Nancy Malone dead: 'The Bionic Woman' producer has died in Los Angeles aged 79

Actress Nancy Malone attending the 'She Made It: Women Creating Television and Radio' event held at The Paley Center For Media on 6 December, 2007 in New York City. (Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images)

Nancy Malone, the pioneering actress, director and producer, has died in Los Angeles, California, her PR confirmed on Friday. She was 79.

Her representative, Harlan Boll, said she died of pneumonia on Thursday, following complications with leukaemia.

Born in in 1935, on Long Island, New York, she began her career as a child model aged 7. At 10, she was chosen to appear on the cover of Life magazine's 10th Anniversary issue, depicting “The Typical American Girl.”

Malone started her prolific acting career in the 1950s, and made her Broadway debut at 17 co-starring with Melvyn Douglas in the comedy Time Out for Ginger.

During her acting career spanning four decades, appeared in dozens of TV and film roles as well as on live radio. Most notably, she played Libby Kingston in the ground-breaking crime drama Naked City, which depicted the lives of detectives in New York.

By the 1970s, she had become interested in working behind the camera, and began producing the super-hero series The Bionic Woman. Malone also directed episodes of numerous TV shows, including Melrose Place, Dynasty, and Diagnosis Murder.

Malone went on to co-founder of Women in Film, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping women achieve their highest potential within the global entertainment, communication and media industries, according to its website.

Additional reporting by AP