Another member of the Hollywood community has been hit with the recent death of Alicia Rhett. She never achieved the popularity that most people of her time did, but she received minor stardom due to one role in particular, in the classic Gone With The Wind.
Rhett will always be known for her role in the classic Gone With The Wind, and until recently, she was one of the last remaining cast members to still be alive. The main stars of the film were Clark Gable and Vivien Liegh, who both died many years ago.
Alicia Rhett was 98 when she died, and died on Friday in her hometown of Charleson, South Carolina. She passed away of natural causes around 5 p.m. surrounded by friends at Bishop Gadsden Episcopal Retirement Community, according to Kimberly Farfone Borts, a spokeswoman for the community.
With the death of Alicia Rhett, only three major Gone With The Wind cast members remain: supporting players 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.
The last member, of course, is Olivia De Havilland, who recently mourned the loss of Joan Fontaine, her sister, and an actress she had a feud with throughout their lives.
In the 1939 film which won several Academy Awards, she played the spinster India Wilkes. Her character was the sister of plantation owner Ashley Wilkes who was at odds with Scarlet O’Hara, played by Vivien Leigh
She was born in Savannah, Georgia, but moved with her mother to Charleston after her father died during World War I. Rhett was born in 1915, and has lived in Charleston since 2002.
In addition to her acting career, Rhett was a portrait painter, and was even known to paint her co-stars while on set. To this day, some of her works can be seen in the South Carolina State Library, as well as in children’s books, including South Carolina And The Indians.
Alicia Rhett was the great-granddaughter of U.S. Senator Robert Rhett, who was known as the “Father of Succession.” She never married, and lived a quiet life after leaving Hollywood, developing a reputation as a talented artist.
Image via Wikimedia Commons
