Jean Simmons, was a 14 year old dance student when she first performed in Give Us the Moon (1944), and she went on to make a name for herself in British productions as Caesar and Cleopatra (1945), Great Expectations(1946), Black Narcissus (1947) , Hamlet (1948) earning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination, The Blue Lagoon (1949) and So Long at the Far (1950).
In 1950 she married actor Stewart Granger and that same year performed in the musical Guys and Dolls. Where she used her own singing voice and earned her first Golden Globe Award. Simmons divorced Granger in 1960 and married writer/director Richard Brooks, who cast her in Elmer Gantry (1960). That same year she also performed in Spartacus (1960) and the film The Grass Is Greener(1960).
After a few years off screen she came back to perform in All the Way Home (1963), After that, she found projects harder to come by. She also performed in Life at the Top (1965), Mister Buddwing(1966), Divorce American Style (1967), Rough Night in Jericho (1967), The Happy Ending(1969). Where she was Oscar nominated, as Best Actress.
Jean continued to make films the 1970s. In the 1980s she appeared in TV mini-series, such as "North and South" (1985), "The Thorn Birds" (1983), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), and Hayao Miyazaki's Hauru no ugoku shiro (2004).
Jean Simmons, career spanned more than 60 years, she performed in about 55 films and as many TV productions. My favorite Jean Simmon's performance was in the film, THE BIG COUNTRY(1958). She will be greatly missed.
Dawn, Jean sure seemed to be the Queen of" period"films in the 50's. Isome of my favorites, Angel Face, The Robe, Spartacus, and Elmer Gantry. BTW Divorce American Style, was one of Van Johnson's last films
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing the link; the photos in the video are all so lovely, as is your color photo in your tribute. I was sad to hear the news.
ReplyDeletePaul, Thank you for sharing the awesome, fun facts. I hope TCM has a Jean Simmon's tribute, in the near future.
ReplyDeleteTom, Thank you. I also thought the video was beautifully done.