Audrey Totter obituary: 1940s film noir actress Audrey Totter dies

Audrey Totter, one of the leading femmes fatale of 1940s film noir, has died. Audrey Totter starred in dozens of movies and TV shows from the 1940s to the 1980s.

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Ric Francis/AP/File
In this May 11, 2004 file photo, retired film actress Audrey Totter speaks during an interview at the Motion Picture and Television Fund Hospital in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles.

Audrey Totter, the radio actress who became a silver screen star by playing femmes fatale in 1940s film noir including "Lady in the Lake," has died.

Totter's daughter, Mea Lane, told the Los Angeles Times that 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.

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