Gloria Stuart, Star of Titanic, dies a centenarian

Gloria Frances Stuart (July 4, 1910 – September 26, 2010) was an American actress. Over a Hollywood career that has spanned more than 70 years, Stuart appeared on stage, in television and film, and was best known for her roles as Claude Rains' sweetheart in The Invisible Man and as Old Rose in her Academy Award nominated role in the film Titanic.

She died yesterday at her home in West Los Angeles, California, the Los Angeles Times reported, citing her family. She was diagnosed with lung cancer five years ago, the newspaper said.

Stuart was 87 when “Titanic,” director James Cameron’s epic fictional account of passengers aboard the doomed luxury liner, opened in December 1997. The movie followed Rose (Kate Winslet) and Jack (Leonardo DiCaprio) as they met, fell in love, navigated the Titanic’s strict class divisions and then tried to survive after the ship struck an iceberg.

Stuart narrates the movie as 101-year-old Rose, who joins treasure hunters searching the Titanic’s wreckage for a legendary diamond necklace. Toward the film’s end, she reveals the necklace she has secretly possessed since the night the ship sank, and drops it into the ocean.

Stuart’s role in “Titanic” capped a film career that appeared to have ended, with little fanfare, decades earlier.

‘Classy Yet Seductive’.


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