Yvette Vickers at Brian's Drive-In Theater

biography

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, on August 26, 1928, Yvette Vickers' parents were jazz musicians. Vickers, who grew up in Los Angeles, majored in journalism at UCLA. She got her first break in an uncredited role in Billy Wilder's Sunset Blvd. (1950; with Gloria Swanson and William Holden). Following some stage experience and an early first marriage to musician Don Prell, Vickers made her way to New York to become TV's White Rain Girl but later returned to California to break into films. Vickers' earliest featured role was in the feature Short Cut to Hell (1957; with Robert Ivers), directed by James Cagney. This remake of the 1942 film This Gun for Hire (with Veronica Lake and Alan Ladd) was Cagney's only directorial effort.

LEFT: Early 1960s glamour photo. CENTER Press release photo from 1964 (thanks to Michael Barnum). RIGHT: Studio photos

She followed with a part in the campy crime drama Reform School Girl (1957; with Edd Byrnes) and snagged a plum role in Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman (1958; with Allison Hayes and William Hudson). Vickers plays a B-girl who pays for the good times she has had with William Hudson at the hand of the recently enlarged Allison Hayes. Another cult classic film role came for Vickers in Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959; with Ken Clark), which was a 62-minute Roger Corman horror quickie, shot in the Florida Everglades on a minimal budget. Much like her role in Attack of the 50 Ft. Woman, here Vickers is punished for her philandering ways by the giant leeches. In addition to films, Vickers made a number of appearances on popular TV shows of the era, including Bat Masterson, Dragnet, and The Rebel. And pin-up fans will note that Vickers was Playboy Playmate of the Month in July 1959, and she often appeared in other men's magazines of the era, including Adam.

the films of yvette vickers

Short Cut to Hell (1957)

Vickers is in trouble in this scene from Paramount's film noir thriller Short Cut to Hell (thanks to Michael Barnum)

Juvenile Jungle (1958)

From the low-budget Republic crime drama Juvenile Jungle

The Saga of Hemp Brown (1958)

With Rory Calhoun in the Universal-International crime drama The Saga of Hemp Brown

Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958)

As Honey Parker, good-time girl Vickers dates married man Harry Archer (William Hudson) but is killed by 50 foot woman Allison Hayes in the Allied Artists horror flick Attack of the 50 Foot Woman

Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959)

Bruno Ve Sota, Michael Emmett, and Yvette Vickers

Bruno Ve Sota catches trophy wife Yvette Vickers with Michael Emmett in American International's horror flick Attack of the Giant Leeches

Hud (1963)

Paul Newman, Yvette Vickers, and Brandon De Wilde

With Paul Newman and Brandon De Wilde in the Paramount drama Hud

later years

Vickers and Allison Hayes shared the same agent, Jack Pomeroy. Unfortunately, Vickers' film career came to a halt in 1959, following her brief marriage to her second husband. She left California for New York to appear on Broadway in the play The Gang's All Here, which ran from October 1959 to January 1960. Following her second divorce, by the time she returned to California to resume her film career in 1961, her career momentum was gone and roles were scarce. If you look fast, you can see her in Pressure Point (1962; with Bobby Darin), and watch for her as a yoga girl in Beach Party (1963; with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello). Vickers earned a promising role in Hud (1963; with Paul Newman and Patricia Neal), but most of her scenes wound up on the cutting room floor. With no more film roles on the horizon, Vickers retreated to the stage, getting good notices but no career boost. Several years later, she took a role in the horror vehicle What's the Matter with Helen? (1971; with Shelley Winters and Debbie Reynolds) in a fun role as a pushy stage mother. A few more films and TV appearances followed, but by the mid 1970s, she embarked upon a real estate career at which she proved successful. After another brief marriage in the late 1960s, she and actor Jim Hutton shared a romance that lasted until his 1978 death. Her last film was the low-budget horror flick Evil Spirits (1990; with Anthony Eisley and Virginia Mayo). Sadly, Yvette Vickers was found dead of cardiovascular disease in her Beverly Hills home on April 27, 2011. Authorities speculate that Vickers had likely died in August 2010, about eight months before her body was discovered. She was survived by a brother.

filmography

FILM
Evil Spirits (1990) with Martine Beswick, Karen Black, Virginia Mayo, and Anthony Eisley
The Dead Don't Die (1975) with Ray Milland, Ralph Meeker, and George Hamilton
What's the Matter with Helen? (1971) with Shelley Winters, Debbie Reynolds, Dennis Weaver, Agnes Moorehead, and Pamelyn Ferdin
Hud (1963) with Paul Newman, Patricia Neal, and John Ashley
Beach Party (1963) with Robert Cummings, Dorothy Malone, Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello, Jody McCrea, and John Ashley
Pressure Point (1962) with Sidney Poitier and Bobby Darin
Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959) with Ken Clark and Bruno Ve Sota
The Saga of Hemp Brown (1958) with Beverly Garland, Rory Calhoun, and Russell Johnson
Attack of the 50 Foot Woman (1958) with Allison Hayes and William Hudson
I, Mobster (1958) with Steve Cochran
Juvenile Jungle (1958) with Corey Allen
Reform School Girl (1957) with Edd Byrnes and Luana Anders
The Sad Sack (1957) with Jerry Lewis, David Wayne, Phyllis Kirk, Peter Lorre, and George Dolenz
Short Cut to Hell (1957) directed by James Cagney

TELEVISION GUEST APPEARANCES
Switch, episode Ain't Nobody Here Named Barney, originally aired January 13, 1976
Emergency!, episode Parade, originally aired December 21, 1974
My Three Sons, episode My Four Women, originally aired November 28, 1970
Tales of Wells Fargo, episode Return to Yesterday, originally aired January 13, 1962
The Bob Cummings Show, episode Always on Tuesday, originally aired November 16, 1961
The Asphalt Jungle, episode The Kidnapping, originally aired June 11, 1961
The Rebel, episode Decision at Sweetwater, originally aired April 23, 1961
The Rebel, episode Shriek of Silence, originally aired March 19, 1961
The Barbara Stanwyck Show, episode Out of the Shadows, originally aired December 19, 1960
Alcoa Presents, episode The Aerialist, originally aired April 28, 1959
Dragnet, episode The Big Picture, originally aired April 21, 1959
Bat Masterson, episode Double Trouble in Trinidad, originally aired January 7, 1959
M Squad, episode The Phantom Raiders, originally aired November 7, 1958
The Rough Riders, episode The Imposters, originally aired October 30, 1958
Mike Hammer, episode Scar and Garter, originally aired October 12, 1958
Dragnet, episode The Big Tomato Cans, originally aired October 31, 1957
I Led 3 Lives, episode Campus Story, originally aired 1953

yvette vickers links

Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen: Yvette Vickers
Visit this site for photos and a bulleted, well-researched listing of significant events in the life and career of Yvette Vickers.

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Watch the trailer for Yvette Vickers' 1958 horror film Attack of the 50 Foot Woman

yvette vickers television appearances

Watch Yvette Vickers in an April 1959 episode of the ABC TV series One Step Beyond titled The Aerialist

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Watch Yvette Vickers' 1959 horror film Attack of the Giant Leeches

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This page premiered December 3, 1999.
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Yvette Vickers

(1928-2010)