BOSTON -- Actress Shirley Booth, best known for the television series 'Hazel,' and winner of the 1952 Academy Award for best actress for her role in 'Come Back, Little Sheba,' has died of natural causes at her Cape Cod home. She was 96.
A spokesman for the Nickerson Funeral Home in Chatham said Booth died of natural causes Friday, Oct. 16 following a brief illness.
Booth won Emmys as outstanding lead actress in a continuing series three years in a row (1961-63) for her portrayal of the sassy maid in the TV series 'Hazel.' She was nominated for outstanding single performance by a leading actress in 1966 for 'The Glass Menagerie.'
She won a Tony Award in 1950 for her Broadway role of the pathetic wife of an alcoholic in William Inge's 'Come Back Little Sheba,' for which she also won the Oscar in 1952, becoming one of the rare actresses to win the top awards for the stage, screen and television.
Booth was born Thelma Booth Ford in the Morningside Heights section of New York City, debuting as a performer at the age of 3, and joining the Hartford (Conn.) stock company at 12, when she took her stage name.
She made her Broadway debut at 18 in 'Hell's Bells' with Humphrey Bogart.
Her Broadway credits included such classics as 'The Philadelphia Story,' 'My Sister Eileen' and 'A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.'
The versatile Booth also appeared with her husband at the time, Ed Gardner, in the radio favorite 'Duffy's Tavern,' in which she played Miss Duffy.
She is survived by a sister, Jean Coe of Los Angeles. The spokesman said services will be private.
