<p>The actress, who shot to fame with her role of a white girl who wrongly accuses a black man of rape in the Gregory Peck starrer classic died on October 14 of brain cancer at her home in Highlands, N C.<br /><br />Paxton, an accomplished stage actress, worked opposite Richard Basehart on Broadway in 'The Day the Money Stopped' in 1958, the Hollywood Reporter said.<br />She also starred with Tallulah Bankhead in 'Crazy October', Geraldine Page in 'Strange Interlude' and Ruth Gordon in 'La Bonne Soup'.<br /><br />'Mockingbird' was her film debut, where she portrayed Mayella Violet Ewell, the daughter of a racist (James Anderson) who accuses a black man of rape under pressure from her father.<br /><br />The scene in which she is cross-examined by Gregory Peck's character, lawyer Atticus Finch, is considered one of the best court scenes in movie history.<br />She later worked in TV shows like 'The Twilight Zone', 'Playhouse 90', 'The Waltons' and 'Columbo'. Paxton left Hollywood in the early '80s to return to her homeland in Highlands.<br /><br />The actress is survived by her husband and two children.</p>
<p>The actress, who shot to fame with her role of a white girl who wrongly accuses a black man of rape in the Gregory Peck starrer classic died on October 14 of brain cancer at her home in Highlands, N C.<br /><br />Paxton, an accomplished stage actress, worked opposite Richard Basehart on Broadway in 'The Day the Money Stopped' in 1958, the Hollywood Reporter said.<br />She also starred with Tallulah Bankhead in 'Crazy October', Geraldine Page in 'Strange Interlude' and Ruth Gordon in 'La Bonne Soup'.<br /><br />'Mockingbird' was her film debut, where she portrayed Mayella Violet Ewell, the daughter of a racist (James Anderson) who accuses a black man of rape under pressure from her father.<br /><br />The scene in which she is cross-examined by Gregory Peck's character, lawyer Atticus Finch, is considered one of the best court scenes in movie history.<br />She later worked in TV shows like 'The Twilight Zone', 'Playhouse 90', 'The Waltons' and 'Columbo'. Paxton left Hollywood in the early '80s to return to her homeland in Highlands.<br /><br />The actress is survived by her husband and two children.</p>
