Actress Yvette Mimieux dies at age 80

Actress Yvette Mimieux, who gained fame in the early 1960s with major roles in such movies as “Where the Boys Are,” “Time Machine,” “A Light in the Piazza” and “Toys in the Attic,” has died at the age of 80.

Mimieux died in her sleep in her Bel Air home where she was found early Tuesday, a family spokesperson told multiple media outlets.

Mimieux was born in Los Angeles on Jan. 8, 1942. Her father was from France and her mother was born in Mexico. She got her start in movies early on, appearing in eight films before the age of 21.

The 1970s saw her act in such varied projects as the 1974 made-for-TV movie “The Hit Lady,” 1975’s prison drama “Jackson County Jail” and 1979’s “The Black Hole,” Disney’s first PG-rated film.

Mimieux often chafed under the publicity demands of being a high- profile Hollywood actress, once telling a reporter, “You know, there are tribes in Africa who believe that a camera steals a little part of your soul, and in a way I think that’s true about living your private life in public. It takes something away from your relationships, it cheapens them.”

She wrote “The Hit Lady” herself because she was unhappy with the quality of the roles she was being offered.

“They have no complexity in their lives. It’s all surface,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “There’s nothing to play. They’re either sex objects or vanilla pudding.”

Mimieux studied archeology at UCLA. She married famed musical director Stanley Donen in 1972, and the couple divorced in 1985. She was married to UCLA psychology major Evan Engber before marrying Donen. Her last marriage was to Howard Ruby, who was chairman emeritus and founder of Oakwood Worldwide. He survives her.

Mimieux’s final acting appearance was in the 1992 NBC miniseries “Lady Boss,” based on a novel by Jackie Collins.