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Martha Hyer, Oscar-nominated actress, dies at 89

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Martha Hyer, the Old Hollywood actress best known for her Oscar-nominated performance opposite Frank Sinatra in 1958’s “Some Came Running,” has died at age 89, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

A striking blond glamor girl, Hyer was born in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1924 and studied at Northwestern University. She was first spotted by a Hollywood talent agent at the Pasadena Playhouse and went on to appear in westerns as well as the sci-fi farce “Abbott and Costello Go to Mars,” the B-adventure “Yukon Gold” and the African safari film “The Scarlet Spear.”

Hyer got her big break playing William Holden’s fiancee in Billy Wilder’s 1954 romantic comedy “Sabrina,” which co-starred Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart.

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She would go on to star in “Battle Hymn” with Rock Hudson, “My Man Godfrey” with David Niven, “Houseboat” with Cary Grant, “The Best of Everything” with Joan Crawford and “The Sons of Katie Elder” with John Wayne.

Hyer’s brief first marriage, to “Scarlet Spear” director C. Ray Stahl, ended in divorce. Hyer was also married to producer Hal B. Wallis (“Casablanca,” “The Maltese Falcon”) from 1966 until his death in 1986.

Her autobiography, “Finding My Way: A Hollywood Memoir,” was published in 1990.

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