Emmy award winner Polly Bergen died in her Connecticut home Saturday at age 84 after six decades of being an actress, the Independent reported.

Bergen played a number of well-known roles such as a terrorized wife in the original "Cape Fear," the first female president in "Kisses for My President" and later, in 2005, played the president's mother in "Commander in Chief." Most recently she played the mother Felicity Huffman's character on "Desperate Housewives," as well as a past mistress on "The Sopranos."

The actress died on Saturday from natural causes, according to her publicist Judy Katz.

She was a household name beginning in 1920, known for her sultry singing voice, and the brunette played leading roles in films, musicals onstage and in TV dramas. She also made albums, hosted her own variety series and founded a beauty products company named after her.

At age 20, she was already an established singer and starred with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in "At War With the Army" in 1950. Three years later was her Broadway debut with Harry Belafonte in "John Murray Anderson's Almanac."

She won an Emmy five years later, in 1958, for her portrayal of Helen Morgan the anthology series "Playhouse 90." Her other accomplishments include authoring advice books.

"I was fanatically ambitious," she said in 2001. "All I ever wanted to be was a star. I didn't want to be a singer. I didn't want to be an actress. I wanted to be a star."

Bergen was known for her fiere attitude on and off the screen, a reputation she purposely built, according to CBS. It was difficult in the beginning, because everyone saw her as "just another bubble-headed actress."

While speaking to women at a business group in 1968, Bergen said her definition of success was "when you feel what you've done fulfills yourself, makes you happy and makes people around you happy."

She is survived by her children Peter Fields, Kathy Lander and Pamela Fields and three grandchildren.

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