Ann Blyth, an actress celebrated for her Oscar-nominated performance as the malicious Veda Pierce in the 1945 film noir classic “Mildred Pierce,” died Wednesday at the age of 98. Blyth’s career, which spanned from 1944 to 1957, included over 30 films, showcasing her versatility in dramas, musicals, and comedies.
Born Ann Marie Blyth on Aug. 16, 1928, in Mount Kisco, New York, she trained as a singer and actress from a young age. A teenage tour with a Broadway play led to a screen test and her entry into Hollywood. Blyth possessed a soprano voice and trained as an opera singer, a skill that allowed her to excel in musical roles such as in “Kismet” (1955) and “The Student Prince” (1954).
Her most memorable role came at just 16 in “Mildred Pierce,” where she held her own against Joan Crawford, who earned her only Academy Award for the film. Blyth played Crawford's status-seeking, deceitful daughter, Veda, a performance film historian Alan Rode described as the "epitome of the film noir daughter from hell."
Despite her acclaimed performance, Blyth's career momentum was impacted by a broken back sustained in a toboggan accident. Nevertheless, she went on to appear in a variety of films, including “The Golden Horde” (1951), “Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid” (1948) alongside William Powell, and “One Minute to Zero” (1952) with Robert Mitchum. She also starred with notable actors such as Burt Lancaster in “Brute Force” (1947), Mickey Rooney in “Killer McCoy” (1947), and Paul Newman in her final film, “The Helen Morgan Story” (1957).
Although known for her singing talent, studio executives insisted on dubbing her vocals for “The Helen Morgan Story.” Blyth also made occasional television appearances, including an episode of “The Twilight Zone” in 1964 and her final role on “Murder, She Wrote” in 1985.
Blyth was married to James McNulty, who died in 2007, and they had five children. She died of natural causes.