What Was Yvette Mimieux's Net Worth?
Yvette Mimieux was an American actress, producer, and writer who had a net worth of $50 million at the time of her death in 2022. Yvette Mimieux enjoyed a career in films and television stretching back to the mid-1950s. She had 50 acting credits to her name, including the films "The Time Machine" (1960), "Where the Boys Are" (1960), "Light in the Piazza" (1962), "Toys in the Attic" (1963), "Skyjacked" (1972), "Journey Into Fear" (1975), and "Circle of Power" (1981) and the television series "Dr. Kildare" (1964), "The Most Deadly Game" (1970–1971), "The Love Boat" (1984), and "Berrenger's" (1985). Yvette also co-wrote, produced, and starred in the 1984 TV movie "Obsessive Love," and she wrote and starred in the 1974 television film "Hit Lady." Her final acting project was the 1992 miniseries "Lady Boss," and after retiring from the entertainment business, Mimieux worked as an anthropologist and a real estate investor. Sadly, Yvette died on January 17, 2022, at the age of 80.
Early Life
Yvette Mimieux was born Yvette Carmen Mimieux on January 8, 1942, in Los Angeles, California. She was the daughter of a Mexican mother, Maria Montemayor, and a French father, René Mimieux, and she grew up with brother Edouardo and sister Gloria. Yvette launched her career after meeting talent manager Jim Byron. According to Mimieux's obituary in "The Guardian," "She was only 15 when the talent agent Jim Byron supposedly spotted her from his helicopter while she walked a horse in the Hollywood Hills; he landed and gave her his card. The other version of the story was more mundane: he spotted her auditioning for a bit part in Elvis Presley's 'Jailhouse Rock.' He generated publicity for her through beauty contests and modelling." When Yvette was 17 years old, she made her television debut with a guest-starring role on "Yancy Derringer" in 1959.
Getty Images
Career
After making her TV debut, Mimieux guest-starred on "Alcoa Presents: One Step Beyond" (1960), "Mr. Lucky" (1960), and "Dr. Kildare" (1964) and appeared in the MGM films "Platinum High School" (1960), "The Time Machine" (1960), "Where the Boys Are" (1960), "Light in the Piazza" (1962), and "The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" (1962). "Platinum High School" earned Yvette her first Golden Globe nomination, and she also received a nomination for "Dr. Kildare." She then began appearing in films from other studios, such as "Diamond Head"(1962) for Columbia Pictures, "Toys in the Attic" (1963) for United Artists, "The Reward" (1965) for 20th Century Fox, "The Caper of the Golden Bulls" (1967) for Embassy Pictures, and "Three in the Attic" (1968) for American International Pictures. From 1970 to 1971, Mimieux played Vanessa Smith on the Aaron Spelling-produced ABC series "The Most Deadly Game." In the '70s, Yvette starred in the films "The Delta Factor"(1970), "Skyjacked" (1972), "The Neptune Factor" (1973), "Journey Into Fear" (1975), "Jackson County Jail"(1976), and "The Black Hole" (1979) and the TV movies "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), and "Disaster on the Coastliner" (1979).
In the '80s, Mimieux appeared in two feature films, "Circle of Power (1981) and "The Fascination" (1985), and starred in the TV movies "Forbidden Love" (1982), "Night Partners" (1983), and "The Fifth Missile" (1986). She guest-starred on "The Love Boat" in 1984, and the following year, she played Shane Bradley on the NBC primetime soap opera "Berrenger's." Yvette produced and starred in the 1984 TV movie "Obsessive Love," which she co-wrote with Iris Friedman and Petru Popescu. She said of "Obsessive Love," "There are few enough films going these days, and there are three or four women who are offered all the good parts. Of course I could play a lot of awful parts that are too depressing to contemplate…. [Television is] not the love affair I have with film, but television can be a playground for interesting ideas. I love wild, baroque, slightly excessive theatrical ideas, and because television needs so much material, there's a chance to get some of those odd ideas done." In 1990, Mimieux appeared in the TV movie "Perry Mason: The Case of the Desperate Deception," and her final acting role was Deena Swanson in the 1992 miniseries "Lady Boss," which was based on the 1990 Jackie Collins novel of the same name.
Personal Life
On December 19, 1959, Yvette married Evan Harland Engber at the age of 17. She kept the marriage a secret for nearly two years, and after they divorced, Mimieux wed film director Stanley Donen on November 4, 1972. Yvette and Stanley divorced in early 1985. Mimieux married Howard F. Ruby on December 20, 1986, and they remained together until her death in January 2022. Ruby co-founded Oakwood Worldwide, which owns the Oakwood Apartments complexes.
Death
On January 17, 2022, Yvette died of natural causes at her Los Angeles home at the age of 80. Though many sources listed Mimieux's date of death as January 18th, her spokeswoman, Michelle Bega, stated that Yvette had died in her sleep the previous night.
Award Nominations
Mimieux earned three Golden Globe nominations: Most Promising Newcomer – Female for "Platinum High School" (1960), Best TV Star – Female for "Dr. Kildare" (1965), and Best TV Actress – Drama for "The Most Deadly Game" (1971). In 1977, she received a Photoplay Award nomination for Favorite Female Sex Symbol.
Real Estate
When Mimieux married Ruby, she moved into his home, which was known as Il Sogno, and in 2010, they paid $5.55 million for the house next door. Tinder co-founder Sean Rad purchased the dual property for $35 million in July 2022, and according to "The Real Deal," the property includes "two houses and two pools across two lots, including the 10,600-square-foot villa, a six-bedroom, seven-bath mansion built in 1928, and a 4,900-square-foot cottage with three bedrooms and five baths filled with art."
