Celebrity News November 23, 2022
Mickey Kuhn, Last Surviving Credited 'Gone with the Wind' Actor, Dies at 90
Mickey Kuhn, who had been the last surviving credited cast member of "Gone with the Wind," died on Sunday in a hospice facility in Naples, Florida. THR confirmed his death.
Kuhn was 90.
Born September 21, 1932, in Waukegan, Illinois, he was working in Hollywood a year later. In films from infancy, Kuhn made his first uncredited appearance in a film in 1934 as an infant adopted by Janet Gaynor, the first actress ever to win an Oscar. His first credited work was in "Juarez" (1939) with Bette Davis.
By far, his most famous role was as Beau Wilkes in the 1939 silver-screen classic "Gone with the Wind." When his character's mother, Melanie (Olivia de Havilland), dies, Kuhn delivers the heart-tugging line, "Where is my mother going away to? And why can't I go along, please?"
With his death, Patrick Curtis, who played Beau as an infant, is among a handful of others still living who claim to have had uncredited roles in the film.
Kuhn's other films included Humphrey Bogart's "King of the Underworld" (1939), "Dick Tracy" (1945), "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" (1945), "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" (1946), and the John Wayne classic "Red River" (1948). Wayne famously smacked Kuhn in the movie — and Kuhn later confirmed it was the real deal.
He worked with James Stewart twice, in "Magic Town" (1947) and "Broken Arrow" (1950).
He appeared briefly in "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951), making him the only actor to share the screen with Vivien Leigh in both films for which she won Oscars.
Kuhn ended his acting career with three episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" (1957), going on to work in the airline industry until his 1995 retirement.
He attended many film conventions and "Gone with the Wind" cast reunions over the years, keeping the flame alive for one of the most beloved films in Hollywood history.
Kuhn is survived by his wife of 37 years, two children and one grandchild.