The Golden Age star last appeared on ’80s TV series such as “Murder, She Wrote” and “Quincy, M.E.”

Ann Blyth, Oscar-nominated Mildred Pierce actress, dies at 98

The Golden Age star last appeared on '80s TV series such as "Murder, She Wrote" and "Quincy, M.E."

By Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt

Raechal Shewfelt is a writer at **. She has been working at EW since 2024. Her work has previously appeared on Yahoo and in American *Journalism Review* and *The Shreveport Times*.

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June 25, 2026 10:45 p.m. ET

Ann Blyth in 1945's 'Mildred Pierce'. Credit:

Courtesy Everett

- Ann Blyth died Wednesday at 98, according to KABC entertainment reporter George Pennacchio.

- Blyth began acting as a child and was nominated for her work in 1945's *Mildred Pierce*.

- She last appeared on TV in the '80s on *Murder, She Wrote*.

Actress Ann Blyth — who was nominated for best supporting actress for the 1945 film noir classic *Mildred Pierce*, in which she costarred with Joan Crawford — has died. She was 98.

George Pennacchio, of KABC, posted about her death Thursday afternoon: "Actress Ann Blyth died peacefully of natural causes on Wednesday at the age of 98, less than two months before her 99th birthday," he wrote.

He noted that she had made her mark in Hollywood early.

"Ann began performing on the radio when she was only six. She was Broadway at the age of 12 and she made her first film at 14," Pennacchio wrote.

Blyth was born Anne Blythe in Mount Kisco, N.Y., in 1928. Soon after, she dropped the "e" from both her names professionally. Acting came about after her mother moved her and her sister to New York City.

Blyth's first role was in Broadway's *Watch on the Rhine*. A tour of the show took her to Los Angeles, where she signed with Universal, per PEOPLE.

Ann Blyth in 2013.

Michael Robinson Chavez/Los Angeles Times via Getty

She was cast alongside Crawford as the screen legend's spoiled daughter Veda in *Mildred Pierce *while she was still a teen, as part of a loan to Warner Bros.

Throughout the '40s and '50s, Blyth starred in numerous films, including *Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid* (1948) — she was the mermaid — as well as *Babes on Swing Street* (1944).

She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960.

Her last onscreen roles were on TV in the '80s, including two episodes of *Quincy, M.E.,* in 1979 and 1983, and an episode of *Murder, She Wrote* in 1985.

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Pennacchio noted that she was a philanthropist who answered her own fan mail.

"Her family says she loved her garden, knitting and oil painting," he continued. "She was known for gifting her work to friends and family."

In her personal life, Blyth was married to James McNulty, a doctor, from 1953 until he died in 2007. They shared five children: Eileen, Terence, Kathleen, Maureen, and Timothy. She had 10 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

Following her death, actress Illeana Douglas paid tribute to Blyth with a photo of Blyth and late *Jeopardy *host Alex Trebek.

"What an iconic performance she gave as Veda in Mildred Pierce!" Douglas said. "it was such a pleasure to spend time with her on the TCM cruise. This was the day we went off the ship so we could all take a field trip to the Ernest Hemmingway house in Key West. Can you imagine getting to hang out all day with [Ann] Blythe? She and her daughters were so lovely. May she rest in peace."

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