Actress Ann Rutherford who played Scarlett O’Hara’s sister, Careen in Gone with the wind died at the age of 94 years old. Ann died on Monday evening in her Beverly Hills home according to a report from the Los Angeles Times. Her health has reportedly been declining due to heart problems.
Ann was born in Vancouver to her singer dad and silent film actress but later moved to Los Angeles with her family at the age of 9. As a teenager once Ann figured out that becoming a radio actress would get her out of school, that’s what she became. Her first movie role was in the 1935 low-budget film Waterfront Lady.
Ann later made Westerns with John Wayne and Gene Autry which led to her being signed with MGM. After appearing in the Andy Hardy series, Louis B. Mayer, studio head tried to prevent her from getting the part of Careen in gone with the wind. According to Mayer he saw the part of Careen as a “nothing part.”
However, in 2009, Ann quoted to the Times that the “nothing part” turned her golden years into platinum. With Ann now gone, that leaves one major star from the film still alive which is Olivia de Havilland who played Melanie. Havilland lives in Paris and will turn 96 years old on the 1st July 2012.
Ann is survived by her two grandsons and a daughter.
