Remembering Mitzi Gaynor: Looking Back on the Late Star’s Career and What She Was ‘Proudest’ Of

Mitzi Gaynor discovered her calling at age 9. “My mother and auntie took me to see Carmen Miranda in the stage revue The Streets of Paris,” she recalled to Closer last year. “I was mesmerized! I remember telling my mother, ‘I can do that. I want to do that.’”

Of course, she was right. Mitzi, who died on October 17 at age 93, appeared in more than a dozen films — many of them musicals — including 1958’s South Pacific. “That film made everything else in my career possible,” she said. After playing nurse Nellie Forbush, Mitzi wisely realized that the era of movie musicals was ending. She pivoted to Las Vegas, where she headlined shows at the biggest casinos for more than a decade and became a fixture on TV variety specials.

Mitzi Gaynor Found Lasting Love With Jack Bean

In 1954, Mitzi married Jack Bean, an agent at MCA. He would guide his wife’s career until his death in 2006. “I knew Jack was in my corner, and he knew that I was in his,” said Mitzi. “We were ‘The Beans,’ really one unit, in work and in life, for so many years. There was a great comfort in that. I loved him. I loved being Mrs. Bean, and I miss him, and the feeling of being really together.”

A year before her passing, Mitzi was working on a memoir. One of the last of the great entertainers who could sing, dance and act, she admitted she’d had a really fabulous life. “I never worked with a stinker,” Mitzi said. “My leading men included Frank Sinatra, Gene Kelly, Bing Crosby, Donald O’Connor, Yul Brynner, David Niven and Kirk Douglas — wow! What’s a girl to do?”

Above all, she felt grateful to her fans. “I’m proudest of the fact I’ve had the opportunity to entertain audiences for so many years,” Mitzi said. “It’s an honor and a privilege to stand in front of an audience, whether it’s on stage or on screen. I hope I brought some joy.”