Her granddaughter, Tori Bravo, revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that the movie star died on September 26 at her home in Los Angeles, but her death had not been publicly revealed until now. The actress broke into the film industry as a stunt performer and an inexperienced contract player at Paramount Pictures after auditioning for producer and visual effects pioneer George Pal.
Ann was then cast as the library science teacher Sylvia Van Buren in the Oscar-winning film adaptation of H.G. Wells’ 1898 novel, War of the Worlds. It sees Sylvia and Pacific Tech professor Clayton Forrester (played by Gene Barry) try to figure out a way to defeat Martians who have landed in a small town outside Los Angeles and are spreading across the planet, employing a fantastic heat ray to inflict widespread destruction.
Devastated fans flooded social media with tributes as one penned: "My heart is absolutely broken! She taught women the world over how to scream in terror. But seriously, her humanity brought so much to War of The Worlds. She starred in arguably one of the top two sci-fi movies in the 1950s. RIP beautiful Ann."
"Ms Ann Robinson, in War of the Worlds, left her mark on film history in the scene where the Martians grab her by the shoulder, didn't she? My heartfelt condolences," added a second.
Another fan reflected: "I had the great pleasure of meeting Ann in the 1990s. She was a delight!"
As a fourth added: "R.I.P., and she reprised her role several times in the 1988 syndicated War of the Worlds series."
Steven Spielberg invited Robinson and Barry to reprise that scene in his 2005 version of War of the Worlds, starring Tom Cruise.
Reflecting on her return, in 2016, the actress told Nick Thomas on Tinseltown Talk: "Steven was just so adorable. He came up behind me, squatted down and placed three fingers on my left shoulder and yelled, ‘Someone take my picture!’ Apparently, War of the Worlds was one of his favourite films growing up.
"They treated me like royalty. My son, who was with me, told me he heard people saying, ‘She’s here, she’s here!’ after we arrived on the set. Then for the Ziegfeld Theater premiere, they flew me to New York first class, put me up in a beautiful hotel overlooking Central Park and arranged for a limousine to drive my family around.
Robinson added: "I waited 60 years to get that treatment."
She also played Sylvia in a few episodes of a 1988-90 War of the Worlds TV series. Throughout her career, Robsinson also starred in Dragnet, Gun Brothers, The Glass Wall and The Naked Monster.
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