We regret to confirm the death of Golden Globe nominee Yvette Mimieux. Deadline reported she died Tuesday, January 18, 2022. She passed away in her sleep of natural causes, a mere ten days after her 80th birthday — we think. Most sources today cite her birthday has January 8, 1942, but the publically released date of her birth has changed over the years, with some saying it was 1937, so she could have been as old as 85 when she died.

Any actor whose career stretches over forty years with fifty different roles is bound to have appeared in a few science fiction or horror movies. Ms. Mimieux starred in one major Science Fiction film and a few minor ones.

Science Fiction

_image via Disney}

In the Oscar-winning The Time Machine(1960), she played Weena of the futuristic Eloi. The Time Machine, directed by George Pal, won an Academy Award for Best Special Effects.

In Disney’s The Black Hole, she played Dr. Kate McCrae, the scientist who was telepathically linked to the robot VINCent (Vital Information Necessary, Centralized). She was searching for her father, who had been an officer on the missing starship, Cygnus. The Black Hole is mostly remembered for being the first PG Disney film (and a dismal flop). Alan Dean Foster wrote the novelizatiion.

Ms. Mimieux starred as Dt. Leah Jansen in The Neptune Factor (1973), an undersea disaster movie.

Fantasy andHorror

Yvette Mimieux starred in the 1976 remake of Bell, Book, and Candle, playing the Kim Novak role from the 1958 original: witch Gillian Holroyd.

She played Betty Barry in Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978)

She was one of the twelve dancing princesses in The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1952)

She faced a brutal monster as ski lodge owner Ellen Seberg in Snowbeast (1977)

Other Roles

Yvette Mimieux circa 2020

Yvwtte Mimieux co-starred with William Shatner in Disaster on the Coastliner (1979). She played Melanie Tolman in the popilar but controversial Where the Boys Are (1960)

Ms. Mimieux earned her first Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Nrwcomer (Female) for Platinum High School (1960).

In 1961 she received for her second Golden Globe nomination, This time for Best TV Guest Star (female) for an appearance on Dr. Kildare.

Her third Golden Globe nomination was in 1971 for Best TV Actress – Drama for Vanessa Smith in The Most Deadly Game.

Her very first role was an uncredited bit part in A Certain Smile (1958). Her final role was Deena Swanson in the TV show Lady Boss in 1992.

She wrote Hit Lady and co-wrote and co-produced Obsessive Love. She said once: “I’d been acting since I was a teenager. I’d come to the point where I was writing my own movies of the week for TV. That was fun.”

Personal Data

Yvette Carmen Mimieux was born January 8, 1942 in Los Angeles, California. She celebrated her 80th birthday January 8, 2022. She died January 18, 2022, mere days after her birthday. She was married three times and divorced twice, but had no children. Her first husband was Evan Harland Engber; they were married in 1959. She married producer Stanley Donen in 1972; they divorced 1985. Her third husband was photographer Edward Ruby, whom she married in 1986. Our condolences to Mr. Ruby.

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Susan Macdonald
Susan Macdonald

Susan Macdonald is the author of the children’s book “R is for Renaissance Faire”, as well as 26 short stories, mostly fantasy in “Alternative Truths”, “Swords and Sorceress ”, Swords &Sorceries Vols. 1, 2, & 5, “Cat Tails” “Under Western Stars”, and “Knee-High Drummond and the Durango Kid”. Her articles have appeared on SCIFI.radio’s web site, in The Inquisitr, and in The Millington Star. She enjoys Renaissance Faires (see book above), science fiction conventions,  Highland Games, and Native American pow-wows.