Broadway star and Oscar winner Celeste Holm dies at the age of 95

Oscar-winning American actress Celeste Holm has died at home in New York City aged 95.

A bright-eyed blonde who soared to Broadway production of the musical Oklahoma! and won an Oscar for best supporting actress in the landmark movie drama ‘ Gentleman’s Agreement ‘ – Celeste Holm has died at the age of 95.

Celeste Holm first major Broadway role came in a 1940 revival of ‘ The Time of Your Life ‘, co-starring fellow newcomer Gene Kelly, and by 1943 she had earned wide recognition portraying Ado Annie – the girl who just can’t say no in ‘ Oklahoma! ‘ to a worldly theatrical agent in the 1991 comedy ‘ I Hate Hamlet ‘ to guest star turns on TV shows such as Fantasy Island and Love Boat II to Bette Davis’ best friend in All About Eve.

President Ronald Reagan appointed American actress Celeste Holm to a 6-year term on the National Council on the Arts twenty years ago. In New York, she was active in the Save the Theatres Committee and was once arrested during a vigorous protest against the demolition of several theaters.

Hollywood legend and film veteran Celeste Holm died peacefully at the age of 95

Some time later Celeste Holm life was caught up in a bitter, multi-year legal family battle that pitted her 2 sons against her and her fifth husband – former waiter Basile, whom she married in 2004 and was more than 45 years her junior. The court fight over investments and inheritance wiped away much of her savings and left her dependent on social security. Celeste Holm and her sons no longer spoke, and she was sued for overdue maintenance and legal fees on her Manhattan apartment.

Celeste Holm had recently spent 2 weeks in a hospital, where she was discovered to be dehydrated and ended up suffering a heart attack. Husband of Holm’s said that Celeste was asked to be taken home.

Before Celeste 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.

A Holm’s husband has confirmed : ‘ She passed peacefully in her home in her own bed with her husband and friends and family nearby ‘.