Mad World actress Dorothy Provine dies

Dorothy Provine, a leggy blond actress of the 1950s and '60s best known as Milton Berle's quirky wife in It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, has died. She was 75.

Provine died Sunday of emphysema, according to her husband, film director Robert Day.

"She was so beautiful," Day said of his wife of 43 years from their home in Bainbridge Island, in Washington.

Provine was a singer, dancer, actress and comedian who broke into movies with 1958's The Bonnie Parker Story.

She was born in Deadwood, S.D., and appeared in stage productions while attending the University of Washington.

She played more than 40 roles in film and TV and starred opposite actors such as Ethel Merman, Spencer Tracey, Buddy Hackett and Edie Adams.

In Stanley Kramer's epic comedy It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, she is the only character not interested in racing into the desert to claim a pot of treasure left by a dying man.

In 1960 and '61, she played the high-kicking flapper working in a speakeasy in TV series The Roaring '20s.

Her film credits include Live Fast, Die Young; The 30 Food Bride of Candy Rock; That Darn Cat and the Blake Edwards-directed comedy The Great Race.

On television, she appeared in '77 Sunset Strip, Sugarfood, Wagon Train and Mike Hammer.

Provine left acting after her marriage to Day in 1968.

She is survived by her husband, son Robert Day, and two sisters.

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