Jennifer Jones
Encyclopedia
Phylis Lee Isley better known by her stage name Jennifer Jones, was an American actress. A five-time Academy Award nominee, Jones won the Academy Award for Best Actress
for her performance in The Song of Bernadette
(1943).
, the daughter of Flora Mae (née
Suber) and Phillip Ross Isley. An only child, she was raised Roman Catholic and attended Catholic school
. Her parents toured the Midwest in a traveling tent show that 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 there that she met and fell in love with fellow acting student Robert Walker. The couple married on January 2, 1939.
Jones and Walker returned to Tulsa for a 13-week radio program, arranged by Jones' father, and then made their way to Hollywood. Jones 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, she failed a screen test for Paramount Pictures
and decided to return to New York City
.
while looking for possible acting jobs. When she learned of auditions for the lead role in Claudia, Rose Franken
’s hit play, 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
(1943) and she won the coveted role over hundreds of applicants. In 1944
, on her 25th birthday, Jones won the Academy Award for Best Actress
for her performance as Bernadette Soubirous. 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
.
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 (1946). Other notable films included Since You Went Away
(1944), Love Letters
(1945), Cluny Brown
(1946), Portrait of Jennie
(1948), Madame Bovary
(1949), We Were Strangers
(1949), Gone to Earth
(1950), Carrie
(1952), Ruby Gentry
(also 1952), Indiscretion of an American Wife (1953), Beat the Devil (1953), Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
(1955), Good Morning Miss Dove
(also 1955), The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
(1956) starring opposite Gregory Peck
and A Farewell to Arms
(1957). Her leading men during this period included Charles Boyer
, Joseph Cotten
, Gregory Peck
, John Garfield
, Charlton Heston
, Laurence Olivier
, Montgomery Clift
, Humphrey Bogart
, William Holden
, Robert Stack
, John Gielgud
, Rock Hudson
, and Jason Robards
. The portrait of Jones for the film Portrait of Jennie was painted by Robert Brackman
. She inspired the character Dolores González in Raymond Chandler
's novel "The Little Sister
" (1949).
Her last big-screen appearance came in the spectacular disaster film The Towering Inferno
(1974), in which she danced with Fred Astaire
before a fire threatened partygoers in a new San Francisco skyscraper who were celebrating its official opening as tallest building in the world. Her exit from the picture was also the most sympathetic when, after helping to assist two children to escape the disaster, her character fell 110 stories to her death from a scenic elevator on the outside of the building which was derailed following an explosion. Her touching performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Scenes from early on in the movie showed paintings lent to the production from the Norton Simon art gallery. Simon was her husband at the time the movie was produced.
Jones's first marriage produced two sons, Robert Walker, Jr. (born April 15, 1940; Jones's only child who would not predecease her), and Michael Walker (March 13, 1941 – December 27, 2007). Both later became actors. Jones had an affair with film producer 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 union which lasted until his death on June 22, 1965. After his death, she semi-retired from acting. According to media reports, Jones attempted suicide in November 1967 after hearing of the death of close friend Charles Bickford
. She was found unconscious at the base of a cliff overlooking Malibu Beach; she was hospitalized in a coma before eventually recovering. Her daughter, Mary Jennifer Selznick (1954–1976), committed suicide by jumping from a 20th-floor window in Los Angeles on May 11, 1976. This led to Jones's interest in mental health issues. In 1980, she founded the Jennifer Jones Simon Foundation For Mental Health And Education. The Foundation pledged $400,000 to be used exclusively for the world renowned Mary Jennifer Selznick Workshop Program, named in honor of Jones's late daughter.
On May 29, 1971, Jones married multi-millionaire industrialist, art collector and philanthropist Norton Simon
, whose son Robert had committed suicide in 1969. Years before, Simon had attempted to buy the portrait of her used in the film Portrait of Jennie
. Simon later met Jones at a party hosted by fellow industrialist and art collector Walter Annenberg
. Norton Simon died in June 1993. Four years before his death, Simon resigned as President of Norton Simon Museum
in Pasadena
and Jennifer Jones-Simon was appointed Chairman of the Board of Trustees, President and Executive Officer. In 1996, she began working with architect Frank Gehry
and landscape designer Nancy Goslee Power on renovating the museum and gardens. She remained active as the director of the Norton Simon Museum until 2003 when she was given emeritus status.
Jones was a breast cancer
survivor. Actress Susan Strasberg
, who would die of the disease in 1999 and was then married to actor Christopher Jones
, named her own daughter Jennifer Robin Jones in the older actress's honor.
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for her performance in The Song of Bernadette
The Song of Bernadette (film)
The Song of Bernadette is a 1943 drama film which tells the story of Saint Bernadette Soubirous, who, from February to July 1858 in Lourdes, France, reported 18 visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was directed by Henry King....
(1943).
Early life
Jones was born in Tulsa, OklahomaTulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
, the daughter of Flora Mae (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Suber) and Phillip Ross Isley. An only child, she was raised Roman Catholic and attended Catholic school
Catholic school
Catholic schools are maintained parochial schools or education ministries of the Catholic Church. the Church operates the world's largest non-governmental school system...
. Her parents toured the Midwest in a traveling tent show that they owned and operated. Jones attended Monte Cassino Junior College in Tulsa and Northwestern University
Northwestern Oklahoma State University
Northwestern Oklahoma State University, also known as NWOSU, is a university in Alva, Oklahoma, United States, with satellite campuses in Enid and Woodward. A state university, it offers both bachelor's and master's degrees.-Establishment:...
, where she was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Alpha Theta
Kappa Alpha Theta , also known as Theta, is an international fraternity for women founded on January 27, 1870 at DePauw University, formerly Indiana Asbury...
sorority, before transferring to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
American Academy of Dramatic Arts
The American Academy of Dramatic Arts is a fully accredited two-year conservatory with facilities located in Manhattan, New York City – at 120 Madison Avenue, in a landmark building designed by noted architect Stanford White as the original Colony Club – and in Hollywood, California...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 1938. It was there that she met and fell in love with fellow acting student Robert Walker. The couple married on January 2, 1939.
Jones and Walker returned to Tulsa for a 13-week radio program, arranged by Jones' father, and then made their way to Hollywood. Jones landed two small roles, first in a 1939 John Wayne
John Wayne
Marion Mitchell Morrison , better known by his stage name John Wayne, was an American film actor, director and producer. He epitomized rugged masculinity and became an enduring American icon. He is famous for his distinctive calm voice, walk, and height...
western titled New Frontier
New Frontier (film)
New Frontier is a 1939 film starring John Wayne, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Raymond Hatton, and Jennifer Jones. This was the last of eight Three Mesquiteers B-movies with Wayne...
, followed by a serial
Serial (film)
Serials, more specifically known as Movie serials, Film serials or Chapter plays, were short subjects originally shown in theaters in conjunction with a feature film. They were related to pulp magazine serialized fiction...
entitled Dick Tracy's G-Men
Dick Tracy's G-Men
Dick Tracy's G-Men is a 15-Chapter Republic Movie Serial based on the Dick Tracy comic strip by Chester Gould. It was directed by William Witney and John English....
. In these two films, she was billed as 'Phyllis Isley' (Phyllis now spelled with two Ls). However, she failed a screen test for Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
and decided to return to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
Career
While Walker found steady work in radio programs, Isley worked part-time modeling hats for the Powers AgencyJohn Robert Powers
John Robert Powers was an American actor and founder of a prominent New York City modeling agency.In 1923, John Robert Powers founded a modeling agency. The John Robert Powers Agency represented many models who went on to success in the Hollywood film industry, and even Betty Bloomer who became...
while looking for possible acting jobs. When she learned of auditions for the lead role in Claudia, Rose Franken
Rose Franken
Rose Dorothy Lewin Franken , author and playwright, was born on December 28, 1895, in Gainesville, Texas, the youngest child of Michael and Hannah Lewin. In 1914 she married Sigmund W.A. Franken, an oral surgeon who died in 1932. They had three children. In 1937 she married writer William Brown...
’s hit play, she presented herself to David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
’s New York office but fled in tears
Tears
Tears are secretions that clean and lubricate the eyes. Lacrimation or lachrymation is the production or shedding of 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
Henry King (director)
Henry King was an American film director.Before coming to film, King worked as an actor in various repertoire theatres, and first started to take small film roles in 1912. He directed for the first time in 1915, and grew to become one of the most commercially successful Hollywood directors of the...
was impressed by her screen test as Bernadette Soubirous
Bernadette Soubirous
Saint Marie-Bernarde Soubirous was a miller's daughter born in Lourdes. From 11 February to 16 July 1858, she reported 18 apparitions of "a small young lady" who asked for a chapel to be built at that site at Lourdes....
for The Song of Bernadette
The Song of Bernadette (film)
The Song of Bernadette is a 1943 drama film which tells the story of Saint Bernadette Soubirous, who, from February to July 1858 in Lourdes, France, reported 18 visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was directed by Henry King....
(1943) and she won the coveted role over hundreds of applicants. In 1944
16th Academy Awards
The 16th Academy Awards, in 1944, was the first Oscar ceremony held at a large public venue, Grauman’s Chinese Theater. Free passes were given out to men and women in uniform...
, on her 25th birthday, Jones won the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
for her performance as Bernadette Soubirous. That year, Jones' friend, Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman was a Swedish actress who starred in a variety of European and American films. She won three Academy Awards, two Emmy Awards, and the Tony Award for Best Actress. She is ranked as the fourth greatest female star of American cinema of all time by the American Film Institute...
, was also a Best Actress nominee for her work in For Whom the Bell Tolls
For Whom the Bell Tolls (film)
For Whom the Bell Tolls is a 1943 film in Technicolor based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. It stars Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman, Akim Tamiroff and Katina Paxinou. This was Ingrid Bergman's first technicolor film. Hemingway handpicked Cooper and Bergman for their roles. The film...
. 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
Gaslight (1944 film)
Gaslight is a 1944 mystery-thriller film adapted from Patrick Hamilton's play, Gas Light, performed as Angel Street on Broadway in 1941. It was the second version to be filmed; the first, released in the United Kingdom, had been made a mere four years earlier...
.
Multiracial
The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races. Unlike the term biracial, which often is only used to refer to having parents or grandparents of two different races, the term multiracial may encompass biracial people but can also include people with...
woman in Selznick’s controversial film Duel in the Sun (1946). Other notable films included Since You Went Away
Since You Went Away
Since You Went Away is a 1944 film distributed by United Artists, a big-budget epic about the American home front during World War II. It was directed by John Cromwell and adapted and produced by David O. Selznick from the novel Since You Went Away: Letters to a Soldier from His Wife by Margaret...
(1944), Love Letters
Love Letters (1945 film)
Love Letters is a 1945 film adapted by Ayn Rand from the novel Pity My Simplicity by Christopher Massie. It was directed by William Dieterle and stars Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Ann Richards, Cecil Kellaway, Gladys Cooper and Anita Louise...
(1945), Cluny Brown
Cluny Brown
Cluny Brown is a 1946 film made by Twentieth Century-Fox, directed and produced by Ernst Lubitsch. The screenplay was written by Samuel Hoffenstein and Elizabeth Reinhardt, based on a novel by Margery Sharp. The music score is by Cyril J. Mockridge. The film stars Charles Boyer and Jennifer Jones...
(1946), Portrait of Jennie
Portrait of Jennie
Portrait of Jennie is a 1948 fantasy film based on the novella by Robert Nathan. The film was directed by William Dieterle and produced by David O. Selznick. It stars Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten.-Plot:...
(1948), Madame Bovary
Madame Bovary (1949 film)
Madame Bovary is a 1949 film adaptation of the classic novel of the same name by Gustave Flaubert. It stars Jennifer Jones, James Mason, Van Heflin, Louis Jourdan, Alf Kjellin , Gene Lockhart, Frank Allenby and Gladys Cooper....
(1949), We Were Strangers
We Were Strangers
We Were Strangers is a 1949 adventure–drama film directed by John Huston and starring Jennifer Jones and John Garfield.The film, set in 1933, concerns a group of revolutionaries attempting to overthrow the Cuban regime...
(1949), Gone to Earth
Gone to Earth (film)
Gone to Earth is a film by the British-based director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It stars Jennifer Jones, David Farrar and Cyril Cusack and features Esmond Knight. The film was significantly changed for the American market by David O...
(1950), Carrie
Carrie (1952 film)
Carrie is a 1952 feature film based on the novel Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser.Directed by William Wyler, the film stars Jennifer Jones in the title role and Laurence Olivier as Hurstwood. Carrie received two Academy Award Nominations: Costume Design, and Best Art Direction...
(1952), Ruby Gentry
Ruby Gentry
Ruby Gentry is a 1952 film noir, directed by King Vidor and starring Jennifer Jones, Charlton Heston and Karl Malden.-Synopsis:A poor young girl marries a rich man she doesn't love, while carrying a torch for another man.-Cast:...
(also 1952), Indiscretion of an American Wife (1953), Beat the Devil (1953), Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (film)
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing is a 1955 American drama-romance film. Set in 1949-50 Hong Kong, it tells the story of a married, but separated, American reporter , who falls in love with a Eurasian doctor originally from China , only to encounter prejudice from her family and from Hong Kong...
(1955), Good Morning Miss Dove
Good Morning Miss Dove
Good Morning, Miss Dove is a 1955 film which tells the sentimental story of a beloved schoolteacher who reflects back on her life and former students when she is hospitalized...
(also 1955), The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, by Sloan Wilson, is a 1955 novel about the American search for purpose in a world dominated by business. Tom and Betsy Rath share a struggle to find contentment in their hectic and material culture while several other characters fight essentially the same battle,...
(1956) starring opposite Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
and A Farewell to Arms
A Farewell to Arms (1957 film)
A Farewell to Arms is a 1957 American drama film directed by Charles Vidor. The screenplay by Ben Hecht, based in part on a 1930 play by Laurence Stallings, was the second feature film adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's 1929 semi-autobiographical novel of the same name. It was the last film produced...
(1957). Her leading men during this period included Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer was a French actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found success in movies during the 1930s. His memorable performances were among the era's most highly praised romantic dramas,...
, Joseph Cotten
Joseph Cotten
Joseph Cheshire Cotten was an American actor of stage and film. Cotten achieved prominence on Broadway, starring in the original productions of The Philadelphia Story and Sabrina Fair...
, Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
, John Garfield
John Garfield
John Garfield was an American actor adept at playing brooding, rebellious, working-class character roles. He grew up in poverty in Depression-era New York City and in the early 1930s became an important member of the Group Theater. In 1937 he moved to Hollywood, eventually becoming one of Warner...
, Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
, Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
, Montgomery Clift
Montgomery Clift
Edward Montgomery Clift was an American film and stage actor. The New York Times’ obituary noted his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men"....
, Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
, William Holden
William Holden
William Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
, Robert Stack
Robert Stack
Robert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:...
, John Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
, Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson
Roy Harold Scherer, Jr., later Roy Harold Fitzgerald , known professionally as Rock Hudson, was an American film and television actor, recognized as a romantic leading man during the 1950s and 1960s, most notably in several romantic comedies with Doris Day.Hudson was voted "Star of the Year",...
, and Jason Robards
Jason Robards
Jason Nelson Robards, Jr. was an American actor on stage, and in film and television, and a winner of the Tony Award , two Academy Awards and the Emmy Award...
. The portrait of Jones for the film Portrait of Jennie was painted by Robert Brackman
Robert Brackman
Robert Brackman was an artist and teacher of Russian origin, best known for large figural works, portraits, and still lifes.-Biography:Born in Odes'ka Oblast, Ukraine, he emigrated from the Russian Empire in 1908....
. She inspired the character Dolores González in Raymond Chandler
Raymond Chandler
Raymond Thornton Chandler was an American novelist and screenwriter.In 1932, at age forty-five, Raymond Chandler decided to become a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive during the Depression. His first short story, "Blackmailers Don't Shoot", was published in...
's novel "The Little Sister
The Little Sister
The Little Sister is a 1949 novel by Raymond Chandler, the fifth in his popular Philip Marlowe series. The story is set in late 1940s Los Angeles.-Plot summary:...
" (1949).
Her last big-screen appearance came in the spectacular disaster film The Towering Inferno
The Towering Inferno
The Towering Inferno is a 1974 American action disaster film produced by Irwin Allen featuring an all-star cast led by Steve McQueen and Paul Newman.A co-production between Twentieth Century-Fox and Warner Bros...
(1974), in which she danced with Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
before a fire threatened partygoers in a new San Francisco skyscraper who were celebrating its official opening as tallest building in the world. Her exit from the picture was also the most sympathetic when, after helping to assist two children to escape the disaster, her character fell 110 stories to her death from a scenic elevator on the outside of the building which was derailed following an explosion. Her touching performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Scenes from early on in the movie showed paintings lent to the production from the Norton Simon art gallery. Simon was her husband at the time the movie was produced.
Personal life
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick was an American film producer. He is best known for having produced Gone with the Wind and Rebecca , both of which earned him an Oscar for Best Picture.-Early years:...
, which eventually led to her separation from Walker in November 1943 and divorce in June 1945.
Jones married Selznick on July 13, 1949, a union which lasted until his death on June 22, 1965. After his death, she semi-retired from acting. According to media reports, Jones attempted suicide in November 1967 after hearing of the death of close friend Charles Bickford
Charles Bickford
Charles Bickford was an American actor best known for his supporting roles. He was nominated three times for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for The Song of Bernadette , The Farmer's Daughter , and Johnny Belinda...
. She was found unconscious at the base of a cliff overlooking Malibu Beach; she was hospitalized in a coma before eventually recovering. Her daughter, Mary Jennifer Selznick (1954–1976), committed suicide by jumping from a 20th-floor window in Los Angeles on May 11, 1976. This led to Jones's interest in mental health issues. In 1980, she founded the Jennifer Jones Simon Foundation For Mental Health And Education. The Foundation pledged $400,000 to be used exclusively for the world renowned Mary Jennifer Selznick Workshop Program, named in honor of Jones's late daughter.
On May 29, 1971, Jones married multi-millionaire industrialist, art collector and philanthropist Norton Simon
Norton Simon
Norton Winfred Simon , in the United States was a millionaire industrialist and philanthropist based in California. A significant art collector, he is the namesake of the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California.-Early life:...
, whose son Robert had committed suicide in 1969. Years before, Simon had attempted to buy the portrait of her used in the film Portrait of Jennie
Portrait of Jennie
Portrait of Jennie is a 1948 fantasy film based on the novella by Robert Nathan. The film was directed by William Dieterle and produced by David O. Selznick. It stars Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten.-Plot:...
. Simon later met Jones at a party hosted by fellow industrialist and art collector Walter Annenberg
Walter Annenberg
Walter Hubert Annenberg was an American publisher, philanthropist, and diplomat.-Early life:Walter Annenberg was born to a Jewish family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on March 13, 1908. He was the son of Sarah and Moses "Moe" Annenberg, who published The Daily Racing Form and purchased The Philadelphia...
. Norton Simon died in June 1993. Four years before his death, Simon resigned as President of Norton Simon Museum
Norton Simon Museum
The Norton Simon Museum is an Art Museum located in Pasadena, California, United States. It was previously known by the names: the Pasadena Art Institute and the Pasadena Art Museum.-Overview:...
in Pasadena
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
and Jennifer Jones-Simon was appointed Chairman of the Board of Trustees, President and Executive Officer. In 1996, she began working with architect Frank Gehry
Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry, is a Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions...
and landscape designer Nancy Goslee Power on renovating the museum and gardens. She remained active as the director of the Norton Simon Museum until 2003 when she was given emeritus status.
Jones was a breast cancer
Breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...
survivor. Actress Susan Strasberg
Susan Strasberg
Susan Elizabeth Strasberg was an American film and stage actress.-Background and career:Strasberg was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of theatre director and drama coach Lee Strasberg of the Actors Studio and former actress Paula Strasberg...
, who would die of the disease in 1999 and was then married to actor Christopher Jones
Christopher Jones (actor)
William "Billy" Frank Jones, better known as Christopher Jones, is an American character actor, born August 18, 1941 in Jackson, Tennessee....
, named her own daughter Jennifer Robin Jones in the older actress's honor.
Death
Jones enjoyed a quiet retirement, living with her son Robert Walker Jr. and his family in Malibu, for the last six years of her life. She granted no interviews and rarely appeared in public. She died of natural causes on Thursday, December 17, 2009, aged 90. She was cremated, at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Glendale.Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1939 | New Frontier New Frontier (film) New Frontier is a 1939 film starring John Wayne, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Raymond Hatton, and Jennifer Jones. This was the last of eight Three Mesquiteers B-movies with Wayne... |
Celia Braddock | as Phyllis Isley |
| 1939 | Dick Tracy's G-Men Dick Tracy's G-Men Dick Tracy's G-Men is a 15-Chapter Republic Movie Serial based on the Dick Tracy comic strip by Chester Gould. It was directed by William Witney and John English.... |
Gwen Andrews | as Phyllis Isley |
| 1943 | Bernadette Soubirous Bernadette Soubirous Saint Marie-Bernarde Soubirous was a miller's daughter born in Lourdes. From 11 February to 16 July 1858, she reported 18 apparitions of "a small young lady" who asked for a chapel to be built at that site at Lourdes.... |
Academy Award for Best Actress Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama |
|
| 1944 | Since You Went Away Since You Went Away Since You Went Away is a 1944 film distributed by United Artists, a big-budget epic about the American home front during World War II. It was directed by John Cromwell and adapted and produced by David O. Selznick from the novel Since You Went Away: Letters to a Soldier from His Wife by Margaret... |
Jane Deborah Hilton | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the... |
| 1945 | Love Letters Love Letters (1945 film) Love Letters is a 1945 film adapted by Ayn Rand from the novel Pity My Simplicity by Christopher Massie. It was directed by William Dieterle and stars Jennifer Jones, Joseph Cotten, Ann Richards, Cecil Kellaway, Gladys Cooper and Anita Louise... |
Singleton/Victoria Morland | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress |
| 1946 | Cluny Brown Cluny Brown Cluny Brown is a 1946 film made by Twentieth Century-Fox, directed and produced by Ernst Lubitsch. The screenplay was written by Samuel Hoffenstein and Elizabeth Reinhardt, based on a novel by Margery Sharp. The music score is by Cyril J. Mockridge. The film stars Charles Boyer and Jennifer Jones... |
Cluny Brown | |
| 1946 | Duel in the Sun | Pearl Chavez | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress |
| 1948 | Portrait of Jennie Portrait of Jennie Portrait of Jennie is a 1948 fantasy film based on the novella by Robert Nathan. The film was directed by William Dieterle and produced by David O. Selznick. It stars Jennifer Jones and Joseph Cotten.-Plot:... |
Jennie Appleton | |
| 1949 | We Were Strangers We Were Strangers We Were Strangers is a 1949 adventure–drama film directed by John Huston and starring Jennifer Jones and John Garfield.The film, set in 1933, concerns a group of revolutionaries attempting to overthrow the Cuban regime... |
China Valdés | |
| 1949 | Madame Bovary Madame Bovary (1949 film) Madame Bovary is a 1949 film adaptation of the classic novel of the same name by Gustave Flaubert. It stars Jennifer Jones, James Mason, Van Heflin, Louis Jourdan, Alf Kjellin , Gene Lockhart, Frank Allenby and Gladys Cooper.... |
Emma Bovary | |
| 1949 | Gone to Earth Gone to Earth (film) Gone to Earth is a film by the British-based director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It stars Jennifer Jones, David Farrar and Cyril Cusack and features Esmond Knight. The film was significantly changed for the American market by David O... |
Hazel Woodus | |
| 1952 | Carrie Carrie (1952 film) Carrie is a 1952 feature film based on the novel Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser.Directed by William Wyler, the film stars Jennifer Jones in the title role and Laurence Olivier as Hurstwood. Carrie received two Academy Award Nominations: Costume Design, and Best Art Direction... |
Carrie Meeber | |
| 1952 | Ruby Gentry Ruby Gentry Ruby Gentry is a 1952 film noir, directed by King Vidor and starring Jennifer Jones, Charlton Heston and Karl Malden.-Synopsis:A poor young girl marries a rich man she doesn't love, while carrying a torch for another man.-Cast:... |
Ruby Gentry | |
| 1953 | Beat the Devil | Mrs. Gwendolen Chelm | |
| 1953 | Terminal Station | Mary Forbes | |
| 1955 | Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (film) Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing is a 1955 American drama-romance film. Set in 1949-50 Hong Kong, it tells the story of a married, but separated, American reporter , who falls in love with a Eurasian doctor originally from China , only to encounter prejudice from her family and from Hong Kong... |
Dr. Han Suyin | Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress |
| 1953 | Good Morning Miss Dove Good Morning Miss Dove Good Morning, Miss Dove is a 1955 film which tells the sentimental story of a beloved schoolteacher who reflects back on her life and former students when she is hospitalized... |
Miss Dove | |
| 1956 | Betsy Rath | ||
| 1957 | Elizabeth Barrett | ||
| 1957 | Catherine Barkley | ||
| 1962 | Tender Is the Night Tender is the Night (1962 film) Tender Is the Night is a 1962 film directed by Henry King, based on the novel of the same name by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The soundtrack featured a song, also called "Tender Is the Night", by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster , which was nominated for the 1962 Academy Award for Best Song... |
Nicole Diver | |
| 1966 | Carol | ||
| 1969 | Angel, Angel, Down We Go | Astrid Steele | a.k.a Cult of the Damned |
| 1974 | Lisolette Mueller | Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture |
External links
- Jennifer Jones - Tribute site
- Jennifer Jones - Daily Telegraph obituary
- Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Jones, Jennifer