Ena Hartman has died aged 93, her family have concerned. The pioneering actress, best known for roles in , Dan August and Terminal Island died on April 16, of natural causes at her home in Van Nuys, her goddaughter Lorraine Foxworth told The Hollywood Reporter.

The actress shot to fame after she participated in an NBC-sponsored talent competition for young actors and actresses. It earned her a talent contract from the network - said to be the first such deal for any Black actor. It was previously reported that the contract meant she would be paid $12,000, for five years and Ena described it as "the most exciting thing that's ever happened to me."

In 1964, she made her onscreen debut on an episode of Bonanza and in the sequel feature, The New Interns. The star later went on to sign a contract with Universal and was named honorary mayor of Universal City in 1968.

Her biggest titles include the 1970-71 ABC cop show Dan August, where she worked alongside Burt Reynolds. She stood out as the smart, no-nonsense police dispatcher Katy Grant, in one of the rare regular TV roles given to Black actresses back then. However, the series, which also featured Richard Anderson and Norman Fell, lasted just one season and 26 episodes.

Hartman also took on the role of a tough girl as she played Carmen Simms in Stephanie Rothman's cult prison-set film Terminal Island in 1973. For that title, she starred alongside Tom Selleck, Don Marshall, Roger E. Mosley, Phyllis Davis and Marta Kristen.

The actress also assisted Lee J. Cobb's character in the spy spoof Our Man Flint (1966), starring James Coburn; played a party guest in Games (1967), starring James Caan, Simone Signoret and Katharine Ross; and was a flight attendant in Airport (1970).

Hartman also showed up on such series as Profiles in Courage, The Farmer's Daughter, Tarzan, Ironside, It Takes a Thief, Dragnet 1967, The Name of the Game, The Outsider, Ironside and, for her final onscreen credit, a 1975 episode of Police Story.

Survivors of Hartman include her goddaughter, her son, Doug, and daughter-in-law, Kimberly.