Early life and career

Yvette Carmen Mimieux was born in Los Angeles, California, United States, to a French father and a Mexican mother. Before her film career began, Mimieux was one of four finalists from a beauty contest picked by Elvis Presley (while he was filming Jailhouse Rock, 1957) who were invited to come to the set to compete for a bit role in the movie ("girl in bathing suit"). She and the other girls modelled their suits (and figures); Mimieux was not selected.

Among her earliest screen appearances was a role in the teen movie Where the Boys Are (1960) as well as in George Pal's film version of H. G. Wells's 1895 novel The Time Machine (also 1960) co-starring Rod Taylor, in which she played the character Weena. This was followed by The Light in the Piazza (1962) with Olivia de Havilland and George Hamilton. In 1963, Mimieux appeared in Diamond Head and Toys in the Attic. In 1968, she appeared in Dark of the Sun starring Rod Taylor.

Many of the films in which she appeared after 1963 were both critical and commercial failures. However, she appeared in the critically acclaimed movie The Picasso Summer (1969) alongside Albert Finney. She appeared in a two-part episode of Dr. Kildare ("Tyger, Tyger", 1964) and later appeared in numerous television series and made-for-television movies, one of which is The Legend of Valentino (1975), wherein she played Rudolph Valentino's second wife, Natacha Rambova. She was a falsely imprisoned woman victimized by a sadistic guard in the film Jackson County Jail (1976). Later, Mimieux co-starred in the first PG-rated Walt Disney Productions feature, The Black Hole (1979) and in Obsessive Love (1984), a television movie about a female stalker which she co-wrote and co-produced. Her last film was Lady Boss (1992). In one of her later forays into television, Mimieux played a department store executive, Shane Bradley, on the short-lived drama Berrenger's.

Personal life

Mimieux retired from acting in 1992. She is an anthropologist, a real estate investor and yoga devotee. She was married to film director Stanley Donen from 1972 until their divorce in 1985. In 1986 Mimieux married Howard F. Ruby, chairman and founder of Oakwood Worldwide. She has no children.

Filmography

• Platinum High School (1960)
• The Time Machine (1960)
• Where the Boys Are (1960)
• The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1962)
• Light in the Piazza (1962)
• The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962)
• Diamond Head (1963)
• Toys in the Attic (1963)
• Looking for Love (1964)
• Joy in the Morning (1965)
• The Reward (1965)
• Monkeys, Go Home! (1967)
• The Caper of the Golden Bulls (1967)
• Dark of the Sun (1968)
• Three in the Attic (1968)
• The Picasso Summer (1969)
• The Delta Factor (1970)
• Skyjacked (1972)
• The Neptune Factor (1973)
• Journey Into Fear (1975)
• Jackson County Jail (1976)
• The Black Hole (1979)
• Circle of Power (1981)
• The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal (1985) (documentary)

Television work

• Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond ("The Clown" 1960)
• Mr. Lucky ("Stacked Deck" 1960)
• The Desperate Hours (1967)
• The Most Deadly Game (1970 - 1971)
• Death Takes a Holiday (1971)
• Black Noon (1971)
• Hit Lady (1974)
• The Legend of Valentino (1975)
• Bell, Book and Candle (1976)
• Snowbeast (1977)
• Ransom for Alice! (1977)
• Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978)
• Outside Chance (1978)
• Disaster on the Coastliner (1979)
• Forbidden Love (1982)
• Night Partners (1983)
• Obsessive Love (1984
• "The Love Boat"-Hong Kong Affair-(1984)
• Berrenger's (1985) (canceled after 12 episodes)
• The Fifth Missile (1986)
• Perry Mason: The Case of the Desperate Deception (1990)
• Lady Boss (1992)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]