Actor and singer who played Truly Scrumptious in the 1968 film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Although she never starred in any original productions of his shows on Broadway, Richard Rodgers described Sally Ann Howes, who has died aged 91, as “the greatest singer who ever sang on the American musical stage”. Best known for playing Truly Scrumptious opposite Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts in the film Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968), Howes was a classic instance of the star who never really was, despite her talent and impeccable pedigree.
She had dual nationality in Britain and the US, like Julie Andrews, in whose track she followed, first as a child star in British films before and after the second world war, then as Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady in 1958. The show marked her Broadway debut, and she played in it for a year, and for a higher salary than her predecessor. When Andrews declined the role of Truly Scrumptious, in she stepped.
