Biography for
Jennifer Jones (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

2 March 1919, Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA

Birth Name

Phylis Lee Isley

Height

5' 7" (1.70 m)

Mini Biography

When Jennifer Jones arrived in Hollywood in 1939, she still called herself Phylis Isley. Her face and especially her eyes drew the attention of the producer David O. Selznick, who did not only allow her a great career but also fell in love with her and finally married Jennifer Jones in 1949. For her role in The Song of Bernadette (1943), she won an Oscar as best actress. Between the years 1946 and 1948, she consolidated her fame as either the innocent adolescent or the passionate lover: e.g. in Cluny Brown (1946), Duel in the Sun (1946) or Portrait of Jennie (1948).

IMDb Mini Biography By: Volker Boehm

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

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

Measurements: 33-24-34 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)

Was represented by the John Robert Powers agency as 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 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 (1950-53), Marlon Brando (1951-54) Elizabeth Taylor (1957-60) and Al Pacino (1972-75).

Son Michael Walker born on March 13, 1941.

Son Robert Walker Jr. born on April 15, 1940.

Her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is at 6429 Hollywood Blvd.

Is one of fifteen 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 for Come to the Stable (1949), 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 for The Sound of Music (1965), Peggy Wood for The Sound of Music (1965), Anne Bancroft for Agnes of God (1985), Meg Tilly for Agnes of God (1985), Susan Sarandon for Dead Man Walking (1995), Meryl Streep for Doubt (2008/I) and Amy Adams for Doubt (2008/I).

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."

Salary

Since You Went Away (1944)

$9,866.66

Where Are They Now

(October 2001) She lives 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).

Browse biographies section by name

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z