Ann Rutherford, who played Scarlett’s sister in “Gone With the Wind,” dies at 94

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Ann Rutherford, who played Scarlett O’Hara’s sister Carreen in the 1939 classic “Gone With the Wind,” has died. She was 94.

A close friend, Anne Jeffreys, tells the Los Angeles Times that Rutherford died Monday night at her home in Beverly Hills. She had heart problems and was in declining health.

Rutherford was playing Mickey Rooney’s girlfriend Polly Benedict in MGM’s Andy Hardy series when she got the role in “Gone With the Wind.”

Rutherford told the Times in 2010 that MGM head Louis B. Mayer was going to refuse her the part. But Rutherford, who was a fan of the novel, burst into tears and he relented.

Rutherford retired from acting in 1976.