14 DAY TRIAL // Gloria Stuart, who won the hearts of moviegoers all over the world with her role as 100-year-old Rose in James Cameron’s biopic “Titanic,” passed away at her home. She had just turned 100.
Stuart, an actress who starred in a myriad of films in the ‘30s and worked with some of the biggest names in cinematography at the time, saw her career relaunch at 87, when she was cast as Rose in “Titanic.”
A few years ago, the star was diagnosed with lung cancer, the Washington Post informs, but she fought tooth and nail to overcome the disease.
“Gloria Stuart, 100, a glamorous blond actress who starred in 1930s horror films and musicals before reviving a long-dormant career in 1997 with her Oscar-nominated performance as the older version of Kate Winslet’s character, Rose, in the box-office smash ‘Titanic,’ died Sept. 26 at her home in West Los Angeles,” the Washington Post reports.
“She had received a diagnosis of lung cancer several years ago, said her daughter Sylvia Thompson, who confirmed the death,” says the same media outlet.
Though she had a very successful and long career, the highlight for Stuart was her role on “Titanic,” for which she also received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
In doing so, she became the oldest actress ever to be considered for an Academy Award, albeit many saw the decision to have her nominated as one prompted by nostalgia.
Still, the Post notes, critics loved Stuart as Rose and even believed her performance was what held the film together.
“Her ease is poetic. This actress in her 80s holds the picture together, and the irony is, we come to look forward more to her scenes than we do those featuring the colossal scale of the rebuilt Titanic and its expertly milling passengers,” reviewer Elvis Mitchell said at the time, as per the same publication.
The fact that she auditioned for the part that would write history was pure chance, the Post notes.
Stuart heard that Cameron was casting for older actresses, when she received a call from an agent and decided to go and give it a try.
“She joked later to the New York Times that she was cast because, at 87, she was one of few actresses in her age group who was ‘still viable, not alcoholic, rheumatic or falling down’,” the Post says.