Los Angeles Associated Press —Mitzi Gaynor, the effervescent dancer and actor who starred as Nellie Forbush in the 1958 film of “South Pacific” and appeared in other musicals with Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly, has died. “Your love, support and appreciation meant so very much to her and was a sustaining gift in her life.”Mitzi Gaynor in 1959. Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesHer entertainment career spanned eight decades across film, television and the stage, 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. Later in her career, Gaynor reinvented herself as a performing entertainer. Gaynor and Bean married in 1954 and in 1960 bought a spacious house in mid-Beverly Hills that became their home until his death in 2006.

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Persons: Angeles Associated Press — Mitzi Gaynor, Nellie Forbush, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Gaynor, Rene Reyes, Shane Rosamonda, ” Reyes, Rosamonda, ” Mitzi Gaynor, Pacific ”, Jack Bean, Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber, Mitzi, Marlene, Bean Organizations: Angeles Associated Press, Pacific, Associated Press, Hulton, Globe, Beverly, Hollywood Locations: Los Angeles, “ South, Las Vegas , Florida, U.S, Canada, England, Australia, Chicago