Oscar-winner Jane Wyman dead at 93: reports

Jane Wyman, the Oscar-winning actress and former wife of Ronald Reagan, has died at the age of 93, media reports said Monday.

Wyman, who won a best actress Academy Award for her portrayal of a deaf rape victim in "Johnny Belinda" and later appeared in the hit television soap "Falcon Crest," died in Palm Springs, California, CNN reported.

Wyman's representatives could not be immediately reached for comment.

Although Wyman became familiar to millions during the 1980s as the scheming Angela Channing in "Falcon Crest," her heyday had come decades earlier with roles in a string of hit films during Hollywood's golden age.

A contract actress with Warner Brothers studio in the 1930s, Wyman's big break came in 1939 with her first lead role in "Torchy Plays With Dynamite."

She garnered critical acclaim for her performance in 1945's film noir classic "The Lost Weekend," before winning an Oscar nomination the following year for her role in the "The Yearling."

Although she missed out on an Academy Award to Olivia de Havilland, Wyman did not have long to wait before getting her hands on the famous golden statuette, scooping the prize in 1948 for "Johnny Belinda."

It was the first time that the prestigious acting award had been given for a role that did not require a single spoken word of dialogue.

Fittingly, Wyman kept her acceptance speech short and sweet.

"I won this by keeping my mouth shut, and that's what I'm going to do now," she said after collecting the prize.

The win paved the way for roles in several big-budget projects, and she went on to earn two more Oscar nods during her career for 1951's "The Blue Veil" and 1954's "The Magnificent Obsession" opposite Rock Hudson.