Mitzi Gaynor, star of 'South Pacific' and Westbury Music Fair, dies at 93

Mitzi Gaynor, the effervescent dancer and actor who starred as Nellie Forbush in the 1958 film of "South Pacific" and performed numerous times at the Westbury Music Fair, has died. She was 93.

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

“As we celebrate her legacy, we offer our thanks 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 very much to her and was a sustaining gift in her life.”

Her entertainment career spanned eight decades across film, television and the stage. She was put under contract by 20th Century-Fox in 1950 and made her film debut in "My Blue Heaven" starring Betty Grable, the studio's top box-office draw. She appeared in several other notable films including “There’s No Business Like Show Business” (1954) with Marilyn Monroe and "Les Girls" (1957) with Gene Kelly, but she is best remembered for her turn in “South Pacific.”

The screen version of “South Pacific” received three Academy Award nominations and won for best sound, while Gaynor was a best actress nominee for a Golden Globe.

The role of the lovesick nurse Nellie, created on Broadway by Mary Martin, had been eagerly sought by Hollywood stars. Frank Sinatra helped Gaynor land it. She was starring with him in the 1957 movie “The Joker Is Wild,” when she had a one-day opportunity to audition for lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. It was the same day she was scheduled for her biggest scene with Sinatra. When she explained her plight, he told her, “Don’t worry, I’ll change the schedule.”

Hammerstein was impressed with Gaynor, who had already won the approval of director Joshua Logan and composer Richard Rodgers. She was cast opposite Rossano Brazzi, about whom she sang “I’m in Love with a Wonderful Guy.”

“South Pacific” was not the turning point in her career that Gaynor had hoped it would be, and she shifted her focus from film to television, making early appearances on Donald O’Connor’s variety series “Here Comes Donald,” and on CBS’ “The Jack Benny Hour.” In October of 1959, she was the only women to guest star alongside Sinatra, Crosby, Dean Martin and Jimmy Durante on ABC’s “The Frank Sinatra Timex Show” special.

Later in her career, Gaynor reinvented herself as a performing entertainer. Working with her husband and manager Jack Bean, she starred in her own musical revue that was a big draw in theaters throughout the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Australia.

She became the highest paid female entertainer in Las Vegas and was the first woman to be awarded the Las Vegas governor’s trophy for “Star Entertainer of the Year" in 1970. She was a frequent headliner at the Westbury Music Fair from the 1970s through the '90s.

When touring with a full orchestra, a corps of dancers and backstage personnel became too unwieldy and expensive, Gaynor slimmed down the production, eventually making it a one-woman show. They continued touring every year until 2002 when Bean’s illness required a hiatus.

“I love touring; I’ve been doing it much of my life,” Gaynor said in a 2003 interview. “We go back to the same places; it’s like visiting friends. After the show, people come backstage to the dressing room, and we renew friendships. We send out almost 3,000 Christmas cards every year.”

Born Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber (Mitzi is diminutive for Marlene) in Chicago on Sept. 4, 1931, she was a part of a musically inclined family and started singing and dancing at a young age.

In a 2003 AP interview, Gaynor said she has a clear memory of her stage debut. She had been taking ballet and tap lessons and at age 7 she was scheduled for a tap routine at the dance school recital. She had neglected to use the bathroom, and when she faced the audience, a puddle formed on the stage.

“I ran kicking and screaming off the stage,” she recalls. “But I got huge applause. So I dried off and put some lipstick on. After the next girl did a hula with batons and slipped on the wet floor, I went out and said, ‘I’m OK now. Can I do it?’ And I got cheers!”

Gaynor and Bean married in 1954 and in 1960 bought a spacious house in Beverly Hills that 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.