According to Variety, KABC entertainment reporter George Pennacchio confirmed that Blyth died Wednesday. Her performance in the 1945 film earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress when she was still a teenager, launching a career that made her one of the last surviving stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
From Child Radio Performer to One of Hollywood’s Last Golden Age Stars
Born Anne Marie Blythe on Aug. 16, 1927, in Mount Kisco, New York, Blyth entered show business at an early age through children’s radio programs before joining the New York Children’s Opera Company. She later made the leap to Broadway in Lillian Hellman’s “Watch on the Rhine,” a performance that led to a contract with Universal Pictures after the production toured Los Angeles.
Her breakthrough arrived in Michael Curtiz’s “Mildred Pierce,” where she played Joan Crawford’s calculating daughter, Veda. The role earned Blyth an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and established her as a dramatic performer after beginning her film career in light musical comedies. Although a serious back injury shortly afterward interrupted her momentum, she returned to the screen and remained a familiar presence throughout the late 1940s and 1950s.
During that period, Blyth appeared in a wide range of productions, including “Brute Force,” “Killer McCoy,” “The Great Caruso,” “The World in His Arms”, “Rose Marie,” “Kismet,” and “The King’s Thief.” She worked with many of the era’s biggest stars, including Burt Lancaster, Gregory Peck, Robert Mitchum, Mario Lanza, Tyrone Power, and Bing Crosby, while moving between Universal, MGM, Paramount, and other major studios.
As feature film opportunities slowed, Blyth shifted her focus to the stage and television. She starred in touring productions of “The King and I,” “The Sound of Music,” and “Show Boat,” while making guest appearances on series such as “The Twilight Zone,” “Wagon Train,” “Burke’s Law,” “Quincy,” “M.E.,” and “Murder, She Wrote.” She retired from acting in 1985 after more than four decades in the entertainment industry.
Outside her career, Blyth married obstetrician James McNulty in 1953, and the couple raised five children together. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in recognition of her contributions to film and remained celebrated as one of the final living links to the studio era that shaped classic American cinema.
