Los Angeles
Associated press
—

Mitzi Gaynor, the effervescent dancer and actor who played Nellie Forbush in the 1958 film “South Pacific” and appeared in other musicals with Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, has died. She was 93.

Gaynor, one of the last survivors of the so-called golden age of Hollywood musicals, died Thursday morning of natural causes in Los Angeles, her longtime managers Rene Reyes and Shane Rosamonda confirmed in a statement to The Associated Press.

“As we celebrate her legacy, we extend our gratitude 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 much to her and were a supportive gift in her life.”

Her entertainment career spanned eight decades in film, television and on stage, but she is best remembered for her role in “South Pacific.”

The film adaptation of ‘South Pacific’ received three Academy Award nominations and won for best sound, while Gaynor was nominated for a Golden Globe as best actress.

Later in her career, Gaynor reinvented herself as a performing entertainer. Under the guidance of her manager husband, Jack Bean, she starred in her own musical revue and made a lot of money in Las Vegas, Florida and theaters and auditoriums in the US and Canada, as well as in England and Australia.

Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber (Mitzi is diminutive for Marlene) was born in Chicago on September 4, 1931 to a musical family, and she began singing and dancing at an early age.

Gaynor and Bean married in 1954 and in 1960 purchased a spacious home in the middle of Beverly Hills, which became their home until his death in 2006. They rarely appeared at Hollywood events, preferring to entertain a few close friends . The couple had no children.