Ann Blyth, teen star of ‘Mildred Pierce,’ dead at 98

Ann Blyth, a versatile Hollywood star who received an Oscar nomination at 17 as Joan Crawford’s wayward daughter in “Mildred Pierce,” sang opposite Mario Lanza and Howard Keel in such MGM musicals as ”The Great Caruso” and ended her film career before age 30, has died at age 98.

Blyth died Wednesday of “natural causes” at her home in Rancho Santa Fe, California, according to her daughter, Eileen McNulty. Blyth’s family was at her side.

One of the last surviving actors from the Hollywood studio system, Blyth appeared in youth movies as well as dramas such as “Another Part of the Forest,” and her co-stars included Bing Crosby, Tyrone Power, Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum.

Blyth had stopped appearing in films by the end of the 1950s when she chose to spend more time with her children. But she would work in TV musicals and dramas and tour in concerts and musicals