Joan Leslie, star of ‘Yankee Doodle Dandy,’ dies at 90

Joan Leslie, who was just 17 years old when she acted alongside James Cagney in Yankee Doodle Dandy, has died. She was 90 years old.

screenshot from YouTube trailer
screenshot from YouTube trailer

Leslie’s family said that she died on Oct. 12. The family is asking that donations be made to Our Mother of Good Counsel Church or St. Anne’s in Los Angeles.

While Leslie appeared in over 30 films during her career, most of her best known work came before she was 20. She was 15 when she acted with Humphrey Bogart in High Sierra, an important film in Bogie’s career. She turned 17 while making Yankee Doodle Dandy and played Gary Cooper’s love interest in Sergeant York the following year.

Other credits include Thank Your Lucky Stars, Hollywood Canteen, This Is The Army, Repeat Performance and The Sky’s The Limit.

As Variety notes, after she married physician William Caldwell in 1950, she stepped away from acting. However, she still made appearances in television, appearing in Charlie’s Angels, Murder, She Wrote and others.

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