Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones (born Phylis Lee Isley; March 2, 1919 – December 17,
2009), also known as
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones Simon, was an American actress
during Hollywood's golden years. Jones, who won the Academy Award for
Best Actress for her performance in The Song of Bernadette (1943), was
also Academy Award-nominated for her performances in four other films.
She was married three times, most notably to film producer David O.
Selznick.
Jones starred in more than 20 films over a 30-year career, but she
went into semi-retirement following Selznick's death in 1965. In 1980,
she founded the
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones Simon Foundation for Mental Health and
Education four years after her daughter's suicide. In later life,
Jones withdrew from public life to live in quiet retirement with her
son and his family in Malibu, California.
Contents
1 Early life
2 Career
3 Personal life
4 Death
5 Filmography
6 See also
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links
Early life[edit]
Jones was born Phylis Lee Isley[1] in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the daughter of
Flora Mae (née Suber) and Phillip Ross Isley.[2] An only child, she
was raised Roman Catholic.[3] Her parents toured the
Midwest
Midwest in a
traveling tent show that they owned and operated. She attended Monte
Cassino, a girls' school and junior college in Tulsa and then
Northwestern University
Northwestern University in Illinois, 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.[4]
Isley and Walker returned to Tulsa for a 13-week radio program,
arranged by her father, and then made their way to Hollywood. Isley
landed two small roles, first in a 1939
John Wayne
John Wayne Western titled New
Frontier, followed by a serial entitled Dick Tracy's G-Men. She failed
a screen test for
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures and decided to return to New York
City.
Career[edit]
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
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. However, Selznick had 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.
Jones as
Bernadette Soubirous
Bernadette Soubirous in The Song of Bernadette (1943)
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
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
.jpg/300px-Frances_McDormand_2015_(cropped).jpg)
Academy Award for Best Actress for her
performance as Bernadette Soubirous.
Jones' star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6429 Hollywood Boulevard
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
Since You Went Away (1944), Love Letters
(1945),
Cluny Brown
Cluny Brown (1946),
Portrait of Jennie
Portrait of Jennie (1948), Madame Bovary
(1949),
We Were Strangers (1949), Gone to Earth (1950), Carrie (1952),
Ruby Gentry
Ruby Gentry (also 1952), Terminal Station (1953; later released as
Indiscretion of an American Wife), 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
Gregory Peck and
A Farewell to Arms (1957). The portrait of Jones for the film Portrait
of Jennie was painted by Robert Brackman.
Her last big-screen appearance came in the disaster film The Towering
Inferno (1974). Her performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination
for Best Supporting Actress. Early scenes in the film showed paintings
lent to the production by the art gallery of Jones' husband Norton
Simon.
Personal life[edit]
Jones and second husband
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick in 1957
Jones had two sons from her first marriage, Robert Walker Jr. (b.
1940) and Michael Walker (1941–2007). Both later became actors.
Robert was the only child of Jones' three children who would not die
before her. Jones had an affair with film producer David O. Selznick.
She separated from Walker in November 1943, co-starred with him in
Since You Went Away
Since You Went Away (1944), and divorced him in June 1945.[5]
Jones married Selznick on July 13, 1949, a union that lasted until his
death at age 63 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.[3][6]
On May 29, 1971, Jones married her third husband, multi-millionaire
industrialist, art collector and philanthropist Norton Simon, whose
son Robert had committed suicide in 1969. The marriage took place
aboard a tugboat five miles off the English coast, and was conducted
by Unitarian minister Eirion Phillips.[4] Years before, Simon had
attempted to buy the portrait of her that was used in the film
Portrait of Jennie. Simon later met Jones at a party hosted by fellow
industrialist and art collector Walter Annenberg.
Jones' daughter with Selznick, 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' interest in mental health issues.
In 1980, she founded the
Jennifer Jones
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.
Four years before his death in June 1993, Simon resigned as President
of
Norton Simon
Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena and
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones Simon was
appointed Chairman of the Board of Trustees, President and Executive
Officer. In 1996, she began working with architect
Frank Gehry
.jpg)
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.[citation
needed]
Jones was a breast cancer survivor.
Death[edit]
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. Jones
participated in Gregory Peck's
AFI Life Achievement Award
AFI Life Achievement Award ceremony in
1989 and appeared at the 70th (1998) and 75th (2003) Academy Awards as
part of the shows' tributes to past Oscar winners.
She died of natural causes on December 17, 2009, at age 90.[1] She was
cremated and her ashes were interred with her second husband in the
Selznick private room at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale,
California.
Filmography[edit]
Ray Corrigan,
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones and
John Wayne
John Wayne in New Frontier (1939)
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1939
New Frontier
Celia Braddock
as Phyllis Isley; film debut[7]
Dick Tracy's G-Men
Gwen Andrews
as Phyllis Isley; 15-chapter serial
1943
The Song of Bernadette
Bernadette Soubirous
Academy Award for Best Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Locarno International Film Festival - Best Actress
1944
Since You Went Away
Jane Deborah Hilton
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1945
Love Letters
Singleton/Victoria Morland
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress
1946
Cluny Brown
Cluny Brown
Locarno International Film Festival - Best Actress
Duel in the Sun
Pearl Chavez
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress
1948
Portrait of Jennie
Jennie Appleton
1949
We Were Strangers
China Valdés
Madame Bovary
Emma Bovary
1950
Gone to Earth
Hazel Woodus
1952
Carrie
Carrie Meeber
Ruby Gentry
Ruby Gentry
1953
Beat the Devil
Mrs. Gwendolen Chelm
Terminal Station
Mary Forbes
Re-released as Indiscretion of an American Wife
1955
Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing
Dr. Han Suyin
New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress (3rd place)
Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress
Good Morning, Miss Dove
Miss Dove
1956
The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit
Betsy Rath
1957
The Barretts of Wimpole Street
Elizabeth Barrett
A Farewell to Arms
Catherine Barkley
1962
Tender Is the Night
Nicole Diver
1966
The Idol
Carol
1969
Angel, Angel, Down We Go
Astrid Steele
a.k.a. Cult of the Damned
1974
The Towering Inferno
Lisolette Mueller
Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion
Picture
See also[edit]
List of oldest and youngest Academy Award winners and nominees
References[edit]
^ a b c Harmetz, Aljean (December 17, 2009). "Jennifer Jones, Postwar
Actress, Dies at 90". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-12-19.
Jennifer Jones, who achieved Hollywood stardom in “The Song of
Bernadette” and other films of the 1940s and ’50s while gaining
almost as much attention for a tumultuous personal life, died Thursday
at her home in Malibu, Calif. She was 90. Ms. Jones, who was the
chairwoman of the
Norton Simon
Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, Calif., died of
natural causes, said Leslie Denk, a museum spokeswoman. Ms. Jones was
the widow of the industrialist and art patron Norton Simon.
^ "Isley family", Genealogy, Roots web .
^ a b Luther, Claudia (December 18, 2009). "
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones dies at 90;
Oscar-winning actress". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 16,
2010. Jones, who was Catholic and had gone to a convent
school...
^ a b Green, Paul (September 12, 2011). Jennifer Jones: The Life and
Films. McFarland. pp. 13ff., 198ff. ISBN 978-0-7864-6041-0.
Retrieved February 17, 2012.
^ Watters, Sam (October 2, 2010). "Lost L.A.: Time for tea — and
spin control: When Jennifer Jones' affair with David Selznick sank
their marriages, the actress played tea party for a magazine spread."
Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2014-03-28.
^ "Oscar-Winning Actress
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones Dies at 90". KCOP-TV. December
17, 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-19. Jennifer Jones, a best actress Oscar
winner for 1943's "The Song of Bernadette" and known for her marriages
to film mogul
David O. Selznick
David O. Selznick and industrialist Norton Simon, died
today at her Malibu home. She was 90.
^ "New Frontier". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. American Film
Institute. Retrieved 2017-11-13.
Further reading[edit]
Epstein, Edward (1995). Portrait of Jennifer. New York: Simon &
Schuster. ISBN 0-671-74056-3.
External links[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jennifer Jones.
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones on IMDb
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones at the TCM Movie Database
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones at AllMovie
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones - Tribute site
N.Y. Times Obituary for Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones at Find a Grave
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones - Daily Telegraph obituary
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture - Jones, Jennifer
Awards for Jennifer Jones
v
t
e
Academy Award for Best Actress
1928–1950
Janet Gaynor
Janet Gaynor (1928)
Mary Pickford
Mary Pickford (1929)
Norma Shearer
Norma Shearer (1930)
Marie Dressler
Marie Dressler (1931)
Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes (1932)
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn (1933)
Claudette Colbert
Claudette Colbert (1934)
Bette Davis
Bette Davis (1935)
Luise Rainer
Luise Rainer (1936)
Luise Rainer
Luise Rainer (1937)
Bette Davis
Bette Davis (1938)
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh (1939)
Ginger Rogers
Ginger Rogers (1940)
Joan Fontaine
Joan Fontaine (1941)
Greer Garson
Greer Garson (1942)
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones (1943)
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman (1944)
Joan Crawford
Joan Crawford (1945)
Olivia de Havilland
Olivia de Havilland (1946)
Loretta Young
Loretta Young (1947)
Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman (1948)
Olivia de Havilland
Olivia de Havilland (1949)
Judy Holliday
Judy Holliday (1950)
1951–1975
Vivien Leigh
Vivien Leigh (1951)
Shirley Booth
Shirley Booth (1952)
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn (1953)
Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly (1954)
Anna Magnani
Anna Magnani (1955)
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman (1956)
Joanne Woodward
Joanne Woodward (1957)
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward (1958)
Simone Signoret
Simone Signoret (1959)
Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor (1960)
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren (1961)
Anne Bancroft
Anne Bancroft (1962)
Patricia Neal
Patricia Neal (1963)
Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews (1964)
Julie Christie
_(2).jpg/440px-Julie_Christie_(1997)_(2).jpg)
Julie Christie (1965)
Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor (1966)
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn (1967)
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn /
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand (1968)
Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith (1969)
Glenda Jackson
Glenda Jackson (1970)
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda (1971)
Liza Minnelli
Liza Minnelli (1972)
Glenda Jackson
Glenda Jackson (1973)
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn (1974)
Louise Fletcher
Louise Fletcher (1975)
1976–2000
Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway (1976)
Diane Keaton
.jpg/440px-Diane_Keaton_2012-1_(cropped).jpg)
Diane Keaton (1977)
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda (1978)
Sally Field
Sally Field (1979)
Sissy Spacek
.jpg/440px-Sissy_Spacek_by_David_Shankbone_(cropped).jpg)
Sissy Spacek (1980)
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn (1981)
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep (1982)
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine (1983)
Sally Field
Sally Field (1984)
Geraldine Page
Geraldine Page (1985)
Marlee Matlin
Marlee Matlin (1986)
Cher
Cher (1987)
Jodie Foster
.jpg)
Jodie Foster (1988)
Jessica Tandy
Jessica Tandy (1989)
Kathy Bates
Kathy Bates (1990)
Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster (1991)
Emma Thompson
.jpg/440px-Emma_Thompson_at_2013_TIFF_1_(cropped).jpg)
Emma Thompson (1992)
Holly Hunter
Holly Hunter (1993)
Jessica Lange
.JPG/440px-Jessica_Lange_(Cropped).JPG)
Jessica Lange (1994)
Susan Sarandon
Susan Sarandon (1995)
Frances McDormand
.jpg/440px-Frances_McDormand_2015_(cropped).jpg)
Frances McDormand (1996)
Helen Hunt
.jpg/440px-Helen_Hunt_2_(square).jpg)
Helen Hunt (1997)
Gwyneth Paltrow
Gwyneth Paltrow (1998)
Hilary Swank
Hilary Swank (1999)
Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts (2000)
2001–present
Halle Berry
Halle Berry (2001)
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman (2002)
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron (2003)
Hilary Swank
Hilary Swank (2004)
Reese Witherspoon
Reese Witherspoon (2005)
Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren (2006)
Marion Cotillard
Marion Cotillard (2007)
Kate Winslet
.jpg/440px-Kate_Winslet_at_the_2017_Toronto_International_Film_Festival_(cropped).jpg)
Kate Winslet (2008)
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock (2009)
Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman (2010)
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep (2011)
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence (2012)
Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett (2013)
Julianne Moore
.jpg/440px-Julianne_Moore_(15011443428).jpg)
Julianne Moore (2014)
Brie Larson
Brie Larson (2015)
Emma Stone
.jpg/440px-Emma_Stone_at_the_39th_Mill_Valley_Film_Festival_(cropped).jpg)
Emma Stone (2016)
Frances McDormand
Frances McDormand (2017)
v
t
e
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Jennifer Jones
Jennifer Jones (1943)
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman (1944)
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman (1945)
Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell (1946)
Rosalind Russell
Rosalind Russell (1947)
Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman (1948)
Olivia de Havilland
Olivia de Havilland (1949)
Gloria Swanson
Gloria Swanson (1950)
Jane Wyman
Jane Wyman (1951)
Shirley Booth
Shirley Booth (1952)
Audrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn (1953)
Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly (1954)
Anna Magnani
Anna Magnani (1955)
Ingrid Bergman
Ingrid Bergman (1956)
Joanne Woodward
Joanne Woodward (1957)
Susan Hayward
Susan Hayward (1958)
Elizabeth Taylor
Elizabeth Taylor (1959)
Greer Garson
Greer Garson (1960)
Geraldine Page
Geraldine Page (1961)
Geraldine Page
Geraldine Page (1962)
Leslie Caron
Leslie Caron (1963)
Anne Bancroft
Anne Bancroft (1964)
Samantha Eggar
Samantha Eggar (1965)
Anouk Aimée
Anouk Aimée (1966)
Edith Evans
Edith Evans (1967)
Joanne Woodward
Joanne Woodward (1968)
Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold (1969)
Ali MacGraw
Ali MacGraw (1970)
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda (1971)
Liv Ullmann
Liv Ullmann (1972)
Marsha Mason
Marsha Mason (1973)
Gena Rowlands
Gena Rowlands (1974)
Louise Fletcher
Louise Fletcher (1975)
Faye Dunaway
Faye Dunaway (1976)
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda (1977)
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda (1978)
Sally Field
Sally Field (1979)
Mary Tyler Moore
Mary Tyler Moore (1980)
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep (1981)
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep (1982)
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine (1983)
Sally Field
Sally Field (1984)
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg (1985)
Marlee Matlin
Marlee Matlin (1986)
Sally Kirkland
Sally Kirkland (1987)
Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster /
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine /
Sigourney Weaver
_(cropped).jpg/440px-Sigourney_Weaver_(36017523852)_(cropped).jpg)
Sigourney Weaver (1988)
Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Pfeiffer (1989)
Kathy Bates
Kathy Bates (1990)
Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster (1991)
Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson (1992)
Holly Hunter
Holly Hunter (1993)
Jessica Lange
Jessica Lange (1994)
Sharon Stone
.jpg/440px-Flickr_-_Siebbi_-_Sharon_Stone_(1).jpg)
Sharon Stone (1995)
Brenda Blethyn
Brenda Blethyn (1996)
Judi Dench
Judi Dench (1997)
Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett (1998)
Hilary Swank
Hilary Swank (1999)
Julia Roberts
Julia Roberts (2000)
Sissy Spacek
Sissy Spacek (2001)
Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman (2002)
Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron (2003)
Hilary Swank
Hilary Swank (2004)
Felicity Huffman
Felicity Huffman (2005)
Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren (2006)
Julie Christie
Julie Christie (2007)
Kate Winslet
Kate Winslet (2008)
Sandra Bullock
Sandra Bullock (2009)
Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman (2010)
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep (2011)
Jessica Chastain
_(cropped).jpg/440px-SDCC_2015_-_Tom_Hiddleston_&_Jessica_Chastain_(19724874572)_(cropped).jpg)
Jessica Chastain (2012)
Cate Blanchett
Cate Blanchett (2013)
Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore (2014)
Brie Larson
Brie Larson (2015)
Isabelle Huppert
Isabelle Huppert (2016)
Frances McDormand
Frances McDormand (2017)
Authority control
WorldCat Identities
VIAF: 100232942
LCCN: n79058183
ISNI: 0000 0001 2145 2274
GND: 119400022
SUDOC: 063765926
BNF: cb13497790j (data)
BIBSYS: 11074840
BNE: XX1064777
SN
