MUMBAI: Phyllis Thaxter, who played Ma Kent in Superman made in 1978, has expired at the age of 90. The actress is also remembered for the role of the faithful girlfriend to vengeful POW Robert Ryan in Act of Violence, a 1948 film.

A contract player at MGM and Warner Bros., before her career came to a halt by an illness, Thaxter also starred in the psychological thriller Bewitched.

Born 20 November, 1921 in Portland, Maine, Thaxter's mother was a former Shakespearean actress, while her father was a state Supreme Court justice. She joined the Montreal Repertory Theatre troupe as a teenager before she joined Broadway.

She made her film debut in Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, made in 1944 as the wife of Van Johnson. A year later, she played a role in Bewitched after which she appeared in Week-End at the Waldorf, which was a remake of the Greta Garbo classic Grand Hotel.

Films that followed were The Sea of Grass, Tenth Avenue Angel, Blood on the Moon and Act of Violence. She then joined Warner Bros. and appeared in films like The Breaking Point, Come Fill the Cup, Springfield Rifle, Jim Thorpe- All-America and She's Working Her Way Through College, after which her contract was terminated.

That led Thaxter to television, where she appeared in guest-starring roles in Lux Video Theatre, Climax!, Wagon Train, Rawhide, The Defenders, Medical Center, Marcus Welby, M.D. and many other series.