Ann Savage, pictured in this 1940 promotional photo, earned a cult following as a femme fatale in such 1940's pulp-fiction movies as Detour. (Ann Savage Archive/Associated Press)

Ann Savage, an actress known for her femme fatale roles in pulp fiction movies, has died at 87.

Her manager, Kent Adamson, revealed Sunday the actress passed away at a nursing home in Los Angeles on Christmas Day from complications after a series of strokes.

Savage made her mark as a film noir actress in movies such as Detour, Apology For Murder and Scared Stiff, all made in the 1940s. She was also staple in Hollywood B movies such as Dark Horse, Jungle Fight and Satan's Cradle.

It was in Detour that Savage made her mark, playing a woman ruthlessly blackmailing a stranger, played by Tom Neal. The film would gain Savage cult status in the years to come.

"Neal and Savage really reversed the traditional male-female roles of the time," Adamson said.

"She's vicious and predatory. She's been called a harpy from hell, and in the film, too, she's very sexually aggressive, and he's very, very passive. It's very unusual for a '40s film to have a woman come on that strong."

She most recently appeared as Guy Maddin's mother in his acclaimed film My Winnipeg, a personal portrait of his hometown. According to Adamson, Maddin is a big fan of Detour.

Used to portraying ice princesses, Maddin said he chose Savage because she "would have scared the pants off Bette Davis."

Savage has more than 30 films to her credit but virtually disappeared after the mid-1950s.

Born Bernice Maxine Lyon in Columbia, S.C., on Feb. 19, 1921, Savage was on the move constantly as a toddler as her father, a U.S. Army officer, was moved from base to base.

After her father died when she was only four years old, Ann's mother took the two of them to Los Angeles.

She would train at Max Reinhardt's acting school and marry the school's manager, Bert D'Armand, who was already her agent.

The two lived in New York City after Savage's career waned in the 1950s. She remained there until her husband's death in 1969, moving back to Los Angeles to be near her mother.

With files from the Associated Press