Yvette Mimieux, the American actor best known for her starring role in ‘60s time travel movie The Time Machine died recently, just ten days after her 80th birthday. The family’s publicist Michelle Bega confirmed to People magazine that Mimieux died “peacefully” of natural causes in her Bel Air home on Monday.
Mimieux was launched into stardom at eighteen years old when she starred opposite Rod Taylor in 1960 science fiction flick The Time Machine.An adaption of the 1895 HG Wells novel, the adventure film follows the Time Traveller (Taylor) as he visits the year 802,701. It is there that he meets Weena (Mimieux), who tells him how humanity has split into two tribes: the tyrannical Morlocks and the oppressed Elori. After saving Elori Weena from drowning and then from attack by a Morlock, the Time Traveller sets out to make the future more peaceful.
From there, Mimieux became the face of a range of iconic 60s movies, including romantic comedies Where the Boys Are, and Light in the Piazza as well as a number of drama films like Toys in the Attic.
The Hollywood actor also had a successful television career, with roles in TV shows like Dr Kildare,and The Most Deadly Game — both of which she earned Golden Globe nominations for. In total, Mimieux achieved three Golden Globe nominations throughout her career, the first being for her role in Platinum High School (1960). According to the Associated Press, she was cast in eight films before the age of 21.
Describing how she was often cast in dramatic roles, Mimieux said in a 1979 Washington Post interview, “I suppose I had a soulful quality. I was often cast as a wounded person, the ‘sensitive’ role.”
Mimieux is survived by her third husband, Howard F. Ruby, along with her siblings and stepchildren.