Carol Lynley, star of The Poseidon Adventure and Blue Denim, dies aged 77

American actress Carol Lynley has died at the age of 77. The screen star, who shot to fame in the likes of The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and Quincy M.E. (1976), passed away earlier this week, according to multiple reports.

Lynley’s daughter Jill Selsman told People that her mother passed away “peacefully in her sleep” at her home in the Los Angeles neighbourhood of Pacific Palaisades on Tuesday. Her cause of death has not yet been confirmed, however friends of the late star claimed she suffered a heart attack.

“She loved working in film as much as she loved going to the movies. I saw everything as a child with her,” Selsman told the outlet. “She was curious about the world around her, loved to spend time with interesting people, of all stripes and was generally a very peaceful person. Very live and let live.”

She added: “Clearly, you can’t change death, but if there is a world beyond, she’s dancing with her great friend Fred Astaire and enjoying her new life as much as she enjoyed her previous one.”

Lynley began her acting career at the age of 15, going on to star alongside the likes of Laurence Olivier in Bunny Lake is Missing (1965). She also appeared in many TV series including Hawaii Five-O, Hart to Hart, Charlie’s Angels and the fourth season of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.

She also turned heads in controversial teen drama Blue Denim in 1959, with her performance as Janet Willard earning her a Golden Globe nomination for most promising newcomer. The movie followed Lynley’s character who becomes pregnant by her teenage lover, with the pair pursuing an abortion, which was illegal at the time.

And, at the height of her fame in 1965, she stripped nude and posed for the iconic Playboy magazine, in the same year she played the mother of a kidnapped child in Bunny Lake Is Missing.

Tributes flooded in for Lynley online, with one fan writing on Twitter: “My favorite #CarolLynley movie #BunnyLakeIsMissing #KeirDullea She had this unique, natural screen presence. Ever character she portrayed was so believable and exciting to watch. So special.”

Another admitted she was their first crush, adding: “I am so utterly crushed. carol lynley has passed. she was my first bonafide crush. Impossible to tally how many times i’ve watched ‘the poseidon adventure’. I waited on her a few times at butterfields in crown center while she performed in a play at american heartland theatre.” [sic]

While a third fan wrote: “Vale Carol Lynley. I grew up watching her in The Poseidon Adventure. Her part in that always got a lot of flak but she was quite effective playing a sweet lost soul.”

Lynley had one child, daughter Jill, with ex-husband Michael Selsman whom she was married to for four years between 1960 and 1964. She also enjoyed an 18-year on-off affair with renowned British broadcaster David Frost.