Bamlet Lawrence Price Jr.: How Did Anne Francis’ Ex-husband Die?

Bamlet Lawrence Price Jr was an actor and the ex-husband of American actress Anne Francis. Bamlet’s ex-wife Anne Francis was one of the most iconic actresses. She is best known for her performance in the film Forbidden Planet (1956) and the television action-drama series Honey West (1965–1966). She authored an autobiography, Voices from Home: An Inner Journey, which was published in the 1980s.

Bamlet Lawrence Price Jr: Bio Summary

Who Was Anne Francis’ Ex-husband, Bamlet Lawrence Price Jr.?

Bamlet Lawrence Price Jr aka “Bam” was welcomed into the world on 10 June 1925, in Porterville, Tulare County, California, USA. He was the son of Bamlet Lawrence Price Sr and Lucile Martin Price. His father had a successful hardware store. He grew up in Porterville, CA. He may have siblings or is the only child of his parents. He flew B-25s in WWII and after the war, he graduated from University.

Bamlet Price Jr. graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Film School. He earned a Masters Degree. He was a United States Air Force pilot. He was married four times to four different women. On May 17, 1952, Bamlet married actress Anne Francis at the Harvard Military Chapel. At the time they got married, Bamlet was 26 years old while Anne was a 21-year-old.

Their wedding ceremony was performed by Reverend John Gill. Bamlet Jr and Anne Francis faced their fair share of marital problems. They were together when Bamlet Jr suffered a severe back injury after he crashed into a tree while skiing in the Sierra Nevada mountains. “Miss Francis, who was with him at the time of the accident, had to walk two miles to summon an ambulance…,” sources say.

Bamlet Jr also suffered a siege of pneumonia that affected the heart muscles and lungs. “Anne is still shaky over the three days in which medics could not say whether Price would pull through…” Eventually, Anne filed for divorce from Bamlet Jr in Santa Monica, California, charging mental cruelty. Columnist Erskine Johnson said: “Anne Francis has been incommunicado to the press since she filed for divorce from Bam Price.”

“The split is a genuine puzzler. She played nurse to him for months during an illness that almost took his life less than a year ago.” Anne Francis was able to get an interlocutory divorce decree from Bamlet Jr plus one twin bed and $4,000 she says she loaned him. The court approved a property settlement and granted the divorce after she testified Bamlet Jr said it was “important for my character” to do without a maid.

At the time Anne Francis was working 12 hours a day at her studio, she says. “He seemed to feel all actors had a rather easy life. He seemed to feel that actors weren’t worth much.” She asked for no alimony. Bamlet Jr and Anne Francis had no children together. Their divorce was finalized on May 3, 1956. After the divorce, they both remarried. Anne married Robert Abeloff. Bamlet Jr married Diane J. Coldwell.

ALSO, READ: Robert Abeloff: Where Is Anne Francis’ Ex-husband Now?

Bamlet Lawrence Price Jr. and Diane J. Coldwell were married from August 28, 1958, to February 1966. Bamlet Jr married Margaret E. Richardson from May 12, 1973, until they divorced in April 1976. He then married Diana Joy Dubois on December 24, 1981. He and Diana Joy’s marriage ended in the year 1988.

Bamlet Price Jr was an Actor, Filmmaker, And Writer

Bamlet Lawrence “Bam” Price Jr. was an actor, producer, director, and writer. He served as a director, producer, and writer for One Way Ticket to Hell (1955) in which he portrayed the role of Miguel ‘Cholo’ Martinez. His ex-wife Anne Francis then 11, made her stage debut on Broadway playing the child version of Gertrude Lawrence in the star’s 1941 hit vehicle “Lady in the Dark”.

Anne Francis made her first film appearance in This Time for Keeps. She appeared in Summer Holiday and was uncredited for her appearance in The Pirate and Portrait of Jennie. She played roles in the films So Young, So Bad, Lydia Bailey, The Rocket Man, Susan Slept Here, and Bad Day at Black Rock. She had her first leading role in Blackboard Jungle.

Anne Francis is best known for appearing in Forbidden Planet and Honey West. She appeared in episodes of TV series such as Kraft Theatre, Studio One, Climax!, The United States Steel Hour, Route 66, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, Ben Casey, The Reporter, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Burke’s Law, The Name of the Game, The Virginian, My Three Sons, The Magical World of Disney, Fantasy Island, Riptide, and Murder, She Wrote.

ALSO, READ: Margaret Francis West: Who Is Anne Francis’ Daughter?

How Did Anne Francis’ Ex-husband Die?

Bamlet Lawrence Price Jr. was killed by cancer. He took his last breath on 23 August 1996, in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, California, USA. He was 71 years old at the time he died. He was buried at Home of Peace Cemetery, Porterville, Tulare County, California, USA, according to Findagrave. His ex-wife Anne Francis died from complications due to pancreatic cancer on January 2, 2011, at the age of 80, in Santa Barbara, California, U.S. She was cremated and her ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.