Yvette Vickers, remembered fondly as a “bad girl” of horror and sci-fi movies, was discovered by a neighbor in her home, deceased for some time.She would have been 82.
The 5’3” actress and model made her film debut in SUNSET BLVD. (1950), in a small role, playing a giggling blond girl tying up the phone at a party. In the years to come she would often play “party-girls” and gun molls, appearing both in films and on televsison in shows such as MIKE HAMMER (1958) and DRAGNET.
To genre fans she’s probably best known as Honey Parker in ATTACK OF THE 50 FOOT WOMAN (1958), wherein she makes the mistake of dating the husband of the title character.
In 1959, she appeared as the backwoods cheating wife Liz Walker in ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES, investing the potentially unlikeable, sleazy character with a palpable loneliness and vulnerabilty suggested by Leo Gordon’s script.
These low-budget films exposed her to a certain amout of risk and discomfort, she related that she was nearly impaled by the nails imbedded in a prop beam that went right past her head in 50 Ft. WOMAN.
Other genere-related roles would include ONE STEP BEYOND, playing a WAC in the comic strip adaptation THE SAD SACK (starring Jerry Lewis), the role of the Dark Witch in the teleplay DARK OF THE MOON, WHAT’S THE MATTER WITH HELEN (1971), TV movie THE DEAD DON’T DIE (1972), and EVIL SPIRITS (1990).
Yvette Vickers was also Playboy’s Playmate of the Month in July, 1959.
L.A police believe that Vickers, who had become somewhat reclusive in recent years, could have been dead for nearly a year before her neighbor acted on her suspicions and entered the home.