Ann Carter, Former 1940s Child Actress, Dies at 77

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Ann Carter, who was a tiny Veronica Lake lookalike, with similarly flowing blonde hair, when she appeared in two prominent supernatural-themed films of the 1940s, “Cat People” sequel “Curse of the Cat People” and Lake starrer “I Married a Witch,” before polio ended her career, died Jan. 27 in North Bend, Wash., after long bout with ovarian cancer. She was 77.

Carter made 18 films, beginning with a trio of roles, the first two uncredited, in 1941 and 1942: “Last of the Duanes”; “I Married a Witch,” the delightful comedic fantasy in which she briefly played the daughter of Lake and Fredric March; and Norway-set WWII pic “Commandos Strike at Dawn,” starring Paul Muni, for which she was appropriately Nordic-looking.

The 1944 Val Lewton horror film “Curse of the Cat People” was essentially focused on Carter’s character, and she had a substantial role as a child who befriends the dead first wife of her father.

She also appeared in the 1947 thriller “The Two Mrs. Carrolls,” starring Humphrey Bogart as a homicidal painter and Barbara Stanwyck and Alexis Smith as his two wives; in 1948 parable “The Boy With the Green Hair,” with Dean Stockwell; and in 1949 Bing Crosby vehicle “A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court.”

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Carter contracted polio in 1948; her last onscreen appearance was uncredited role in 1952 Carson McCullers adaptation “The Member of the Wedding.”

Survivors include her husband of 56 years, Stephen; three children; and three grandchildren.

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