"GWTW"'s Evelyn Keyes Dies At 91

Evelyn Keyes, who played Scarlett O'Hara's younger sister Suellen in "Gone With the Wind" and counted director John Huston and bandleader Artie Shaw among her famous husbands, died July 4. She was 91.

The actress died of uterine cancer at her home in Montecito, near Santa Barbara, producer and close friend Allan Glaser said.

Keyes' personal life often overshadowed her acting career. Besides her often turbulent marriages to Shaw and directors Huston and Charles Vidor, she lived with producer Mike Todd for three years during his preparation and filming of "Around the World in 80 Days." She played a cameo role in the movie and helped with publicity.

Todd sent her to the premiere in Caracas, then called her abruptly from Paris, saying, "Listen, I have to tell you. I've fallen in love with Elizabeth (Taylor)."

Keyes gave a frank account of her romances and marriages in her 1977 autobiography, "Scarlett O'Hara's Younger Sister." Her role in the 1939 classic led to a contract at Columbia Pictures and stardom.

Among her notable roles: Robert Montgomery's lover in "Here Comes Mr. Jordan" (1941), Al Jolson's wife Ruby Keeler in "The Jolson Story" (1946), and Dick Powell's wife in "Mrs. Mike" (1949).

Keyes was born in Port Arthur, Texas, in 1916, according to state birth records; some references give a later year. She grew up fatherless and poor in Atlanta.

A glowing blond beauty with an alluring figure, she danced in nightclubs and at 17 set out for Hollywood. Cecil B. DeMille signed her to a seven-year contract and cast her in "The Buccaneer."