Ann Blyth, the Hollywood actress who received an Academy Award nomination at the age of 17 for portraying Joan Crawford’s troubled daughter in Mildred Pierce, has died aged 98.
Her daughter, Eileen McNulty, said Blyth died of natural causes at her home in Rancho Santa Fe, California, on Wednesday. She was surrounded by her family.
One of the last surviving stars of Hollywood’s golden studio era, Blyth enjoyed a career spanning film, television and musical theatre. She shared the screen with some of the industry's biggest names, including Bing Crosby, Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum and Tyrone Power.
Although she largely stepped away from filmmaking by the late 1950s to raise her five children, she remained active in television, concert performances and stage productions, including Show Boat and The Sound of Music.
Born in Mount Kisco, New York, in 1928, Blyth was raised in New York City by her mother after her father left the family. She began performing on radio at the age of five and later trained with the San Carlo Opera Company.
Her breakthrough came early. At 13, she secured a major role in the Broadway production of Watch on the Rhine, appearing alongside Bette Davis. The performance earned her a contract with Universal Studios, where she began her screen career in a series of low-budget musicals.
Her career changed dramatically in 1945 when Warner Bros. cast her as Veda, the selfish and manipulative daughter of Joan Crawford’s title character in Mildred Pierce. The performance earned Blyth an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, while Crawford won the Oscar for Best Actress.
The film became a landmark of the film noir genre and established Blyth as a gifted dramatic actress after she had been known primarily for musical roles.
In 1946, she suffered a serious back injury in a toboggan accident. She spent seven months in a full-body cast and another seven months using a wheelchair. Blyth later said her Roman Catholic faith had helped her through her recovery.
After returning to work, she broadened her dramatic repertoire with roles in Brute Force, Killer McCoy, A Woman's Vengeance and Another Part of the Forest.
She returned to musicals in the early 1950s, starring opposite Mario Lanza in The Great Caruso. She later appeared in Rose Marie and Kismet with Howard Keel.
Her other notable films included Top o' the Morning with Bing Crosby, The World in His Arms with Gregory Peck and The Buster Keaton Story. Her final film was The Helen Morgan Story in 1957, which also featured Paul Newman.
Blyth often credited her mother for encouraging her to persevere with acting despite early setbacks. Her mother died of cancer before her daughter achieved her breakthrough success in Mildred Pierce.
In 1953, she married Dr James McNulty. They remained together until his death in 2007 and had five children.
One of the most memorable moments of her later career came at the 1954 Academy Awards, when she performed the song Secret Love while visibly pregnant, making a rare and historic appearance on the Oscars stage.
