Annex - Jones, Jennifer (Love Letters)_01.jpgJENNIFER JONES
Information from IMDb
Date of Birth
2 March 1919,
Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA
Date of Death
17 December 2009,
Malibu, California, USA (natural causes)
Birth Name
Phylis Lee Isley
Height
5' 7" (1.70 m)
Spouse
Norton Simon (30 May 1971 - 1 June 1993) (his death)
David O. Selznick (13 July 1949 - 22 June 1965) (his death) 1 child
Robert Walker (2 January 1939 - 20 June 1945) (divorced) 2 children
Trivia
Was represented by the John Robert Powers agency, when she was a fashion model, in the 1930s.
Mother of Robert Walker Jr. and Michael Walker.
Her daughter with David O. Selznick, Mary Jennifer Selznick, killed herself on May 11, 1976, only two days after Mother's Day.
Turned 25 years old on the day that she won the Oscar for The Song of Bernadette (1943).
Attended Northwestern University.
She is a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. She was initiated into the Tau chapter (Northwestern) in 1937.
In 1981, she bought the rights to Larry McMurtry's novel, "Terms of Endearment", with the intention of starring in the film but director James Brooks told her that she was too old for the part. The role eventually went to Shirley MacLaine, who won an Oscar.
Chairman of the Norton Simon Museum.
In 1980 she donated $1 million to establish the Jennifer Jones Simon Foundation for Mental Health and Education
Once had an interest in returning to the screen to play convicted murderess Jean Harris but abandoned the project when Ellen Burstyn appeared in a successful televised movie.
On November 9, 1967, she checked into a Malibu motel and took an overdose of sleeping pills. She was found unconscious on the beach and rushed to a nearby hospital and eventually recovered.
She is a breast cancer survivor.
Daughter Mary Jennifer Selznick was born Aug 12, 1954 and committed suicide on May 11, 1976.
Was a good friend of Peggy Knudsen.
In Italy, almost all her films were dubbed by Lidia Simoneschi, except Beat the Devil (1953) where she was dubbed by Rosetta Calavetta.
Her first Oscar nomination for The Song of Bernadette (1943) marks her first of 4 consecutive nominations, a feat she shares with Thelma Ritter (1950-1953), Marlon Brando (1951-1954) Elizabeth Taylor (1957-1960) and Al Pacino (1972-1975). (Pacino and Brando's 4 consecutive nominations are the record for male actors. The female record is 5 in a row by Bette Davis (1938-1942) and Greer Garson (1941-1945).).
Son Michael Walker born on March 13, 1941, died December 23, 2007.
Son Robert Walker Jr. born on April 15, 1940.
Is one of 15 actresses who have received an Oscar nomination for their performance as a nun. The others, in chronological order, are: Gladys Cooper for The Song of Bernadette (1943); Ingrid Bergman for The Bells of St. Mary's (1945); Loretta Young and Celeste Holm for Come to the Stable (1949); Deborah Kerr for Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957); Audrey Hepburn for The Nun's Story (1959); Lilia Skala for Lilies of the Field (1963); Julie Andrews and Peggy Wood for The Sound of Music (1965); Anne Bancroft and Meg Tilly for Agnes of God (1985), Susan Sarandon for Dead Man Walking (1995); Meryl Streep and Amy Adams for Doubt (2008/I).
Stepmother of L. Jeffrey Selznick and Daniel Selznick.
The late actress Susan Strasberg, a fellow breast cancer victim who died of the disease in 1999, was married, at one time, to actor Christopher Jones and named their daughter Jennifer Robin Jones, in the actress's honor.
She met her third husband Norton Simon when he tried to buy the portrait of Jones used in her film Portrait of Jennie (1948). Her romance with the multimillionaire philanthropist and art collector started at a party hosted by fellow collector Walter Annenberg.
After she reportedly tried to commit suicide and was hospitalized, and was temporarily in a coma after being found at the foot of a 400-foot cliff in Malibu, she got strongly involved in mental health issues.
Daughter Mary Jennifer Selznick, who was prone to emotional breakdowns and had difficulty accepting her father's death back in 1965, plunged to her death from the 22nd floor of a hotel in west Los Angeles in 1976 while Jennifer was back in Tulsa, Oklahoma visiting her dying father. An autopsy showed traces of morphine, barbiturates and alcohol in her system. The death was ruled a suicide.
It was Jennifer, who was fascinated by Eastern philosophy, who persuaded husband Norton Simon to take his first trip to India. Simon became captivated by the art of regions he had hardly considered and later became a major force in the Indian and Southeast Asian art market.
A longtime yoga practitioner.
Studied at Northwestern University before focusing on acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York, where she met her first husband Robert Walker.
Was the daughter of the owners and stars of Isley Stock Col, a tent show that toured the Midwest. Became interested in acting while young and appeared in her parent's shows.
Was named president of the Norton Simon Museum when Simon became incapacitated by Guillain-Barre syndrome. She was given emeritus status in 2003.
Had 7 grandchildren, all from her son Robert Walker Jr..
(October 2001) She lived in California where she contributes to various charities (mostly mental health organizations) and presides over the Norton Simon Museum's Board of Directors (her late husband's prestigious art museum in Pasadena).
Mini Biography
One of the world's most underrated Academy Award-winning actresses, Jennifer Jones was born Phyllis Lee Isley on 2 March 1919 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
As a young aspiring actress she met and fell for young aspiring actor Robert Walker and they soon married, moving to Chicago in order to fufill their dreams of becoming movie stars. When their plans fell through, Phyllis began working as a model, sporting mainly hats, gloves and jewellery, as well as occasionally finding some work on local radio stations providing her voice to various characters in radio programmes along with her husband. In a last-ditch attempt to pursue her dream, Phyllis travelled to the Selznick studios for a reading that would ultimately change her life. It was that day that she met David O. Selznick and after that particular audition her career began to take shape. Initially, Phyllis thought that the audition had went terribly and stormed out of the studios in tears, only to be chased by Selznick who assured her that she had been fine. Although she wasn't given that particular part, Phyllis was given a contract with Selznick studios, changing her name to Jennifer Jones, and was cast over thousands of other hopefuls in the role of Bernadette Soubirous in The Song of Bernadette (1943). For her innocent, sweet and moving portrayal of the sickly teenager who sees a vision of the Virgin Mary at Lourdes and devotes her life to her by becoming a nun and then ultimately dies of bone cancer, Jones won the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role on 2 March 1944 - coincidentally her 25th birthday - beating out stiff competition such as Ingrid Bergman (who later became a close friend of hers), Greer Garson, Joan Fontaine and Jean Arthur.
Now a Hollywood star, Jones' career was marked out and molded for her by Selznick, who would become the love of her life. They began an affair and eventually she left her husband and two sons for the producer that inevitably led Walker to his untimely death through alcohol and drug abuse, instigated due to their separation. As for her career, Jones took on the supporting role of Jane Hilton, a headstrong teenage girl who in the end grows up fast when her fiance is killed in action during WWII, in Since You Went Away (1944). For her performance Jones received a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination, losing out to Ethel Barrymore for None But the Lonely Heart (1944). Jennifer continued to deliver strong performances, receiving further Best Actress Oscar nominations for Love Letters (1945) (she lost out to Joan Crawford for Mildred Pierce (1945)) and Duel in the Sun (1946), (she lost out to Olivia de Havilland for To Each His Own (1946)) which saw her cast against type as seductive half-breed Pearl Chavez.
Throughout the remainder of the 1940s Jones continued to produce memorable performances, such as in Portrait of Jennie (1948), which carried her into the 1950s and saw her receive her fifth and final Oscar nomination for Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955), losing out to Anna Magnani for The Rose Tattoo (1955). However, despite her obvious success within the film industry Jones was a very private person and managed to stay out of the spotlight which dominated so many other actresses of the time. As a result Jones began to become less and less noticed, which increased further when Selznick died in 1965. Films roles began to appear less and less and after a moderately successful supporting performance in The Towering Inferno (1974) Jones decided to make this her swansong and bowed out of the film industry. She did, however, try to revive her film career in later years by campaigning for the role of Aurora Greenway in Terms of Endearment (1983), but Shirley MacLaine was cast instead and as a result won the Best Actress Academy Award for her performance.
Unfortunately now in the 21st Century and in her 90th year, Jennifer Jones is relatively unknown in comparison to the other actresses of her time such as Ingrid Bergman, Katharine Hepburn, Greer Garson, Bette Davis etc. But for those that are aware of her and her extraordinary talent she is alluring to watch and her acting abilities extend far greater than most of her contemporaries.
IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous
Personal Quotes
My mother told me never explain, never complain. Even as a young actress, I determined I would never give personal interviews, since they made me so uncomfortable.
If you could choose one characteristic that would get you through life, choose a sense of humor.
Most interviewers probe and pry into your personal life, and I just don't like it. I respect everyone's right to privacy, and I feel mine should be respected too.
Actually every time I stop to think about it, I'm really amazed. I think I've had an extraordinary life. And lots of times I can hardly believe it's me.
Salary
Since You Went Away (1944) $9,866.66
Filmography
Actress
1974 The Towering Inferno...Lisolette
1969 Angel, Angel, Down We Go...Astrid Steele
1966 The Idol...Carol
1962 Tender Is the Night...Nicole Diver
1957 A Farewell to Arms...Catherine Barkley
1957 The Barretts of Wimpole Street...Elizabeth Barrett
1956 The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit...Betsy Rath
1955 Good Morning, Miss Dove...Miss Dove
1955 Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing...Dr. Han Suyin
1953 Beat the Devil...Mrs. Gwendolen Chelm
1953 Indiscretion...Mary Forbes
1952 Ruby Gentry...Ruby Gentry
1952 Carrie...Carrie Meeber
1952 The Wild Heart...Hazel Woodus
1950 Gone to Earth...Hazel Woodus
1949 Madame Bovary...Emma Bovary
1949 We Were Strangers...China Valdés
1948 Portrait of Jennie...Jennie Appleton
1946 Duel in the Sun...Pearl Chavez
1946 Cluny Brown...Cluny Brown
1945 Love Letters...Singleton
1944 Since You Went Away...Jane Deborah Hilton
1943 The Song of Bernadette...Bernadette
1939 Dick Tracy's G-Men...Gwen Andrews (as Phyllis Isley)
1939 The Streets of New York (TV movie) (as Phyllis Isley)
1939 New Frontier...Celia Braddock (as Phylis Isley)
