Oscar Winner Dies

By Stephen M. Silverman

09/03/1997 at 12:00 AM EDT

Actress Beatrice Straight, 86, a genuine American socialite (she was a Whitney) who won an Oscar for her supporting role as William Holden's abandoned wife in "Network," died on Saturday, reports The New York Times. No cause of death was cited. Besides that landmark 1976 film (which portended the reality TV shows of today), Straight played the parapsychologist in 1982's "Poltergeist." Most of her career was devoted to the stage.