NEW YORK -- Oscar-winning actress Anne Baxter, whose roles ranged from the scheming ingenue in 'All About Eve' to a villainess in 'Batman,' was near death Thursday after suffering a stroke while walking to her hairdresser.
Baxter, 62, was in critical condition in the intensive care unit of Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, a hospital spokeswoman said.
The actress, the granddaughter of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, was unconscious Thursday and doctors were conducting tests to find out the extent of damage, said Joyce Wagner, Baxter's spokeswoman.
Baxter won an Academy Award as best supporting actress for her performance in the 1946 adaptation of Somerset Maugham's 'The Razor's Edge,' in which she played an unhappy American girl drowning her troubles with drink in Paris.
Wagner said Baxter suffered a stroke about 10 a.m. Wednesday on Madison Avenue while on the way to her hairdresser. She denied reports the actress was brain dead.
She said Baxter's friends and three daughters -- Katrina, Melissa, and Maginel -- visited the widowed actress at the hospital.
Baxter, who was married three times and has a grandson, arrived on the East Coast Nov. 23 to spend Thanksgiving at her home in Easton, Connecticut, and was in New York to visit friends Wednesday.
She was scheduled to return to Los Angeles next week for filming in 'Hotel,' the ABC television show in which she stars, Wagner said.
Aaron Spelling, executive producer of the show, said 'we have not thought of the production at this time and we're not going to think of it. We're all praying for Anne.'
Baxter, who plays Victoria Cabot, the wealthy widow who owns the hotel, replaced Bette Davis in the series when Davis suffered a stroke.
One of Baxter's major film roles was with Davis in the 1950 classic 'All About Eve,' where Baxter played a scheming ingenue who tries to undercut Margo Channing, played by Davis.
Actress Jayne Meadows, who co-starred with Baxter in the 1947 film 'Luck of the Irish,' called her 'one of the dearest people, finest actresses and regular gals I've ever known. I'm honored that she is my friend. I will pray for Anne until she is back on her feet.'
James Brolin and Connie Selleca, Baxter's co-stars in 'Hotel,' also sent their prayers.
Baxter was born May 7, 1923, in Michigan City, Ind., and raised in Bronxville and surrounding areas of New York.
She played a variety of roles throughout her half-century career, ranging from a mischievous villainess in television's 'Batman' to the beautiful Egyptian queen in 'The Ten Commandments.'
She shocked Hollywood when, in 1959, she quit acting to marry an Australian cattle rancher and moved to his 36,000-acre spread.
Four years later, she was back, saying she could not handle the 'isolation and loneliness.'
