Do Legendary Hollywood actress and singer Abbe Lane has died of natural causes at the age of 93. Although her death occured on Saturday, April 25, it has only just been confirmed and made public by her son, Curb Your Enthusiasm producer Steven Leff, who shared the news with industry bible The Hollywood Reporter.
Having begun her career as a child, she became a huge star throughout the 1960s and 1970s before going on to feature in guest roles in hugely popular TV shows such as Hart To Hart, Burke’s Law, F Troop, The Flying Nun, The Brady Bunch, Love American Style and Amazing Stories. She was discovered aged 16 by big band leader Xavier Cugat, while she was dancing in a show on Broadway. He hired her to sing for his Latin-style band for a European tour. Her popularity overseas surged thanks to the tour, and she made more than 20 Italian films through the mid-1960s while continuing her career as a singer and recording artist.
She and Xavier married in 1952, when she was 19 and he was 52. She was his fourth wife. They divorced 12 years later and she later said he mentally abused her.
Four decades on in 1992, she penned a semi-autobiographical novel titled But Where Is Love?, which featured the character of teenage girl who had been unhappily married to a much older man.
Returning to the USA her fame grew when she became a Las Vegas headliner, and she appeared frequently on television shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show, The Red Skelton Show, The Milton Berle Show, The Hollywood Palace and The Dean Martin Show.
As with all celebrities of that era, she was also a regular panellist on popular game shows, including Password, The Match Game, To Tell The Truth and What’s My Line.
She also became a regular star on some of the biggest shows on TV, including Hart to Hart which saw her star opposit Robert Wagner and Stephanie Powers.
One of her most memorable roles came on the big screen in the the troubled 1983 feature film adaptation The Twilight Zone: The Movie, She starred as the stewardess in a remake segment of the classic tv episode Nightmare at 20,000 Feet, which saw John Lithgow take on the gremlin-spotting William Shatner role.
Tributes flooded in as heartbroken fans learned the news. Writing on Facebook one shared an image and penned: "My first celebrity photo was with Joan Rivers and Abbe Lane at the old Farmers Market in LA from 1977. Abbe Lane died today at age 93. RIP."
Another added: "I think we all love Abbe as Beebe Gallini on the Brady Bunch. RIP." A third chimed in: "So sorry to hear she passed. So pretty and she had a lovely way about her!" Meanwhile a fourth shared: "What a legacy, inspiring story indeed RIP Abby Lane!"