Cammie King Conlon, the actress who portrayed the doomed daughter of Rhett Butler and Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With The Wind, has died at 76.

Her friend, Bruce Lewis, said she died of lung cancer at her home on California's north coast.

Conlon was picked to play the small, but pivotal role of Bonnie Blue Butler in the 1939 film at the age of four. Her character's death in a fall from a pony irrevocably damages Rhett and Scarlett's tumultuous marriage.

Conlon was also the voice of the young doe Faline in Walt Disney's Bambi three years later - her final film role.

Mr Lewis said she never stopped gamely reprising her Bonnie Blue days for Gone With The Wind enthusiasts.