NEW YORK (AP) - Broadway star Dorothy Loudon, winner of the 1977 Tony Award for her portrayal of the mean-spirited orphanage manager in “Annie,” died Saturday at a New York hospital. She was 70. Loudon, who lived in New York, had been battling cancer, said her manager and longtime friend, Lionel Larner. The three-time Tony nominee landed her most famous role as the result of a chance encounter with an old friend, director Mike Nichols, who had taken over as producer of the show. He quickly offered her the role of Miss Hannigan - the nemesis of the show’s orphaned star. Loudon was an instant success, winning the Tony, a Drama Desk Award and the Outer Critics’ Circle Award.
Loudon was born Sept. 17, 1933, in Boston, where her mother taught her to sing. She moved to New York as a teenager and received her big show business break when a nightclub owner made her a featured performer. She developed a lounge act, mixing comedy and singing, and often appeared on “The Perry Como Show” and “The Ed Sullivan Show.” In 1962, Loudon made her stage debut in a Jules Feiffer play that was directed by Nichols. Her Broadway debut came a short time later in the musical comedy “Nowhere to Go But Up,” which lasted just two weeks but earned her a nod as most promising newcomer in an annual survey.