The Time Machine Actress Yvette Mimieux Dead at 80

Yvette Mimieux
Yvette Mimieux
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Allen Tannenbaum/getty

Yvette Mimieux, an actress known for roles in iconic films such as 1960's The Time Machine and The Black Hole from 1979, has died. She turned 80 years old earlier this month.

Mimieux died "peacefully" in her sleep of natural causes on Monday, family representative Michelle Bega confirmed to PEOPLE.

A Los Angeles native, Mimieux had 50 credits to her name as an actress, starting out in 1958 before soon earning a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Female Newcomer in 1960's Platinum High School.

RELATED: Fashion Icon and Former Vogue Creative Director André Leon Talley Dead at 73

Her breakout role came that same year, when she played distant-future damsel in distress Weena in George Pal's adaptation of H.G. Wells' The Time Machine opposite Rod Taylor.

Mimieux would go on to appear in other notable films including Where The Boys Are in 1960 and Light in the Piazza in 1962, before earning a second Golden Globe nod for an appearance on TV's Dr. Kildare in 1964.

In the early 1970s, Mimieux scored her third Globe nomination for her role as Vanessa Smith in the short-lived series The Most Deadly Game. She also starred opposite Ben Gazzara, Walter Pidgeon and Ernest Borgnine in the 1973 underwater thriller The Neptune Factor.

RELATED VIDEO: Sidney Poitier Dead at 94

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free weekly newsletter to get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.

Another hit would come in 1979, when Mimieux appeared alongside Anthony Perkins and Maximilian Schell in Disney's sci-fi film The Black Hole.

In the interim, she also moonlighted as a writer, penning two TV movies in which she also starred 1974's Hit Lady and Obsessive Love ten years later.

The writer and actress retired from screen appearances in 1992, but had various other pursuits. She started a business selling Haitian products, traveled extensively, studied archaeology and sold real estate, Deadline reported.

RELATED: Bob Saget Discovered Dead By Housekeeping After Missing His Hotel Checkout: Source

Mimieux was married three times, first to Evan Harland Engber in 1959 before later divorcing. She went on to wed director Charade Stanley Donen from 1972 to 1985.

One year later, she married Howard F. Ruby, previously the chairman emeritus and founder of Oakwood Worldwide, who survives her. She is also survived by siblings Edouard Mimieux and Gloria Montemayor as well as stepchildren Steven Ruby, Michael Ruby, Donna Hill, Josh Donen and Mark Donen.