Hollywood Legend Ann Blyth, Iconic ‘Evil Daughter’ in Mildred Pierce, Dies at 98 — Heartbreaking Final Handwritten Letter Leaves Fans in Tears
Ann Blyth, the actress who earned an Academy Award nomination for portraying Joan Crawford’s manipulative and deceitful teenage daughter in the 1945 classic Mildred Pierce and went on to excel in both dramatic and musical roles during Hollywood’s Golden Age, died Wednesday at the age of 98, according to media reports.
Blyth died of natural causes, the reports said. Trained as an opera singer, she was equally at home in film musicals, dramas and even lighthearted comedies, including one in which she played a mermaid.
During a film career that spanned from 1944 to 1957, Blyth appeared in more than 30 movies. She was only 16 when she delivered the performance that became her signature role in Mildred Pierce. The film also earned Joan Crawford the only Academy Award of her career.
Blyth more than matched Crawford on screen as Veda, the ambitious, hateful and ultimately murderous daughter who competes with her mother for the affection of the same man — her stepfather, played by Zachary Scott. In one memorable scene, Blyth slaps Crawford across the face, knocking her to the floor.
“Get out before I kill you,” Crawford’s enraged character warns her daughter.
The film was directed by Michael Curtiz, whose celebrated credits also include Casablanca, The Adventures of Robin Hood and Yankee Doodle Dandy.
“He had a great confidence in me, which in turn helped me,” Blyth told the Los Angeles Times in 2013, reflecting on working with Curtiz.
“She just blew everybody away,” film historian Alan Rode told the newspaper. “It’s certainly Joan Crawford’s movie, but she is really the spine of the movie. She is the epitome of the film noir daughter from hell. It’s just an amazing performance that stands the test of time.”
Mildred Pierce was both a critical and commercial success, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. Crawford won the Oscar for Best Actress, while both Blyth and co-star Eve Arden were nominated for Best Supporting Actress but did not win.
Blyth’s rising career was interrupted after Mildred Pierce when she suffered a broken back in a toboggan accident.
Her versatility allowed her to shine in musicals such as Kismet (1955) and The Student Prince (1954), historical spectacles including The Golden Horde (1951), comedies like Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948) alongside William Powell, and dramas such as One Minute to Zero (1952) with Robert Mitchum.
The petite brunette actress also shared the screen with many of Hollywood’s leading men, including Burt Lancaster in Brute Force (1947), Mickey Rooney in Killer McCoy (1947), Bing Crosby in Top o’ the Morning (1949), Mario Lanza in The Great Caruso (1951), Gregory Peck in The World in His Arms (1952) and Paul Newman in The Helen Morgan Story (1957), which marked her final film.
Blessed with a beautiful soprano voice, Blyth performed on the operatic stage early in her career.
She was a natural fit for film musicals, although studio executives insisted on dubbing her singing with another vocalist for The Helen Morgan Story.
After leaving films, Blyth made occasional television appearances, including an episode of The Twilight Zone in 1964. Her final screen credit came in Murder, She Wrote in 1985.
Ann Marie Blyth was born on Aug. 16, 1928, in Mount Kisco, New York.
She began training as both a singer and actress as a child. While touring Los Angeles as a teenager with a Broadway production, she was offered a screen test that launched her Hollywood career.
Blyth is survived by the five children she shared with her husband, James McNulty, who died in 2007.
