US actress Mitzi Gaynor, who starred as Nellie Forbush in the 1958 film South Pacific and appeared in musicals with Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, has died at the age of 93.
Gaynor, among the last survivors of the so-called golden age of the Hollywood musical, died of natural causes in Los Angeles on Thursday morning, her long-time managers Rene Reyes and Shane Rosamonda confirmed in a statement to the Associated Press.
“As we celebrate her legacy, we offer our thanks to her friends and fans and the countless audiences she entertained throughout her long life,” Reyes and Rosamonda said in a joint statement.
“Your love, support and appreciation meant so very much to her and was a sustaining gift in her life.”
Her entertainment career spanned eight decades across film, television and the stage, and appeared in several notable films including We’re Not Married! and There’s No Business Like Show Business but she is best remembered for her turn in South Pacific.
The screen version of South Pacific received three Academy Award nominations and won for best sound while Gaynor was a best actress nominee for a Golden Globe.
The role of the love-sick nurse Nellie, created on Broadway by Mary Martin, had been eagerly sought by Hollywood stars.
Sinatra helped Gaynor land it.
She was starring with him in The Joker Is Wild when she had a one-day opportunity to audition for lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II.
It was the same day she was scheduled for her biggest scene with Sinatra.
When she explained her plight, he told her, “Don’t worry, I’ll change the schedule”.
Hammerstein was impressed with Gaynor, who had already won the approval of director Josh Logan and composer Richard Rodgers.
She was cast opposite Rossano Brazzi, about whom she sang I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy.
South Pacific was not the turning point in her career that Gaynor had hoped it would be, and she shifted her focus from film to television, making early appearances on Donald O’Connor’s variety series Here Comes Donald and on CBS’ The Jack Benny Hour.
In October of 1959, she was the only woman to guest star alongside Sinatra, Crosby, Dean Martin and Jimmy Durante on US broadcaster ABC’s The Frank Sinatra Timex Show special.
Later in her career, Gaynor reinvented herself as a performing entertainer.
Working with her husband and manager Jack Bean, she starred in her own musical revue that was a big draw in theatres throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia.
She became the highest paid female entertainer in Las Vegas and was the first woman to be awarded the Las Vegas governor’s trophy for Star Entertainer of the Year in 1970.
When touring with a full orchestra, a corps of dancers and backstage personnel became too unwieldy and expensive, Gaynor slimmed down the production, eventually making it a one-woman show.
They continued touring every year until 2002 when Bean’s illness required a hiatus.
“I love touring; I’ve been doing it much of my life,” Gaynor said in a 2003 interview.
“We go back to the same places; it’s like visiting friends. After the show, people come backstage to the dressing room, and we renew friendships. We send out almost 3000 Christmas cards every year.”
“Off stage, she was a vibrant and extraordinary woman, a caring and loyal friend, and a warm, gracious, very funny and altogether glorious human being. And she could cook, too!,” the statement from Rosamonda and Reyes said, referencing a song from the musical On the Town that Gaynor sang in one of her revue shows.
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