FILE - This July 26, 1972 file photo shows actress Ann Rutherford gazing at old sets on the MGM studio’s Lot 2 in Los Angeles where she and Mickey Rooney filmed the Andy Hardy series. Rutherford, who played Scarlett O'Hara's sister Carreen in the 1939 movie classic "Gone With the Wind," died at her home in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Monday, June 11, 2012. She was 94. (AP Photo/JLR, file)
June 12, 2012 - 10:47 AM
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Ann Rutherford, who played Scarlett O'Hara's sister Carreen in the 1939 movie classic "Gone With the Wind," has died. She was 94.
A close friend, Anne Jeffreys, tells the Los Angeles Times (http://lat.ms/MEPubi ) that Rutherford died Monday night at her home in Beverly Hills. She had heart problems and was in declining health.
Rutherford was playing Mickey Rooney's girlfriend Polly Benedict in MGM's Andy Hardy series when she got the role in "Gone With the Wind."
Rutherford told the Times in 2010 that MGM head Louis B. Mayer was going to refuse her the part. But Rutherford, who was a fan of the novel, burst into tears and he relented.
Rutherford continued to make Andy Hardy movies and later appeared in other films, including 1947's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," and on television before retiring in 1976.
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Information from: Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com
News from © The Associated Press, 2012