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Edith Atwater Is Dead at 74; Actress in Theater and Film

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March 17, 1986, Section B, Page 10Buy Reprints
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Edith Atwater, an actress whose career covered more than 50 years on the stage, in films and television, died of cancer Friday at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She was 74 years old and lived in the Los Angeles community of Westwood.

Perhaps the high point of Miss Atwater's long stage career came when she created the role of Maggie Cutler, the female lead in the Broadway production of the Kaufman and Hart comedy ''The Man Who Came to Dinner.'' The play opened in October 1939. In her Broadway debut in 1933, she won critical acclaim in ''Springtime for Henry.'' A year later, she appeared in ''Brittle Heaven'' with Dorothy Gish.

Miss Atwater had roles in numerous Broadway productions, including ''Susan and God,'' ''R. U. R.,'' ''The Gentleman From Athens,'' ''King Lear'' ''State of the Union'' and ''The Child Buyer.'' Her work in films included ''The Body Snatcher'' and ''Strait-Jacket.'' She appeared in several television series, including ''The Rockford Files'' and ''Knots Landing.''

Miss Atwater's marriage in 1941 to the actor Hugh Marlowe ended in divorce and she later married Kent Smith, who died in 1984. There are no immediate survivors.