows, often playing glamorous or villainous characters. She appeared in five different roles on Burke’s Law, a detective series known for featuring beautiful women. She also played a princess in Shirley Temple’s Storybook, a nurse in My Favorite Martian, a Venus de Milo statue in Bewitched, a bake-off contestant in The Odd Couple, and an ex-prostitute in Days of Our Lives. She had recurring roles as Amanda Agnew in It Takes a Thief, Wendy Wendkoski in Slattery’s People, and Kate Landis in The Courtship of Eddie’s Father. She also starred in several TV movies, such as The Doll Squad, in which she played a CIA agent who leads a group of female operatives to stop a madman from destroying the world. She later said that this role was her favorite, and that she did most of her own stunts. She also portrayed Marilyn Monroe in Marilyn: Alive and Behind Bars (1992), a controversial film that imagined the actress surviving her overdose and being imprisoned in a mental institution.
Later Years and Death
Francine York continued to act until 2015, when she appeared in her last role as a grandmother in The Mindy Project. She also wrote a memoir, titled My Life, My Way, which she planned to publish before her death. She never married, but had several high-profile relationships, including with Burt Reynolds, James Darren, and Rick Jason. She was also friends with many celebrities, such as Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra, and Dean Martin. She was diagnosed with stage four cancer in 2016, and underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments. She remained optimistic and grateful for her life and career, and thanked her fans for their support. She died on January 6, 2017, at Valley Presbyterian Hospital in Van Nuys, California, surrounded by her family and friends. She was cremated and her ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean. She is survived by her sister, Deanne, and her niece and nephew. She is remembered as a talented and beautiful actress, who brought joy and entertainment to millions of people. According to Variety, she was “one of the most alluring actresses of the 1960s”
