'Gone with the Wind' child actress dies at 76

[September 03, 2010]  FORT BRAGG, Calif. (AP) -- Cammie King Conlon, the actress who portrayed the doomed daughter of Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara in "Gone With the Wind," has died at 76.

Her friend, Bruce Lewis, says Conlon died of lung cancer Wednesday morning at her home on California's north coast. Her son, Matthew Ned Conlon, was by her side.

Conlon was picked to play the small, but pivotal role of Bonnie Blue Butler in the 1939 film at age 4. Her character's death in a fall from a pony irrevocably damages Rhett and Scarlett's tumultuous marriage.

Conlon also voiced the young doe Faline in Walt Disney's "Bambi" three years later. It would be her final film role.

Lewis says she never stopped gamely reprising her Bonnie Blue days for "Gone With the Wind" enthusiasts.

[Associated Press]

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