May Britt, the Swedish-born actress whose Hollywood career and personal life placed her at the center of one of America’s most controversial interracial marriages, has died at 91. Her son, Mark Davis, said she died of natural causes on December 11 at Providence Cedars-Sinai Tarzana Medical Center in Los Angeles.
Born Maj-Britt Wilkens on March 22, 1934, near Stockholm, Britt entered film almost by chance after being discovered by Italian filmmakers in the early 1950s. She appeared in several European productions before gaining international attention in War and Peace (1956). That role led to a contract with 20th Century Fox and a move to Hollywood, where she starred alongside Robert Mitchum and Marlon Brando, and played Lola-Lola in the 1959 remake of The Blue Angel.
That same year, Britt married entertainer Sammy Davis Jr., a union that sparked national backlash during an era when interracial marriage remained illegal in parts of the U.S. The controversy effectively ended her studio career, though she later said she had no regrets.
After her divorce from Davis, Britt worked sporadically in television before retiring. She later lived quietly in California, remembered for both her film work and her quiet defiance of prejudice.
