Sally Ann Howes, an English-born grande dame of American and British musical comedy who enchanted youngsters as Truly Scrumptious in “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,” the 1968 film about a magical jalopy that floats and soars into imaginary adventures, died on Sunday in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. She was 91 years old.

Howes’ nephew confirmed the news on Twitter, writing that his “beloved Aunty died peacefully in her sleep.”

“I can also confirm the passing of my beloved Aunty Sally Ann Howes who died peacefully in her sleep yesterday,” Toby Howes said in response to a friend’s post on Howes’ death. “My brother and I thought Sally Ann might hold on until the Christmas screening of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang as this would have greatly appealed to her mischievous side.”

In the United Kingdom, “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” is frequently aired on Christmas Day.

The British production, starring Dick Van Dyke as a crazy widower inventor and Ms. Howes as the love interest, Truly Scrumptious, was partially based on a children’s novel by Ian Fleming, author of the James Bond espionage adventures. They travel to the realm of Vulgaria with his two children and his fantastic flying-boat automobile to fight the evil dictator Baron Bomburst.

Andrew Hart Adler, her son, said she died in a hospital. Ms. Howes had residences in both West Palm Beach and London.

Howes was born on July 20, 1930, in London, to a family of actors. Her film career began in 1943 with the release of Thursday’s Child.

The film, about a little girl who becomes a successful child actor, was prescient in many respects, starting Howes’ career in the film industry.

Ealing Studios signed her up soon after, and she went on to feature in films like “Dead of Night” with Michael Redgrave.

She went on to star in a succession of popular West End shows after signing contracts with Ealing and Rank Studios in the United Kingdom.

Howes was a well-known figure in the entertainment industry, with over 40 credits in cinema and television.

Howes went on to feature in films like Dead of Night, Nicholas Nickleby, and The History of Mr. Polly, among others. She made the switch to theater in the 1950s while continuing to feature in films and television series.

She was particularly fond of musical theater, though she continued to perform on television and in films, notably “The Fifth Column,” in which she co-starred with Richard Burton.

She had an 18-month run in London’s West End with her father in the Lerner and Loewe musical “Paint Your Wagon” before making her Broadway debut as Eliza Doolitle in “My Fair Lady” in 1958, which won her a Life magazine cover article and made her a household figure.

When London was evacuated during World War II, Howes spent much of her youth at her family’s house in Hertfordshire.

She performed in musicals throughout the United Kingdom and the United States, sang at the White House for Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon B. Johnson, appeared on television game and talk shows, was a Barbie doll, sang operettas, and later lectured, produced documentaries, and raised funds for AIDS research and other charities.

She toured the United States as Mrs Higgins in Cameron Mackintosh’s version of My Fair Lady from September 2007 to January 2008. She was an artistic advisor for the Palm Beach Theatre Guild when she wasn’t acting.