The first female fatality from the Broadway A Chorus Line occurred Feb. 6 when Deborah Henry, a long-running Cassie and Val, lost her 16 battle with ovarian cancer.

The family requests that any memorials be sent in care of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

The 44-year-old singer-actress died in her hometown of Memphis, TN.

She began her tenure in A Chorus Line in 1977 and continued performing the show on Broadway and tour, in Europe and the Middle East through the '80s. Her most recent appearance as Cassie was in a Harrah's production in 1991. Deborah also appeared on Broadway in Cats, in the national company of Promises, Promises, and in numerous stock and regional productions. She performed with the Memphis Civic Ballet in the late '60s and was a member of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet Company in the early '70s.

She is survived by her father Jack, step-mother Christine, brothers Jack Jr. and Michael, sisters Darlene and Ashley.