Ann Blyth, Oscar-Nominated Star of 'Mildred Pierce', Dies at 98

Oscar-nominated actor Ann Blyth, star of 'Mildred Pierce', dies at 98

Los Angeles, June 26

Blyth died of natural causes on Wednesday, according to KABC's George Pennacchio.

The actress earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of the manipulative Veda opposite Joan Crawford in Mildred Pierce. Crawford, who had recently left MGM at the time, personally supported Blyth's casting by appearing with the then-16-year-old actress in her screen test.

Reflecting on landing the role, Blyth told The Hollywood Reporter's Scott Feinberg in 2013, "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. People just didn't do that, not people of her stature."

Crawford's faith in Blyth proved well-founded. While Crawford won the Best Actress Oscar for her performance, Blyth received her first and only Academy Award nomination.

Reviewing the film, The Hollywood Reporter praised the young actress, writing, "This Blyth child is exquisite in her understanding of one of the most difficult roles ever written. Only the undeniable genius that has made Joan Crawford the great popular star she long since became enables her to keep Ann Blyth from running off with the film."

Just five days after completing Mildred Pierce, Blyth suffered a devastating back injury in a sledding accident near Lake Arrowhead, California. She later recalled the incident in a 1954 article titled My Career Took a Toboggan Ride.

"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. "I didn't cry out. The feeling was too big for that."

The injury left the 5-foot-2 actress in a body cast for seven months, followed by several months in a wheelchair. Despite her condition, she attended the 1946 Academy Awards wearing a specially designed gown over her back brace.

An accomplished operatic soprano, Blyth also enjoyed success in Hollywood musicals. She introduced the classic song "The Loveliest Night of the Year" while portraying Enrico Caruso's wife opposite Mario Lanza in The Great Caruso (1951). She later starred in MGM musicals including Rose Marie (1954), The Student Prince (1954) and Vincente Minnelli's Kismet (1955).

Her film credits also included Brute Force (1947), Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948), The Buster Keaton Story (1957) alongside Donald O'Connor, and The Helen Morgan Story (1957), in which she portrayed the troubled singer Helen Morgan opposite Paul Newman, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Born Anne Marie Blythe on August 16, 1927, in Mount Kisco, New York, she was raised on Manhattan's Lower East Side after her father left the family. A gifted performer from an early age, she began singing and reciting poetry on radio at age six and later performed with the San Carlos Opera Company.

Her breakthrough came on Broadway in Watch on the Rhine (1941-42), where she played Paul Lukas' daughter. Following the production's nearly 400-performance run, she toured nationally and was invited to the White House, where she and fellow cast members dined with President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Universal Pictures signed Blyth in 1943, and she appeared in musicals including Chip Off the Old Block, Babes on Swing Street, The Merry Monahans and Bowery to Broadway, three of them co-starring Donald O'Connor.

Following Mildred Pierce, she appeared in films including Swell Guy (1946), Killer McCoy (1947), Another Part of the Forest (1948), Top o' the Morning (1949), The Golden Horde (1951), I'll Never Forget You (1951), One Minute to Zero (1952), The World in His Arms (1952), All the Brothers Were Valiant (1953), The King's Thief (1955) and Slander (1957), according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Helen Morgan Story marked her final feature film before she stepped away from movies, despite being considered for the lead role in The Three Faces of Eve, which eventually earned Joanne Woodward the Academy Award for Best Actress.

Blyth continued performing through nightclub acts in Las Vegas, regional theatre and television appearances, including Wagon Train, The Twilight Zone, The Name of the Game, Quincy M.E. and Murder, She Wrote. During the 1970s, she also became familiar to television audiences through a series of Hostess snack cake commercials, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

In 1953, Blyth married Los Angeles obstetrician James McNulty, brother of singer Dennis Day. The couple had five children--Timothy, Maureen, Kathleen, Terence and Eileen, and remained together until McNulty's death in 2007 at the age of 89.

— ANI