Jennifer Jones (actor)

Infobox actress
name = Jennifer Jones


imagesize = 250px
caption = Jones as a Eurasian doctor in "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing", 1955
birthname = Phylis Flora Isley
birthdate = birth date and age|1919|3|2
birthplace = Tulsa, Oklahoma
yearsactive = 1939 - 1974
spouse = Robert Walker
(1939-1945)
David O. Selznick
(1949-1965)
Norton Simon
(1971-1993)
academyawards = Best Actress
1943 "The Song of Bernadette"
goldenglobeawards = Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
1944 "The Song of Bernadette"

Jennifer Jones (born March 2, 1919) is an American actress.

Biography

Early life

Jones was born Phylis Flora Isley in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the daughter of Flora Mae (née Suber) and Phillip Ross Isley. [ [http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~battle/celeb/jenjones.htm 1 ] ] Her parents toured the Midwest in a traveling tent show they owned and operated. Jones attended Monte Cassino Junior College in Tulsa and Northwestern University, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority before transferring to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City in 1938. It was here she met and fell in love with fellow acting student Robert Walker. The two were married on January 2, 1939.

They returned to Tulsa for a 13-week radio program arranged by her father, and then headed for Hollywood. Isley landed two small roles, first in a 1939 John Wayne western titled "New Frontier", followed by a serial entitled, "Dick Tracy's G-Men". In these two films, she was billed as "Phyllis Isley" (Phyllis now spelled with two Ls). However, when she and Walker failed a screen test for Paramount Pictures, they decided to return to New York City.

Career

While Walker found steady work in radio programs, Isley worked part-time modeling hats for the Powers Agency while looking for possible acting jobs. When she learned of auditions for the lead role of "Claudia" in Rose Franken’s hit play of the same name, she presented herself to David O. Selznick’s New York office but fled in tears after what she thought was a bad reading. Selznick, however, overheard her audition and was impressed enough to have his secretary call her back. Following an interview, she was signed to a seven-year contract.

She was carefully groomed for stardom and given a new name: Jennifer Jones. Director Henry King was impressed by her screen test as Bernadette Soubirous for "The Song of Bernadette" and she won the coveted role over hundreds of applicants. In 1944, Jones won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as St. Bernadette. That year, Jones' friend, Ingrid Bergman, was also a Best Actress nominee for her work in "For Whom the Bell Tolls". Jones apologized to Bergman, who replied "No, Jennifer, your Bernadette was better than my Maria." Jones presented the Best Actress Oscar the following year to Bergman for "Gaslight". [cite web
url = http://theoscarsite.com/1943.htm
title = All the Oscars: 1943
publisher = the OscarSite.com - A celebration of all things Oscar
author = Gary Moody
accessdate = 2006-12-10 ] Over the next two decades, Jones appeared in a wide range of roles selected by Selznick. Her dark beauty and sensitive nature appealed to audiences and she projected a variable range. Her initial saintly image — as shown in her first starring role — was a stark contrast three years later when she was cast as a provocative bi-racial woman in Selznick’s controversial film "Duel in the Sun". Other notable films included "Since You Went Away", "Love Letters", "Cluny Brown", "Portrait of Jennie", "Madame Bovary", "Carrie", "Ruby Gentry", "Indiscretion of an American Wife", "Beat the Devil", "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing", "Good Morning Miss Dove", "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit" and "A Farewell to Arms". Her leading men during this period included Charles Boyer, Joseph Cotten, Gregory Peck, John Garfield, Charlton Heston, Lord Laurence Olivier, Montgomery Clift, Humphrey Bogart, William Holden, Robert Stack, Sir John Gielgud, Rock Hudson and Jason Robards.

The portrait of Jones for the film "Portrait of Jennie", was painted by Robert Brackman.

Personal life

Jones' first marriage produced two sons, Robert Walker Jr. (born April 15, 1940), and Michael Walker (born March 13, 1941). Both later became actors. Jones met and began an affair with David O. Selznick, which eventually led to her separation from Walker in November 1943 and divorce in June 1945.

Jones married Selznick on July 13, 1949, a marriage that lasted until his death on June 22, 1965. After his death, she semi-retired from acting; her last appearance was a supporting role in the 1974 film "The Towering Inferno". Jones' only child with Selznick, Mary Jennifer Selznick (August 12, 1954—1976), committed suicide by jumping from a 20th-floor window. This led to Jones's interest in mental health issues.

On May 29, 1971, Jones married multi-millionaire industrialist, art collector and philanthropist Norton Simon, who sadly also survived the suicide death of his son Robert, in 1969. Years before he'd met future wife Jennifer Jones, he had attempted to buy the portrait of her used in the film Portrait of Jennie (1948). Later Simon met Jennifer Jones at a party hosted by fellow industrialist/art collector Walter Annenberg. Norton Simon died in June 1993. Jennifer Jones-Simon is currently on the board of directors of the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena.

Jones is a breast cancer survivor. The actress Susan Strasberg, who died of breast cancer, was married to actor Christopher Jones and named her only child Jennifer Robin Jones in the actress' honor.

Marriages and Children

* Robert Walker (January 2, 1939 – June 20, 1945) (6 years)
** Robert Walker, Jr. (born April 15, 1940) (age 68)
** Michael Walker (March 13, 1941 – December 23 2007) (age 66)
* David O. Selznick (July 13, 1949 – June 22, 1965) (15 years)
** Mary Jennifer Selznick (August 12, 1954 – May 11, 1976) (aged 21)
* Norton Simon (May 30, 1971 – June 1, 1993) (22 years)

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Further reading

*cite book|author=Epstein, Edward|title=Portrait of Jennifer|location=New York|publisher=Simon & Schuster|year=1995|isbn=0-671-74056-3

References

External links

*imdb name|id=0428354|name=Jennifer Jones

###@@@KEY@@@###succession box
title=Academy Award for Best Actress
before=Greer Garson
for "Mrs. Miniver"
years=1943
for "The Song of Bernadette"
after=Ingrid Bergman
for "Gaslight"succession box
title=Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
before=None
years=1944
for "The Song of Bernadette"
after=Ingrid Bergman
for "Gaslight"

Persondata
NAME= Jones, Jennifer
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Isley, Phylis Lee
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Actress
DATE OF BIRTH= 1919-3-2
PLACE OF BIRTH= Tulsa, Oklahoma
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=