Movies

1940s film noir actress Audrey Totter dies at 95

LOS ANGELES — Audrey Totter, the radio actress who became a silver screen star by playing femme fatales in 1940s film noir including “Lady in the Lake,” has died.

Totter’s daughter, Mea Lane, tells the Los Angeles Times her mother died Thursday at a Los Angeles hospital. She was 95 and had recently had a stroke.

Totter was under contract with MGM starting in 1944. After landing a small part in “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” Totter went on to a series of roles as tough-talking blondes.

Her breakthrough came with “Lady in the Lake,” the 1947 adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe detective tale. She also appeared in the thriller “The Unsuspected” and the boxing drama “The Set-Up.”

After retiring to raise a family, Totter later resurfaced on television.