Carole D’Andrea, who starred as Jet girl Velma in the original 1957 Broadway production of West Side Story and reprised the role in the classic 1961 Oscar winning film, has died at the age of 87.
Here daughter Andrea Doven confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the legendary star died March 11 of heart failure at her home in Santa Monica
She was one of only six actors to make the transition from the original Broadway cast of West Side Story to the big screen version. The others were Tony Mordente, Tommy Abbott, William Bramley, Jay Norman and David Winters.
Her character Velma, was a rich girl who falls for Riff in the stage version of West Side Story, which premiered in September 1957 at the Winter Garden Theatre.
When the big screen version was being made seven years later she was brought back for the role although her character was given a new love interest in the form of Ice (Tucker Smith), a character created for the movie.
With cinema icon Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer in the lead roles of star crossed doomed lovers Maria and Tony the movie was a huge smash.
It was nominated for 11 Oscars and won ten, including Best Picture, becoming the record holder for the most wins for a musical.
Born on August 28, 1937, in Altoona, Pennsylvania, D’Andrea graduated from Altoona Area High School, where she was a majorette.
She turned down a scholarship to Penn State University when she was aged around 16 and headed to New York to pursue an acting career after her parents died in a car crash.
She was married to Tony award winner and Mad Men star Robert Morse from 1961 until they divorced in 1981.
She quit acting to focus on raising their three daughters, Andrea, Robin and Hilary. Robin and Hilary have followed in their parents footsteps and performed on Broadway, while Robin is a teacher at the Manhattan School of Music.
West Side Story was to be her only film and following her retirement from stage and screen she turned her hand to teaching acting.
She began teaching at Carnegie Hall in New York abut in the early 1990s she moved to the West Coast where she taught acting and performance skills in Hollywood.
She continued teaching wel into old age. During the COVID pandemic she moved her classes online and she was still teaching up until a week before her death.
She is survived by her daughters and her grandchildren, Lucia, Francis, Jagger, Marlon and Lance.