Jean Heather (February 21, 1921 – October 29, 1995 ) was an American actress who appeared in eight
feature film
A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...
s during the 1940s.
Early years
Heather was the only child of Dewey and Florence Heatherington. She was born in Omaha. After she and her parents moved to Oakland, California, she graduated from Oakland High School. She began her collegiate studies at the University of California at Berkeley
before going to Oregon State University, 1940–41. She transferred to the University of Washington in 1942. She was an initiate of the Alpha Theta chapter of
Alpha Delta Pi
Alpha Delta Pi (), commonly known as ADPi (pronounced "ay-dee-pye"), is an International Panhellenic sorority founded on May 15, 1851, at Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia. It is the oldest secret society for women.
Alpha Delta Pi is a mem ...
at the University of Washington.
Career
Following her college graduation, Heather signed a contract with Paramount.
She acted in two Oscar-nominated movies in 1944: the crime drama ''
Double Indemnity
''Double Indemnity'' is a 1944 American crime film noir directed by Billy Wilder, co-written by Wilder and Raymond Chandler, and produced by Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Sistrom. The screenplay was based on James M. Cain's 1943 novel of the same ...
'', in which she played Lola Dietrichson, a young woman convinced that her stepmother Phyllis (
Barbara Stanwyck
Barbara Stanwyck (; born Ruby Catherine Stevens; July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress, model and dancer. A stage, film, and television star, during her 60-year professional career she was known for her strong, realistic sc ...
) is responsible for the murder of her father, and ''
Going My Way
''Going My Way'' is a 1944 American musical comedy drama film directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby and Barry Fitzgerald. Written by Frank Butler and Frank Cavett based on a story by McCarey, the film is about a new young priest ta ...
'', where she played a runaway teenager assisted by Father O'Malley (
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...
).
Heather's acting career was cut short by an automobile accident in December 1947, in which she was thrown from her car onto the pavement and suffered severe facial lacerations.
Personal life and death
Heather married
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...
graduate Arthur Ferdinand Meier on July 5, 1944, in Glendale, California. While at West Point, Meier was captain of Army's golf team, but after
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
, his chest X-rays revealed lung scarring from childhood influenza, rendering him unfit for further military service. Meier later became a corporate executive. After 41 years of marriage with Heather, Meier died in 1985 from pulmonary disease.
Heather died ten years later. Both were cremated and their ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean.
Filmography
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Heather, Jean
1921 births
1995 deaths
Actresses from Omaha, Nebraska
American film actresses
American television actresses
20th-century American actresses
Oregon State University alumni
University of Washington alumni