{{Short description|American actress, pin-up model and singer (1928–2010)}} {{Use American English|date=April 2022}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Yvette Vickers | image = Yvette Vickers publicity photo.jpg | caption = Vickers in 1958 | birth_name = Yvette Iola Vedder | birth_date = {{Birth date|1928|08|26|mf=yes}} | birth_place = Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.<ref name=julykingly/> | death_date = {{circa}} 2010 (aged 81–82)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/playmate-found-mummified-friends-portrait-yvette-vickers/story?id=13522253|title = 'Mummified' Former Playmate Swerved Between Recluse and Storyteller|website = ABC News}}</ref> | death_place = Beverly Hills, California, U.S. | body_discovered = April 27, 2011 | alma_mater = UCLA | occupation = {{hlist|Actress|pin-up model|singer}} | years_active = 1950–1990 | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Don Prell|1953|1957|reason=divorced}} * {{marriage|Leonard Burns|1959|1961|reason=divorced}} * {{marriage|Tom Howland|1967|1969|reason=divorced}} }} }}
'''Yvette Vickers''' (born '''Yvette Iola Vedder'''; August 26, 1928 – {{circa|2010}}<ref name=julykingly>{{cite web|url=http://wekinglypigs.com/cgi-bin/nand/search/pmstat?browse=%3A%3ACONFIG%3A%3Amodelbrowse&key=vickers%2C+yvette&limit=0|title=Playmate data|access-date=May 4, 2011}}</ref><ref name=ctvnews>{{cite web|url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/officials-try-to-id-body-in-home-of-1959-playmate-1.639165|title=Officials try to ID body in home of 1959 Playmate|date=3 May 2011|access-date=May 4, 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110505215921/http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20110503/decomposed-body-found-home-ex-playmate-110503/|archive-date=May 5, 2011}}</ref>) was an American actress, pin-up model and singer.<ref name="LA Times">{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-xpm-2011-may-02-la-me-0503-mummified-body-syndicate-story.html|title=Mummified body of former Playboy playmate Yvette Vickers found in her Benedict Canyon home|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|first=Andrew|last=Blankstein|date=May 2, 2011| access-date=December 26, 2024}}</ref>
==Early life and early career== Vickers was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the daughter of jazz musician Charles Vedder. During her youth, she traveled with her parents to their various performances. She attended the University of California, Los Angeles, and studied journalism.<ref name=ctvnews/> While at UCLA, she took a class in acting and discovered that she enjoyed it, so she changed her major to drama. She began making television commercials. She later moved to New York City to model for White Rain shampoo advertisements, but she eventually returned to California to pursue an acting career.<ref name=Weaver>{{cite book| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wOsGOm3YwokC|title=Science Fiction Stars and Horror Heroes: Interviews with Actors, Directors, Producers and Writers of the 1940s through the 1960s|author=Tom Weaver|publisher=McFarland and Company| year=2006| isbn=978-0-7864-2857-1|pages=370–84}}</ref>
==Career== Her first movie appearance is listed under the name Yvette Vedder in ''Sunset Boulevard'' (1950), although she was not listed in the production credits. She made her first movie appearance under the Vickers name in ''Short Cut to Hell'' (1957), which was directed by James Cagney. In the same year, she starred in American International Pictures' ''Reform School Girl''. Her image was used for the movie's theatrical poster, and it depicted her and Gloria Castillo fighting each other. The poster has subsequently become a collector's item.<ref>Halperin, James L. (ed.) (2005) ''Heritage Vintage Movie Poster Signature Auction 2005 Catalog #624''. Dallas: Heritage Capital Corporation, page 63.</ref> [[File:Yvette Vickers in Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959).jpg|thumb|Vickers in ''Attack of the Giant Leeches'' (1959)]]
In 1958, she appeared in ''Attack of the 50 Foot Woman'' as Honey Parker, town floozy who has an affair with Harry Archer (William Hudson), who is married to heiress and title character Nancy Archer (Allison Hayes). The following year she played the role of Liz Walker in ''Attack of the Giant Leeches''. During the same period, she made a number of appearances on TV shows,<ref name=Weaver/> including an episode of ''One Step Beyond'' titled "The Aerialist", aired on April 28, 1959, and an episode of ''Bat Masterson'' titled "Double Trouble in Trinidad," aired January 7, 1959 as "Jessie Simmons."
She appeared as ''Playboy''{{'}}s Playmate of the Month in the July 1959 issue.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/8510335/Yvette-Vickers.html|title=Yvette Vickers|work=The Daily Telegraph| date=May 12, 2011|location=London|issn=0307-1235|oclc=49632006|access-date=May 13, 2011}}</ref> Her centerfold was photographed by Russ Meyer. She also appeared in several other men's magazines. Her film roles began to decrease around this time. She did play some small parts in films from 1962 onward, including a small role in ''Hud'' (1963). Her last role was in ''Evil Spirits'', a 1991 horror film.
Vickers was also a singer. In the 1990s, she released a jazz tribute to her parents on CD titled ''A Tribute to Charlie and Maria''. In 2005, she visited Canada for the first time to appear at the Toronto Classic Movie Festival. She appeared with interviewer Tom Weaver on the audio commentary track of the 2007 DVD release of ''Attack of the 50 Foot Woman''. She had been writing her autobiography before her death.
==Personal life== In 1953, Vickers married Don Prell, and they were divorced by 1957. Her second marriage was to Leonard Burns in 1959, divorcing in 1961. Her third and final marriage was to Tom Howland from 1967 to 1969. Vickers had no children. She had a long-term relationship with actor Jim Hutton.<ref>{{cite book|title=Whatever became of ... ?|last=Lamparski|first=Richard|publisher=Crown Publishers|year=1989|isbn=978-0-517-57150-7}}</ref> She also had a recurring relationship with actor Cary Grant in the late 1950s and early 1960s.
==Death== Vickers was last seen alive in 2010. She had withdrawn from her extended family and friends. Her mummified body was discovered by actress and neighbor Susan Savage on April 27, 2011, in her home at 10021 Westwanda Drive, Beverly Hills. The month of her death is unknown, but forensic scientists concluded that she may have been dead for as long as a year before her body was discovered.<ref name="LA Times"/> There were no signs of foul play. Her autopsy was completed by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, who ruled her cause of death to be heart failure resulting from coronary artery disease.<ref name=Gaynor />
''Playboy'' mogul Hugh Hefner issued statements expressing his sorrow and outrage at her lonely death.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mikulan |first1=Steven |title=Left Behind |url=https://www.lamag.com/longform/left-behind1/ |website=Los Angeles Magazine |access-date=23 December 2018 |date=1 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Shira |first1=Dahvi |title=INSIDE STORY: The Final Tragic Years of Yvette Vickers |url=https://people.com/celebrity/yvette-vickers-died-inside-her-tragic-life/ |website=PEOPLE.com |access-date=23 December 2018 |date=5 May 2011}}</ref> Her remains were cremated,<ref name=Gaynor>{{cite news|url=http://au.news.yahoo.com/entertainment/a/-/entertainment/9444787/mummified-playboy-playmate-died-of-heart-failure|title=Mummified Playboy Playmate died of heart failure|first=Tim|last=Gaynor|work=Yahoo!7 News|date=May 15, 2011|publisher=Yahoo!7|location=Sydney|access-date=May 15, 2011|archive-date=May 17, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110517050532/http://au.news.yahoo.com/entertainment/a/-/entertainment/9444787/mummified-playboy-playmate-died-of-heart-failure/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and her half-brother Perry Palmer retained possession of her ashes.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Archives|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives|access-date=2021-12-11|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}</ref>
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- | rowspan="2" |1950|| ''Sunset Boulevard'' || Giggling Girl on Phone at Party || rowspan="2" | Uncredited |- | ''The Sound of Fury'' || Dance Floor Extra |- | rowspan="3" |1957|| ''Reform School Girl'' || Roxy || |- | ''Short Cut to Hell'' || Daisy || |- | ''The Sad Sack'' || Hazel (WAC) || rowspan="2" | Uncredited |- | rowspan="3" |1958|| ''Juvenile Jungle'' || Kitten |- | ''Attack of the 50 Foot Woman'' || Honey Parker || |- | ''The Saga of Hemp Brown'' || Amelia Smedley || Uncredited |- | rowspan="2" |1959|| ''I Mobster'' || The Blonde || |- | ''Attack of the Giant Leeches'' || Liz Walker || |- |1962|| ''Pressure Point'' || Drunken Woman || Uncredited |- | rowspan="2" |1963|| ''Hud'' || Lily Peters || |- | ''Beach Party'' || Blonde Yoga Girl || Uncredited |- |1971|| ''What's the Matter with Helen?'' || Mrs. Barker || |- |1976|| ''Vigilante Force'' || Unnamed Blonde Woman || Uncredited |- |1990|| ''Evil Spirits'' || Neighbor || (final film role) |}
==See also== * List of people in ''Playboy'' 1953-1959
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110513004111/http://www.shadowlocked.com/201105121813/opinion-features/hollywood-tragedy-a-tribute-to-yvette-vickers.html Hollywood Tragedy: A Tribute to Yvette Vickers (archived)] * {{IMDb name|id=0896035|name=Yvette Vickers}} * [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/05/mummy-playboy-playmate-yvette-vickers-death-heart-failure.html ''Los Angeles Times'' obituary for Yvette Vickers]
{{playmates of 1959}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vickers, Yvette}} Category:1928 births Category:2010 deaths Category:American women singers Category:American film actresses Category:American television actresses Category:Actresses from Kansas City, Missouri Category:1950s Playboy Playmates Category:Deaths from coronary artery disease Category:University of California, Los Angeles alumni Category:21st-century American women