Ann Blyth, who rose to fame during the Golden Age of Hollywood, died on Wednesday, June 24, aged 98.
The actress, who was 16 when she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1945 noir classic, Mildred Pierce, passed away just two months before her 99th birthday.
Ann "died peacefully of natural causes," according to KABC's George Pennacchio, who announced her death on Thursday.
The late actress was one of the last surviving stars of Hollywood's Golden Age and had a career spanning seven decades, beginning as a child star before transitioning to musical theatre, TV, and film.
Ann's rise to fame in Hollywood's Golden Age
Born on August 16, 1928, in Mount Kisco, New York, and raised on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, Ann was just six years old when she started on children's radio, before making her Broadway debut in 1941 in Lillian Hellman's Watch on the Rhine.
© Getty ImagesIt was while touring with the show in Los Angeles that Ann landed a contract with Universal Studios, making her onscreen debut in the 1944 teen musical Chip Off the Old Block.
Her breakout role was as Veda Pierce, the spoiled and scheming daughter of Joan Crawford's titular character, Mildred Pierce.
The film earned six Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, and Black-and-White Cinematography.
© Getty ImagesAnn later revealed that she beat out hundreds of girls for the role because Joan appeared opposite her in her screen test.
"I knew that other people wanted the part as well, but I was the lucky one because Joan Crawford did the test with me, and it made a world of difference," she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2013. "People just didn't do that, not people of her stature."
Just five days after Ann finished filming Mildred Pierce, she broke her back while sledding near Lake Arrowhead, California.
© Getty Images"One minute we were sailing down the hard-packed icy hillside like snowbirds, then there was a crash and I fell on my back with a sickening thud," she wrote in a 1954 story headlined "My Career Took a Toboggan Ride." "I didn't cry out. The feeling was too big for that."
She spent several months in a body cast and several more in a wheelchair, attending the 1946 Oscars in a gown that fit over her back brace.
Ann, who trained as an opera singer, made over 30 movies during her film career, which spanned from 1944 to 1957, including Killer McCoy (1947), Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948), Our Very Own (1950), and The Great Caruso (1951).
© Getty ImagesShe also starred in television shows, such as Wagon Train, The Twilight Zone, Quincy M.E., and Murder, She Wrote.
On stage, her credits include The King and I, The Sound of Music, and Show Boat.
Ann, who has a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame, is survived by her five children, whom she shared with her late husband, Dr. James McNulty, her 10 grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren.
