‘Most Televised Girl’ Succumbs To Cancer

Rita Morley Harvey, a television and Broadway actress once dubbed “America’s Most Televised Girl,” died Saturday after a long battle with cancer. She was 69.

Harvey, who lived in Stamford, had a long career as an actress for television, radio and theater. Born Rita Gann, she later adopted the professional name Rita Morley.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Harvey appeared in soap operas including “As the World Turns,” “The Edge of Night” and “Secret Storm.”

While a spokeswoman for The Coty Co. in the 1950s, Harvey made so many TV appearances that she was dubbed “America’s Most Televised Girl.”

Her Broadway appearances included “The Seven Year Itch” and “The Impossible Years.”

Harvey was a member of the board of directors of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and the Screen Actors Guild. She wrote “Those Wonderful, Terrible Years,” a history of the union’s struggle with blacklisting.