Motown Singer Dies From Dementia Complications: Conny Van Dyke Was 78

Along with her singing career, Van Dyke also acted on television during the '60s and '70s and again in the '00s.

By Allison Schonter

Singer Conny Van Dyke, one of the first white artists signed to Motown Records who also starred in films like W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings, has died. Van Dyke's son, Bronson Page, confirmed to Variety that the famed singer passed away at her home in Los Angeles of complications of vascular dementia on Saturday, Nov. 11. She also battled colon cancer during her lifetime and suffered a stroke that partially paralyzed her. She was 78.

Born in Virginia in 1945, but raised in Detroit, Van Dyke's entertainment career began at the age of 15 when she starred in the movie Among the Thorns opposite Tom Laughlin, Bill Wellman Jr., and Stephanie Powers. At the time, the young star also worked as a songwriter for Wheelsville Records in Detroit. She signed with Motown Records in 1961 after she was discovered performing at a drive-in theater concession stand, her son told Fox News Digital, adding that they "mentioned her to Smokey [Robinson], and the rest is history."

The former Miss Teen USA was one of the first white recording artists on the label. She released her first two singles, "Oh, Freddy," written by Smokey Robinson, and "It Hurt Me Too," previously written and recorded by Marvin Gaye, in 1963. She would later go on to release two country albums, Conny Van Dyke and Conny Van Dyke Sings for You.

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Outside of music, Van Dyke also had a bustling acting career. She notably starred as Betsy, Jeremy Slate's love interest, in the outlaw biker film Hell's Angels '69 in 1969. Her other film roles include 1961's Like Father, Like Son, 1975's Framed, and 2004's Shiner. She also costarred with Burt Reynolds, Ned Beatty, and Art Carney in the 1975 film W.W. and the Dixie Dancekings. On TV, Van Dyke appeared in shows such as Ironside, Adam-12, Nakia, Barbary Coast, and Police Woman throughout the '60s and '70s. She later returned to the small screen in the 2000s with appearances in Cold Case and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.

Van Dyke was diagnosed with colon cancer in the early '90s and later suffered a stroke that she never fully recovered from. Her son said her mother "never let it stop her. She had a really positive attitude about life. She was the same person. But just in a much mellower form." He added of his mother, "She was really phenomenal...the whole thing about my mom is, she lived very close to the fire, and that's how she liked it."

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