Actress Julie Gregg, who played Sandra Corleone in The Godfather, dies at 79 after cancer battle 

By Dailymail.com Reporter

Published: 20:32 EST, 12 November 2016 | Updated: 20:53 EST, 12 November 2016

Julie Gregg, the actress best known for playing the wife of James Caan's iconic The Godfather character Sonny Corleone in the trilogy's first two films, died at 79 this week of cancer.

Gregg's niece Lisa Scalzo told The Hollywood Reporter that the actress - also known for her roles in the 1960s Batman TV series, and films such as 1972's Man of La Mancha and 1967's Hell of Borne - died at her Van Nuys, California residence on Monday.

Gregg, who was born Beverly Scalzo, also made her mark on Broadway, as her lead role in the Kander & Ebb's The Happy Time in 1968 garnered her a nomination for best featured actress in a musical at the Tony Awards.

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Career role: Actress Julie Gregg of The Godfather fame died of cancer this week at 79 at her Van Nuys, California home

Busy: Gregg appeared in a number of prominent 1960s TV shows, such as I Dream of Jeannie

Hollywood beauty: Gregg was seen in this shot with director Arthur Hiller, who was behind the lens of her 1972 movie Man of La Mancha. Hiller died in August at 92

In her turn on first season the Batman series that ran from 1966 thru 1968, Gregg played a blonde bombshell named Finella who was the girlfriend of Burgess Meredith's Penguin. 

She made other appearances in productions from the the comic book franchise, in the TV show's second season as Miss Canary Islands, and as a cabaret singer in 1966's Batman: The Movie.

She spent much of the late 60s working on a number of popular TV shows of the day, including I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, Mod Squad, Mission: Impossible and Hawaii Five-O.

Small screen stalwart: In addition to I Dream of Jeannie, Gregg (left) also appeared on shows like Bewitched,  Mission: Impossible and Hawaii Five-O.

Legacy: Gregg also recieved a Tony Award nomination for her work in Kander & Ebb's The Happy Time

The 1970's brought further TV projects in the way of the 1975 one-and-done ABC drama Mobile One, in which she starred as Maggie Spencer, a TV news editor, alongside Jackie Cooper and Mark Wheeler; and on seven episodes of the NBC detective series Banyon. 

She rounded out the decade with appearances on shows such as B.J. and the Bear, The Incredible Hulk and The Two Million Dollar Stowaway.

In the 1980s, she had cameos on shows such as Nurse, Falcon Crest and Brothers.

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