Actress Ann Rutherford is the eleventh on the list to pass away.
Ann Rutherford Dead: 'Gone With The Wind' Actress Dies At 94
"Gone With the Wind" actress Ann Rutherford died at the age of 94.
Ann Rutherford, the demure brunette actress who played the sweetheart in the long-running Andy Hardy series and Scarlett O'Hara's youngest sister in "Gone With the Wind," has died. She was 94.
A close friend, Anne Jeffreys, said she was at Rutherford's side when the actress died Monday evening at home in Beverly Hills. Rutherford died of heart problems and had been ill for several months, Jeffreys said.
Rutherford's death was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.
"She was a dear person, a very funny lady, wonderful heart, was always trying to do things for people," said Jeffreys, a leading lady of many films of the 1940s and a star of the 1950s TV sitcom "Topper."
Rutherford was a frequent guest at "Gone With the Wind" celebrations in Georgia and, as one of the few remaining actors from the movie, continued to attract fans from around the world, Jeffreys said.
"She loved it. It really stimulated the last years of her life, because she got thousands of emails from fans," Jeffreys said. "She was in great demand."
She was also known for the Andy Hardy series, a hugely popular string of comical, sentimental films, that starred Lewis Stone as a small-town judge and Mickey Rooney as his spirited teenage son.
Rutherford first appeared in the second film of the series, "You're Only Young Once," in 1938, and she went on 11 more. She played Polly Benedict, the ever-faithful girlfriend that Andy always returned to, no matter what other, more glamorous girl had temporarily caught his eye. (Among the other girls: Judy Garland and Lana Turner.)
It was said she won the part of Carreen – the youngest of the three O'Hara sisters in "Gone With the Wind" – because Judy Garland was filming "The Wizard of Oz."
Rutherford told the Times in 2010 that MGM head Louis B. Mayer was going to refuse her the role, calling it "a nothing part." But Rutherford, who was a fan of the novel, uncharacteristically burst into tears and he relented.
Rutherford plays the sister who, early in the film, begs to be allowed to go to the ball at Ashley Wilkes' plantation. "Oh, Mother, can't I stay up for the ball tomorrow? ... I'm 13 now," she says in a sweet voice.
In 1989, she was one of 10 surviving "GWTW" cast members who gathered in Atlanta for the celebration of the film's 50th anniversary.
"Anyone who had read the book sensed they were into something that would belong to the ages, and everyone was in a frenzy to read the book," she said.
"The specialness of this is with each generation of young people who are touched by `Gone With the Wind,'" she said. "As long as there are little children, there will always be a Mickey Mouse. ... On an adult version, `Gone With the Wind' does that."
Rutherford concurred with other cast members that no matter what else they had done, "Our obituary will say we were in `Gone With the Wind' and we'll be proud of it."
In a 1969 Los Angeles Times interview, she lamented that the "permissive generation" of the 1960s wasn't getting the old-fashioned parenting that the fictional Andy Hardy got.
"Someday someone will have to sit down with today's youth and give them a man-to-man talk," she said. She also joked that "my life has reached the point where I'm now `camp.'"
Rutherford was born in 1917, according to the voter records reviewed by The Associated Press. Some sources give other dates. The daughter of an opera tenor and an actress, she began performing on the stage as a child.
She launched her movie career in Westerns while still in her teens, often appearing with singing cowboy hero Gene Autry and sometimes with John Wayne.
She joined MGM in 1937, playing a variety of roles for several years before leaving the studio to freelance.
Among her other films: "Whistling in the Dark," with Red Skelton, 1941, and its two sequels, "Whistling in Dixie" and "Whistling in Brooklyn"; "Orchestra Wives," with bandleader Glenn Miller, 1942; and "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," with Danny Kaye, 1947.
Filmography
Features
Year Title Role Notes
1934 Student Tour Student Uncredited
1935 Waterfront Lady Joan O'Brien
Melody Trail Millicent Thomas
The Fighting Marines Frances Schiller
The Singing Vagabond Lettie Morgan
1936 The Oregon Trail Anne Ridgeley
The Lawless Nineties Janet Carter
Doughnuts and Society Joan Dugan
Comin' 'Round the Mountain Dolores Moreno
The Harvester Ruth Jameson
The Lonely Trail Virginia Terry
Down to the Sea Helen Pappas
1937 Espionage Train Passenger Uncredited
The Devil Is Driving Kitty Wooster
Public Cowboy No. 1 Helen Morgan
Live, Love and Learn
The Bride Wore Red Third Peasant Girl Uncredited
You're Only Young Once Annie Hawks
1938 Of Human Hearts Annie Hawks
Judge Hardy's Children Polly Benedict
Love Finds Andy Hardy Polly Benedict
Out West with the Hardys Polly Benedict
Dramatic School Yvonne
A Christmas Carol Spirit of Christmas Past
1939 Four Girls in White Patricia Page
The Hardys Ride High Polly Benedict
Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever Polly Benedict
These Glamour Girls Mary Rose Wilston
Dancing Co-Ed Eve
Gone with the Wind Carreen O'Hara
Judge Hardy and Son Polly Benedict
1940 The Ghost Comes Home Billie Adams
Andy Hardy Meets Debutante Polly Benedict
Pride and Prejudice Lydia Bennet
Wyoming Lucy Kincaid
Keeping Company Mary Thomas
1941 Andy Hardy's Private Secretary Polly Benedict
Washington Melodrama Laurie Claymore
Whistling in the Dark Carol Lambert
Life Begins for Andy Hardy Polly Benedict
Badlands of Dakota Anne Grayson
1942 The Courtship of Andy Hardy Polly Benedict
This Time for Keeps Katherine 'Kit' White
Orchestra Wives Connie Ward
Andy Hardy's Double Life Polly Benedict
Whistling in Dixie Carol Lambert
1943 Happy Land Lenore Prentiss
Whistling in Brooklyn Carol Lambert
1944 Bermuda Mystery Constance Martin
1945 Two O'Clock Courage Patty Mitchell
Bedside Manner Lola Cross
1946 The Madonna's Secret Linda
Murder in the Music Hall Gracie
Inside Job Claire Gray Norton
1947 The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Gertrude Griswold
1948 Adventures of Don Juan Donna Elena
1950 Operation Haylift Clara Masters
1950 Nash Airflyte Theater
1951 Stars Over Hollywood
1951 Gruen Guild Theater
1952 Hollywood Opening Night
1952 - Campbell Summer Soundstage
1953 - Suspense
1953 Robert Montgomery Presents
1953- Willys Theatre Presenting Ben Hecht's Tales of the City
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