Actress Dana Wynter, who was best known for her role as Becky Driscoll in director Don Siegel‘s (Twilight Zone, Dirty Harry) 1956 sci-fi classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers, has died of congestive heart failure at the age of 79.

Wynter spent more than four decades on film and television, including stints on Magnum, P.I , The Love Boat and Fantasy Island and starred alongside Rock Hudson and Sidney Poitier in Something of Value , and James Cagney and Don Murray in Shake Hands with the Devil.

Wynter’s Invasion of the Body Snatchers co-star Kevin McCarthy (Twilight Zone: The Movie, The Howling) died of pneumonia on September 11th of last year, at the age of 96. Wynter is survived by her son, Mark Bautzer.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFnSxeDfENk[/youtube]

All of us at SciFiMafia offer our deepest condolences to Wynter’s son, friends and all of the people who were lucky enough to work with her throughout her long career.