Sally Ann Howes, the British actress who played Truly Scrumptious opposite Dick Van Dyke in the beloved 1968 children’s film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, is dead at the age of 91. Howes died on Sunday, December 19, at a hospital in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, where she had a home, according to the New York Times.
Born to a theater-industry family in London in 1930, Howes began acting in movies at age 12, starring in the 1943 film Thursday’s Child. After performing onscreen through the 1940s, Howes branched out into musical theater in the 1950s. She appeared in West End productions, including the musical Paint Your Wagon, and replaced Julie Andrews as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady on Broadway in 1958. Howes was nominated for a Tony for her starring role in Brigadoon in 1962. She continued to act in theatrical productions until a 2007 touring revival of My Fair Lady, but she is best remembered for starring in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. She married three times and was married to her third husband, Douglas Rae, from 1972 until his death earlier this year. She is survived by her adoptive son, Andrew Hart Adler.
