Actress Ruth Roman Is Dead Laguna Beach, Calif. (ap) -- Ruth Roman, Whose Breakout Role In Stanley Kramer's 1949 Film "champion" Led To A Lucrative Contract At Warner Bros. And Starring Roles With Gary Cooper, Errol Flynn And James Stewart, Has Died. She Was 75.

Roman died Thursday in her sleep at her Laguna Beach home, said her son, Richard Hall.

The Boston-born Roman started acting in community plays at age 9 and won a scholarship to the Bishop Lee Dramatic School.

She later moved to Hollywood and did a few films before her big role in "Champion," featuring Kirk Douglas as an unscrupulous boxer. Following the film, Warner Bros. offered her a contract, and she starred in nine films in less than two years.

Roman also appeared in "Beyond the Forest" with Bette Davis, "Three Secrets" with Patricia Neal and "Mara Maru" with Flynn.

Other films included "The Far Country" with Stewart, "Bitter Victory" with Richard Burton and "Dallas" with Cooper.

In all, Roman appeared in more than 30 movies, most of them in the 1950s, and a number of television shows in the 1960s and 1970s, including "Naked City," "Knots Landing" and "Murder, She Wrote."

Not all of Roman's dramatic experiences were in front of a camera. In 1956, she was returning from Italy aboard the luxury passenger liner Andrea Doria when it was struck by another ship. More than 50 people died when it sunk, but Roman and her son were among the survivors.