“South Pacific” Star Mitzi Gaynor Dies At Age 93

The New York Times reports:

Mitzi Gaynor, the bubbly red-haired actress, singer and dancer who landed one of the most coveted movie roles of the mid-20th century, the female lead in “South Pacific,” but who abandoned film as the era of movie musicals came to an end, died on Thursday in Los Angeles. She was 93.

“South Pacific” was a box-office smash, and Ms. Gaynor’s performance, opposite Rossano Brazzi, was well received. (She turned out to be the only one of the film’s stars to do her own singing.)

But she made only three more films, all comedies without music; the last of them, “For Love or Money” with Kirk Douglas, was released in 1963. She turned instead to television and Las Vegas, where she headlined shows at major resorts for more than a decade.

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Words cannot express the sorrow and sadness we feel at the loss of Mitzi Gaynor, an R&H legend known for her starring role as Nellie Forbush in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s South Pacific in 1958.

Mitzi’s memory will forever live on through our screens and in our hearts. pic.twitter.com/0KOIIRVaFE

— The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization (@RnH_Org) October 17, 2024

Emmy Award-winning entertainer and “South Pacific,” film star Mitzi Gaynor, passed away on Thursday, October 17, 2024 in Los Angeles. She was 93. In 2019, Gaynor explained to Mo Rocca some of the rules for her male background dancers. https://t.co/Jt9P4s6Zl2 pic.twitter.com/7PNcKv38HE

— CBS Sunday Morning (@CBSSunday) October 17, 2024

Mitzi Gaynor, star of 1950s big-screen musicals including “South Pacific” and “Les Girls” and of a series of beloved variety specials in the 1970s, died on Thursday. She was 93. https://t.co/Mlg4VaDTfi

— Variety (@Variety) October 17, 2024