LOS ANGELES (AP) — Frances Mercer, a leading model of the 1930s who went on to star in films, radio, television and on Broadway, died Sunday. She was 85.
Chosen as one of New York's most beautiful models while still in her teens, Mercer made her film debut in 1938 playing Ginger Rogers' rival for James Stewart's affections in "Vivacious Lady."
In the next two years, Mercer made eight more movies, including "The Mad Miss Manton" opposite Barbara Stanwyck.
In theater work, she had costarring roles in the Broadway musicals "All the Things You Are" and "Something for the Boys."
Mercer also had her own New York-based radio show, "Sunday Night at Nine."
On TV, Mercer played a vituperative mother-in-law on the soap opera "For Better or Worse" and surgical nurse Ann Talbot in the 1955-57 syndicated series, "Dr. Hudson's Secret Journal."