Fond Farewell: A View of Mimieux

Yvette Mimieux is something of a peculiarity here at Poseidon's Underworld. At no time have I ever been aching to see a movie or TV show simply because she is featured in it, yet - as I have discovered over the years here - she figures into many projects that I happen to hold dear! It's not such a big surprise that she had not stood out as an obsession of mine when you know that I am fixated on extremely vivid performers like Joan Crawford and Faye Dunaway...! Mimieux was far more demure and serene than they. But she had a soothing, pretty, sunny presence and appeared in quite a few memorable movies, alongside some top people. When she passed away a couple of days ago, it was something of a shock as, by today's standards, 80 is not that terribly old. And she had been in generally good health. Let's take a look now at some of the highlights of her life and career.

Born January 8th, 1942 in Hollywood, it's probably one of the least well-known aspect of Miss Mimieux that she was half-Mexican. Her mother was Mexican and her father French. Their slender, angular daughter began to act in local plays and was soon spotted by Vincente Minnelli, who cast her in a small role in his latest movie Home from the Hill (1960.) Her part was ultimately trimmed from the release print, but it earned her an MGM contract nonetheless.

Many folks think of cult favorite The Time Machine (1960) as her first movie, though she had actually worked on the aforementioned Hill and had also toiled briefly (uncredited) in A Certain Smile (1959) for 20th Century Fox (and popped up on TV a couple of times as well.) Her real film debut came in the comparatively obscure...

 

Platinum High School (1960.) Mimieux was not the leading lady in this, but she was featured enough to warrant a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Newcomer. it did seem to set a pattern for her, though, of portraying women who were victimized. Many, many times in the coming years, she would find herself being pawed and mauled (or worse) in the movies. Incidentally, the other stars of this film included Mickey Rooney, Terry Moore, Dan Duryea and Conway Twitty! Quite a conglomeration.

In any case, for the year 1960 (and long beyond) it would be The Time Machine which secured her place in the world of science fiction and would remain one of the films seen over and over again by new generations. Still, not even that was all. 1960 was a memorable year for her!

This was also the year of Where the Boys Are, a summer & sand saga with a whopper of a hit theme song and a concept that brought about many imitators (not to mention a horrid remake in 1984.) Here she found herself looking for love from hunks like Rory Harrity, but finding danger instead.

After talk of costarring Mimieux with George Hamilton (a costar of Where the Boys Are) in a remake of The Clock (1945), which didn't come to fruition, the two were teamed in 1962's Light in the Piazza. She played the daughter of Olivia de Havilland, vacationing in Italy, who'd been injured as a child and hasn't progressed much mentally beyond that. Nevertheless, Hamilton is charmed by her innocent naivete and pursues a romantic relationship with her.

Another of her 1962 movies was Diamond Head, as the troubled younger sister of Charlton Heston. This same year she worked with Glenn Ford in the expensive, but unsuccessful, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Her other 1962 film was the Cinerama extravaganza The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm, in which she played The Dancing Princess in one of a few different vignettes.

1963 brought Toys in the Attic. In this production she played the young bride of Dean Martin and rubbed acting elbows with Gene Tierney, Wendy Hiller and Geraldine Page.

She and Richard Chamberlain were paired in the colorful, gentle period romance Joy in the Morning (1965) as young marrieds finding their way. She had guest-starred on his hit show Dr. Kildare the year prior in a two-parter as a surfer with epilepsy. This was before the guest role category, but she did get a TV actress Golden Globe nomination for the part (losing to Mary Tyler Moore for The Dick Van Dyke Show.) Trivia note: With that she became the first actress on television to display her navel!

The Reward (1965) had her playing alongside Max Von Sydow, Efrem Zimbalist Jr and, as shown here, Gilbert Roland. It was one of many occasions in which she was "the girl" among several male stars in a adventure of some sort. 

As the mid-'60s dawned, Mimieux remained a viable leading lady, but the prestige of her roles began to fall off slightly. She found herself in The Caper of the Golden Bulls (1967) opposite Stephen Boyd. It was one of many movies to show off her fit and trim figure in a bikini. She also worked with Dean Jones in the Disney flick Monkeys Go Home! (1967), which, while filmed in the U.S. afforded her the chance to play French.

In 1968 she did a movie for low-budget AIP, a real dip from her MGM days, called Three in the Attic, but it was a big hit - AIP's highest-grossing film of the decade. Christopher Jones, a briefly-hot star in the James Dean mold was the star. 

That same year she was reunited with her Time Machine costar Rod Taylor in one of my all-time favorite films of hers, Dark of the Sun.You can read more about it here.

She was paired with no less than Albert Finney in the scenic romance The Picasso Summer (1969), which had the couple attempting to locate the elusive artist. 

After such negligible fare as The Delta Factor (1970), Mimieux turned to TV and was featured in the series The Most Deadly Game. She replaced Inger Stevens, who'd done the pilot, but sadly committed suicide prior to the show's filming schedule. This earned her a third Golden Globe nomination, but the award went to Peggy Lipton for The Mod Squad.

Her next two movies make her an honorary member of the Disaster Movie Club, thanks to the all-star cast formats and the vehicles in distress. Skyjacked (1972) had her in the middle of a love triangle with Charlton Heston and Mike Henry, but also caught up in the drama of a hijacker taking over their passenger liner.

The Neptune Factor (1973) had Ben Gazzara and Ernest Borgnine, among others, attempting to rescue some stranded divers deep beneath the ocean's surface (where the creatures have grown extra large thanks to heat emitted from the ground there!) From here on, her career would waffle chiefly between television movies and the occasional feature. She penned one of the TV flicks herself, called Hit Lady, and had Dack Rambo as her leading man! She had also appeared in Black Noon and Death Takes a Holiday.

In 1976, she scored another drive-in style hit with Jackson County Jail, in which she is a motorist tormented by some unsavory townspeople (not the least of which is local deputy Fredric Cook, who rapes her!) She goes on the run with fellow inmate, billed then as "Tom" Lee Jones! This was so successful when run on TV that CBS reworked it into a slightly different TV-movie pilot called Outside Chance, which would have featured her as a weekly female version of The Fugitive, but it didn't come to pass.

There were quite a few TV-movies she worked in. Some were unusual like The Legend of Valentino, in which she played Natasha Rambova (!) to Franco Nero's silent movie icon. She also did a remake of Bell, Book & Candle. But the big hoot is the one pictured above, Snowbeast, about a creature terrifying revelers at a ski resort! Look closely and you can see some fur behind her.

I had to include this caption from the prior photo. Such simpler times. Her costars in Snowbeast were Clint Walker, Bo Svenson and Sylvia Sidney (not pictured) and it's a scream for reasons unintended.

Another item that makes her an honorary Disaster Movie Club member was Disaster on the Coastliner, a 1979 TV-movie which had her on an Amtrak train which has been deliberately set to collide with another! Plenty of names in this one from Lloyd Bridges and Raymond Burr to William Shatner and, as seen here, Robert Fuller.

Also in 1979, she was cast in the very expensive Disney sci-fi thriller The Black Hole, for which there was much anticipation. Unfortunately, it fell short of expectations at the box office despite a solid cast (Maximilian Schell, Robert Forster, Anthony Perkins and Ernest Borgnine) and a great score by John Barry.

As the wife (since 1972) of director Stanley Donen, Mimieux really only had to work when she wanted to. Somehow she wound up in the bizarre Circle of Power (1981), which I hope to look into soon, and did TV films like Forbidden Love (in a relationship with young man Andrew Stevens!) and Night Partners (a failed police show pilot with Diana Canova as her partner.) She also took pen in hand again and wrote Obsessive Love, seen here, in which she was dangerously attracted to married soap star Simon MacCorkindale.

After several unsuccessful attempts to become part of a regular series, Mimieux finally got her chance with the prime-time soap Berrenger's, all about the goings on at an expensive department store. Here she was in the arms of hunky Ben Murphy. Unfortunately, this didn't turn out to be another Dallas or Dynasty as the show didn't register (get it?!) with viewers. It was gone after a dozen episodes.

Her marriage to Donen came to an end in 1985. And at 43, she was finding it hard to secure good roles. She did a 1986 TV-movie with Robert Conrad and Richard Roundtree called The Fifth Missile and that was the last viewers would see of her for a while.

She had other things to enjoy, however. In 1986, she wed Howard Ruby, a staggeringly successful real estate mogul who specialized in corporate housing. The two would spend 35 years together, traveling extensively, hosting elegant parties and taking part in charitable causes. 

Now there truly was no reason to work any more, but she did return to television on two occasions. One was a Perry Mason mystery movie in 1990. Then, after working on the two-part Jackie Collins telefilm Lady Boss in 1992, she retired from acting. She turned her interest to painting, home decor sales, archeology and real estate.

As Mrs. Howard Ruby, Mimieux kept busy with their various interests (and eye-poppingly appointed homes.) She also kept her figure and continued to be a gracious and welcoming hostess for many occasions with her husband. Mr. Ruby ultimately lost his sight and chose to live in the familiar surroundings of their luxury yacht, but few ever expected that Yvette would pass away at this point in her life.

From the very start, Mimieux was pegged as a certain type, a winsome blonde to be chased, attacked or molested, though she always wanted more and sometimes achieved that. She had the drive to generate roles for herself in order to avoid being window dressing. She was also very much appreciated by her many illustrious costars (I don't know if I have ever read a single thing about her that was negative regarding her personal demeanor or work habits!)

Before we go, let's take a gander at that belly button she showed the world (and the handsome doctor who was in charge of her case!)

Viewers of Dr. Kildare must have loved this two-part installment as it afforded the chance to view some Dick Chamberlain beefcake!

Au revoir, Ms Mimieux!