death. Martel battled breast cancer for the last five years of her life. On August 12, 2014, she died from complications of a heart attack at a hospital in Santa Monica, California. She was 78. References External links 1936 births 2014 deaths American film actresses American television actresses American acting coaches American people of Austrian-Jewish descent Actresses from New York City People from the Bronx 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Jewish American actresses 21st-century American Jews