Broadway Star Jane White Has Died

Jane White, who played Queen Aggravain in the original Broadway production of Once Upon a Mattress, died in New York City of cancer on July 24, according to The New York Times. She was 88.

White, who was a light-skinned African-American actress, made her Broadway debut in 1945’s Strange Fruit, and later appeared in such shows as Razzle Dazzle, The Climate of Eden, Jane Eyre, and The Cuban Thing. She made her final Broadway appearance as Solange Lafitte in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s 2001 production of Follies.

She appeared in numerous Shakespearean productions in New York, as well, earning an Obie Award for her work in 1965 productions of Coriolanus and Love’s Labour Lost.

White also worked on the cabaret stage and appeared at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency in 2006. She had also performed frequently at Alfredo’s Settebello, a restaurant her owned by her late husband, Alfred Viazzi.

She reprised the role of Queen Aggravain in both the 1964 and 1972 television versions of Once Upon a Mattress. Her film and television credits include Klute, Search for Tomorrow, Amen, and Beloved.

She has no immediate survivors.