Jane Greer
Jane Greer | |
|---|---|
Westwood Memorial Park | |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1945–1996 |
| Spouses | |
| Partner | Frank London (1963–2001; his death) |
| Children | 3, including Lawrence Lasker |
Jane Greer (born Bettejane Greer; September 9, 1924 – August 24, 2001) was an American film and television actress best known for her role as Academy Award nomination.[1]
Early life
Greer was born in
Washington, DC, the daughter of Charles Durell McClellan Greer Jr. and his wife, Bettie.[2] In 1940, at age 15, Greer suffered from a facial palsy, which paralyzed the left side of her face. She recovered, but the condition may have contributed to her "patented look" and "a calm, quizzical gaze and an enigmatic expression that would later lead RKO to promote her as 'The Woman with the Mona Lisa smile'."[3] She claimed that the facial exercises used to overcome the paralysis taught her the importance of facial expression in conveying human emotion.[4]
On December 4, 1945, Greer had her name legally changed to Jane Greer by a court in Los Angeles. She said of her previous name: "Mine is a sissy name. It's too bo-peepish, ingenueish, for the type of role I've been playing. It's like Mary Lou or Mary Ann."[5]
Career
Music
A beauty-contest winner and professional model from her teens, Greer began her show-business career as a big-band singer. She sang in Washington, DC, with the orchestra of Enric Madriguera.[6] She "sang phonetically in Spanish" with the group.[7]
Film
Rudy Vallee, "helped her get out of her contract with Hughes and secure another pact with RKO Studios"[7]) including Dick Tracy (1945), Out of the Past (1947), They Won't Believe Me (1947), and the comedy/suspense film The Big Steal (1949), with Out of the Past co-star Robert Mitchum. Hughes refused to let her work for a time; when she finally resumed film acting, she appeared in You're in the Navy Now (1951), The Prisoner of Zenda (1952), Run for the Sun (1956), and Man of a Thousand Faces (1957). In 1984, she was cast in Against All Odds, a remake of Out of the Past, as the mother of the character she had played in 1947. In 1952, Greer obtained a release from her contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. She said, "When there is a good role at MGM, the producers want Lana or Ava. There is no chance for another actress to develop into important stardom at the studio".[8]
Television
Greer's noteworthy roles in television included guest appearances on episodes of numerous shows over the decades, such as Columbo titled Troubled Waters. She even got to make fun of Out of the Past in a parody with Robert Mitchum on TV's Saturday Night Live in 1987. Greer joined the casts of Falcon Crest in 1984 and Twin Peaks in 1990 in recurring roles until her retirement in 1996.
Recognition
Greer was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1634 Vine Street for her contributions to the motion picture industry. The star was dedicated on February 8, 1960.[9]
Personal life
Greer married
Catholic.[16]
Greer died of cancer on August 24, 2001, at the age of 76, in
Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.[citation needed
]
Complete filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1945 | Pan-Americana | Miss Downing | Ruby Rosenberg (assistant) | Uncredited |
| Two O'Clock Courage | Helen Carter | Anthony Mann | as Bettejane Greer | |
George White's Scandals |
Billie Randall | Felix E. Feist | as Bettejane Greer | |
| Dick Tracy | Judith Owens | William A. Berke |
||
| 1946 | The Falcon's Alibi | Lola Carpenter | James Anderson (assistant) |
|
| Sunset Pass | Lolita Baxter | Doran Cox (assistant) | ||
| The Bamboo Blonde | Eileen Sawyer | Anthony Mann | ||
| 1947 | Sinbad the Sailor | Pirouze | Richard Wallace | |
| They Won't Believe Me | Janice Bell | Irving Pichel | ||
| Out of the Past | Kathie Moffat | Jacques Tourneur | ||
| 1948 | Station West | Charlie | Sidney Lanfield | |
| 1949 | The Big Steal | Joan Graham | Don Siegel | |
| 1951 | The Company She Keeps | Diane Stuart | John Cromwell | |
| You're in the Navy Now | Ellie C. Harkness | Henry Hathaway | ||
| 1952 | You for Me | Katie McDermad | Don Weis | |
| The Prisoner of Zenda | Antoinette de Mauban | Richard Thorpe | ||
| Desperate Search | Julie Heldon | Joseph H. Lewis | ||
| 1953 | The Clown | Paula Henderson | Robert Z. Leonard | |
| Down Among the Sheltering Palms | Diana Forrester | Edmund Goulding | ||
| 1956 | Run for the Sun | Katherine "Katie" Connors | Roy Boulting |
|
| 1957 | Man of a Thousand Faces | Hazel Bennet Chaney | Joseph Pevney | |
| 1964 | Where Love Has Gone | Marian Spicer | Edward Dmytryk | |
| 1965 | Billie | Agnes Carol | Don Weis | |
| 1973 | The Outfit | Alma Macklin | John Flynn | |
| 1979 | A Christmas for Boomer | TV movie | ||
| 1982 | The Shadow Riders | Ma Traven | Andrew V. McLaglen | TV movie |
| 1984 | Against All Odds | Mrs. Wyler | Taylor Hackford | |
| 1986 | Just Between Friends | Ruth Chadwick | Allan Burns | |
| 1989 | Immediate Family | Michael's Mother | Jonathan Kaplan | |
| 1996 | Perfect Mate | Mom |
Partial television credits
- The Ford Television Theatre - "Look for Tomorrow" (1953), "One Man Missing (1955)", "Moment of Decision" (1957)
- Celebrity Playhouse - "Diamonds in the Sky" (1955) as Nina
- Zane Grey Theater - "A Gun for My Bride" (1957), "The Vaunted" (1958), "Stagecoach to Yuma" (1960)
- Playhouse 90 - "No Time at All" (1958) as Karen
- Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1959) (Season 4 Episode 34: "A True Account") as Mrs. Cannon-Hughes / Ms. Cannon-Hughes / Mrs. Cannon-Hughes-Brett
- Bonanza - "The Julia Bulette Story" (1959) as Julia Bulette
- Stagecoach West - "High Lonesome" (1960) as Kathleen Kane
- Thriller- "Portrait Without a Face" (1961) as Ann Moffat
- Burke's Law - "Who Killed My Girl?" (1964) as Lonnie Smith
- Columbo - "Troubled Waters" (1975) as Sylvia Danziger
- Quincy, M.E. - "The Depth of Beauty" (1979) as Dorrie Larkin
- Falcon Crest (1984) as Charlotte Pershing (recurring role, 6 episodes)
- The Law & Harry McGraw - "Murder by Landslide" (1987) as Augusta Stillman
- Saturday Night Live - "Robert Mitchum/Simply Red" (1987) as Kathy (uncredited)
- Murder, She Wrote - "The Last Flight of the Dixie Damsel" (1988) as Bonnie Phelps
- Twin Peaks (1990) as Vivian Smythe Niles
References
- ^ Singer, Leigh (February 19, 2009). "Oscars: the best actors never to have been nominated". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved September 17, 2022.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Jane Greer profile at". Yahoo! Movies.
- ^ "Jane Greer Biography". hollywoodupclose.com. Archived from the original on June 4, 2009.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Jane Greer". Hollywood Walk of Fame. Retrieved January 16, 2017.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- Newspapers.com.
- ^ "Jane Greer Obituary". The Telegraph. August 28, 2001.
- ^ Motion Picture and Television Magazine, November 1952, page 33, Ideal Publishers
- ^ Lowe, Skip E. "Interview with Jane Greer". YouTube. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
- ^ Jane Greer - L.A. Times Hollywood Star Walk
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jane Greer.
- Jane Greer at IMDb
- Jane Greer at aenigma
- Jane Greer at Find a Grave
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