RIP Susannah York (1939 - 2011)

Susannah York, the British actress whose gamine looks and demure persona made her an icon of the swinging 60s, has died at the age of 72. She passed away Saturday following a long battle with bone marrow cancer.

York won acclaim for her roles in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? – the 1969 film role for which she was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe – as well as A Man For All Seasons in 1966 and as the feisty section officer who took on Kenneth More in the stirring second world war epic Battle of Britain in 1969.

She also had an extensive and critically acclaimed stage career, which included roles in The Singular Life of Albert Nobbs and Henry James's play Appearances, and continued to act late into her life. She was also a children's author, penning two fantasy novels.

Other notable film roles include Tom Jones (1963), The Killing of Sister George (1968), Happy Birthday Wanda June (1971), The Maids (1974), and Superman (1978) as Kal-El's birth mother Lara.