(Dennis McLellan’s article appeared in the Los Angeles Times, 7/16/12; via Pam Green.)
Celeste Holm, the versatile actress who achieved fame on Broadway in the original production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's hit musical "Oklahoma!" in 1943 and five years later won an Oscar for best supporting actress in the landmark movie-drama "Gentleman's Agreement," died Sunday. She was 95.
Holm, whose more than 70-year career in show business included performing in nightclubs, died in her apartment on Central Park West in New York City, said her husband, Frank Basile.
She had recently spent two weeks in a hospital, where she was discovered to be dehydrated and ended up suffering a heart attack. She asked to be taken home Friday, Basile said.
Holm's hospitalization, the couple briefly had been living outside their home because of smoke damage from a fire in actor Robert De Niro's apartment in the same building.
"My wife was an extraordinary woman," Basile said. "She lived her life with such grace and dignity."
http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-celeste-holm-20120716-story.html