Gayle Hunnicutt has died at the age of 80.Photo:Martin Mills/Getty

Gayle Hunnicutt poses for a photo circa 1968 in Los Angeles, California

Martin Mills/Getty

Gayle Hunnicutt, the Texas-born actress who played English aristocrat Vanessa Beaumont inDallas, has died at the age of 80.

Hunnicutt died of an unspecified illness on Aug. 31 at a London hospital, according toThe Washington Post. Her ex-husband, journalist Simon Jenkins, confirmed her death to the outlet.

Along with starring opposite Larry Hagman for the final three seasons ofDallas,herother credits includeThe Adventures of Sherlock Holmes,Fall of Eagles,The Golden BowlandThe Return of the Saint.

Hunnicutt was famed for her beauty throughout her career.Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty

Gayle Hunnicutt, UK, 10th May 1972

Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty

The pair divorced in 1974 and in 1978, Hunnicutt married journalist and editor Sir Simon Jenkins with whom she had Edward. During her marriage to Jenkins, Hunnicutt became a firm fixture on the British social scene alongside her acting work. Jenkins and Hunnicutt lived in London’s Primrose Hill, before divorcing in 2000. Her sale of the house they had lived in for three decades became an episode of a 2012 reality show,Selling London.

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Outside of film, Hunnicutt has a great stage presence, too.The Life and Loves of Edith Whartonwas a personal two-hander project of hers that toured for many years. She followed that role with another appearance in a two-hander,The Two Marys.Her last performance was in 1999 when she appeared on an episode of CI5:The New Professionals.

American actress Hunnicutt, London, December 1968.Dove/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty

Gayle Hunnicutt in London on a rainy day, UK, 23rd December 1968

Dove/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty

Hunnicutt was also an author. Having written a book calledHealth and Beauty in Motherhoodin 1984, two decades later she published Dearest Virginia, a moving collection of her father’s love letters written while he was serving in the South Pacific.

source: people.com