Actor Gary Merrill, whose career included supporting roles in such film classics as "Twelve O'Clock High," and "All About Eve," as well as a stormy marriage to Bette Davis, has died. He was 74.
Merrill, who had waged a two-year battle with lung cancer, died Monday at his seaside cottage in Falmouth Foreside near Portland, the Portland Press-Herald said, quoting a family member.Merrill appeared in 42 films in a career that spanned more than 40 years. The ruggedly handsome, deep-voiced actor made his stage debut in 1937 and got his first movie role in "Winged Victory" in 1944. He last appeared on stage in 1980 in "Mornings at Seven," with Maureen O'Sullivan.
In 1950, Merrill won a supporting role in "All About Eve," where he met Davis. The couple was married in July, the same day Merrill was divorced from his first wife, actress Barbar Leeds.
Davis and Merrill divorced in 1960, and the two did not communicate until 1985 when Davis wrote to thank him for publicly criticizing "My Mother's Keeper," a critical biography of Davis written by her daughter.