FINAL CURTAIN

‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ Star Sally Ann Howes Dead at 91

The screen and stage legend reportedly passed away Sunday.

Sally Ann Howes, best known for starring as Truly Scrumptious in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, has died at the age of 91. The Times of London reported that the screen and stage legend passed away Sunday. Howes rose to fame in 1966 with an award-winning television adaptation of Brigadoon, then, a year later, she was offered her starring role in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang—after Julie Andrews turned it down. In the movie, she performed the numbers “Toot Sweets,” “Hushabye Mountain,” and “Doll on a Music Box.” However, despite the movie’s success, Howes went on to spent most of her career on the stage. “I would have liked a film career, but I didn’t pursue it—I just loved connecting with an audience,” she said. “The theater is a drug. The problem is that to be remembered, you have to do films.”