Gloria DeHaven Dead at 91

In 1983, Gloria DeHaven played Bess on Ryan's Hope.

Actress Gloria DeHaven died Saturday in Las Vegas. She was 91.

Her agent Scott Stander said Monday DeHaven was in hospice care after suffering a stroke a few months ago.

DeHaven, the daughter of vaudeville stars, carved out her own successful career as the bright-eyed, vivacious star of Hollywood musicals and comedies of the 1940s and '50s.

She achieved stardom in 1944's Two Girls and a Sailor, in which she and June Allyson played sisters vying for the affections of Van Johnson.

MGM then employed DeHaven frequently as the second lead in such lightweight films as Summer Holiday, Summer Stock, The Yellow Cab Man and Three Little Words, in which she portrayed her own mother.

DeHaven's soap opera roles included Bess Shelby on daytime drama Ryan's Hope, and Annie Wylie in the syndicated Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. She also portrayed Emma Mallory on All My Children, Sara Fuller in As the World Turns, and made a guest appearance as Gloria Marlowe on primetime sudser Falcon Crest.