The oldest surviving actress from the film Gone With the Wind, Alicia Rhett, died at her South Carolina retirement home Friday at the age of 98.
Rhett played the spinster sister of Ashley Wilkes, the object of O’Hara’s affection, in the 1939 movie classic.
Rhett did not receive the stardom status of other Gone with the Wind stars like Vivian Leigh and left Hollywood to return to her family home in Charleston, S.C. to pursue regional acting and painting.
She reportedly sketched her fellow “Gone with the Wind’ co-stars in between takes of the movie. Much of Rhett’s artwork remains on display in both her native Georgia and adopted South Carolina, WSAV-TV, Savannah, reported.
Rhett’s great-grandfather was Sen. Robert Rhett who was known as the “Father of Secession” for his outspoken opposition to the union.
Only three other Gone with the Wind cast members are alive today.
Olivia De Havilland, who played Melanie, is 97 and lives in Paris. She is rumored to be considering making the trip to America this year to help celebrate the 75th anniversary of the film.
The other remaining cast members include Mary Anderson, 93, who played Southern belle Maybelle Merriweather, and Mickey Kuhn, 81, who played Beau Wilkes, the young son of Ashley and Melanie Wilkes.
Much like her role in the film, Rhett never married and had no children.
Image via Wikimedia
