# Yvette Vickers
**Yvette Vickers** (born Yvette Vedder; August 26, 1928 – 2010) was an American actress, model, and singer best known for playing the femme fatale in two late-1950s cult horror films, *[Attack of the 50 Foot Woman](https://www.edgepedia.org/attack-of-the-50-foot-woman)* (1958) and *Attack of the Giant Leeches* (1959), and for being Playboy's Playmate of the Month in July 1959.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/158860) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-yvette-vickers-20110503-story.html) • [3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/yvette-vickers/) • [4](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/yvette-vickers) Her death became international news when her body was found at her Benedict Canyon home in May 2011, apparently undetected for close to a year.[2](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-yvette-vickers-20110503-story.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | August 26, 1928, Kansas City, Missouri; birth name Yvette Vedder[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/158860) • [3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/yvette-vickers/) |
| Signature roles | Honey Parker in *Attack of the 50 Foot Woman* (1958); Liz Walker in *Attack of the Giant Leeches* (1959)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/158860) |
| Playboy | Playmate of the Month, July 1959; photographed by Russ Meyer for the magazine's "beatnik issue"[4](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/yvette-vickers) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/may/11/film-industry-usa) |
| First film | *Short Cut to Hell* (1957), James Cagney's first directing effort; she played Daisy[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0896035/) |
| Notable later credit | Lily Peters in *Hud* (1963), alongside Paul Newman and Melvyn Douglas[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/158860) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/may/11/film-industry-usa) |
| Last film | *Evil Spirits* (1991)[7](https://thefilmaholic.com/actress/yvette-vickers) |
| Death | Found dead May 2011 at her Benedict Canyon home; police did not suspect foul play[2](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-yvette-vickers-20110503-story.html) |
## Early life and start in film
Vickers was born in [Kansas City, Missouri](https://www.edgepedia.org/kansas-city-missouri), on August 26, 1928, and grew up traveling with her jazz musician father's performances.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/158860) • [4](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/yvette-vickers) She majored in picture and theater arts at UCLA for three years, and on a trip to New York in the mid-1950s was cast as the White Rain Girl in commercials; she later became a national model for White Rain shampoo.[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0896035/) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/may/11/film-industry-usa)
[Billy Wilder](https://www.edgepedia.org/billy-wilder) gave her a cameo, as the girl on the telephone, in *Sunset Blvd.* (1950), the film about a reclusive, discarded silent-screen star.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/158860) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/may/11/film-industry-usa) Her first credited film role under the Vickers name was Daisy, the second female lead, in *Short Cut to Hell* (1957), [James Cagney](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-cagney)'s first directing effort, a Paramount remake of *This Gun for Hire*.[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0896035/) • [8](https://beachmovies.wordpress.com/2015/01/30/yvette-vickers/) [Television](https://www.edgepedia.org/television) work followed in series such as *I Led Three Lives*, *Dragnet*, *Bat Masterson*, and *The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp*.[9](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/yvette-vickers/credits/3030450744/)
## Cult horror films and Playboy
**B-movie fame.** In the low-budget *Attack of the 50 Foot Woman* (1958), Vickers had her first leading film role as Honey Parker, the town floozy having an affair with the married Harry Archer (William Hudson) of Allison Hayes's Nancy Archer; both characters are killed by the scorned wife after an encounter with an alien makes her a 50-foot giant.[2](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-yvette-vickers-20110503-story.html) • [10](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-05-tv-64359-story.html) The Los Angeles Times later called the film "one of the best bad movies ever made," a "Grade-A turkey" with cheesy special effects and inept direction.[2](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-yvette-vickers-20110503-story.html) A year later, in *Attack of the Giant Leeches* (1959), she played Liz Walker, a swamp adulteress killed by the title creatures.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/158860) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/may/11/film-industry-usa)
[Hugh Hefner](https://www.edgepedia.org/hugh-hefner) selected her as Playboy's July 1959 Playmate of the Month; her languorous pose on a couch surrounded by jazz records appeared in the magazine's "beatnik issue," and the shoot was done by [Russ Meyer](https://www.edgepedia.org/russ-meyer), later an independent filmmaker.[4](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/yvette-vickers) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/may/11/film-industry-usa) Film historian Alan K. Rode told the Times she "proved to have the perfect look for 1950s drive-in films, along with episodic television."[2](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-yvette-vickers-20110503-story.html)
## Later career
Her final major film role was a brief scene in the 1963 western *Hud*, with [Paul Newman](https://www.edgepedia.org/paul-newman) and [Melvyn Douglas](https://www.edgepedia.org/melvyn-douglas), playing Lily Peters, a married woman having an affair with Newman's character.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/158860) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/may/11/film-industry-usa) Smaller parts followed in *What's the Matter with Helen?* (1971) and the television movie *The Dead Don't Die* (1975), and her last screen appearance was in the 1991 horror film *Evil Spirits*.[6](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0896035/) • [7](https://thefilmaholic.com/actress/yvette-vickers) In her later years she appeared at film festivals and fan conventions for horror, western, and B-film audiences.[8](https://beachmovies.wordpress.com/2015/01/30/yvette-vickers/) According to Boyd Magers, editor and publisher of the western-film publication Western Clippings, she became "paranoid" in recent years and believed she was being stalked.[2](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-yvette-vickers-20110503-story.html)
## Death
Vickers was found dead on a Wednesday in May 2011 at her Benedict Canyon home by her neighbor, the actress Susan Savage, who noticed Vickers' mailbox was filled with old letters, pushed open a barricaded gate, and found the body in a room with a space heater still on.[2](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-yvette-vickers-20110503-story.html) The body's mummified state suggested she could have been dead for close to a year, according to police, who said foul play was not suspected.[2](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-yvette-vickers-20110503-story.html) Database listings give her date of death as January 1, 2010, at age 81, and the obituary reported her age as 82.[3](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/yvette-vickers/) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-yvette-vickers-20110503-story.html)
## Cultural footprint
[Stephen King](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-king), in his book *On Writing*, cited Vickers as an influence on his literary persona, writing that as a 13-year-old he dreamed not of [Debbie Reynolds](https://www.edgepedia.org/debbie-reynolds) or [Sandra Dee](https://www.edgepedia.org/sandra-dee) "but Yvette Vickers from Attack of the Giant Leeches."[5](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/may/11/film-industry-usa) Her screen persona has been described as projecting an obvious, playful carnality unusual for the era, a quality she may have developed to compete with the grotesque narratives of the science-fiction films she appeared in.[11](https://lamag.com/news/finding-yvette-vickers1/) The circumstances of her lonely death drew headlines around the world, which commentators contrasted with the obscurity into which her career had receded.[11](https://lamag.com/news/finding-yvette-vickers1/) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-yvette-vickers-20110503-story.html)
## References
1. [Yvette Vickers filmography, AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/PersonDetails/158860)
2. [Valerie J. Nelson, "Yvette Vickers dies at 82; former actress and Playboy playmate," Los Angeles Times, May 3, 2011](https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-yvette-vickers-20110503-story.html)
3. [Yvette Vickers, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/yvette-vickers/)
4. [Yvette Vickers biography and filmography, NetflixMovies.com](https://www.netflixmovies.com/s/actor/yvette-vickers)
5. [Cory Franklin, "Yvette Vickers and the dark side of the Dream Factory," The Guardian, May 11, 2011](https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/cifamerica/2011/may/11/film-industry-usa)
6. [Yvette Vickers, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0896035/)
7. [Yvette Vickers filmography and career, The Filmaholic](https://thefilmaholic.com/actress/yvette-vickers)
8. [Yvette Vickers, Beach Party Movies (blog), January 30, 2015](https://beachmovies.wordpress.com/2015/01/30/yvette-vickers/)
9. [Yvette Vickers credits, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/yvette-vickers/credits/3030450744/)
10. [Susan King, "First 'Attack'," Los Angeles Times, December 5, 1993](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1993-12-05-tv-64359-story.html)
11. ["Finding Yvette Vickers," Los Angeles Magazine](https://lamag.com/news/finding-yvette-vickers1/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Film actors and performers › Actors and actresses by country or nationality › American actors and actresses › Surnames P to Z*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license