Jean Porter
Jean Porter | |
---|---|
Born | Bennie Jean Porter December 8, 1922[1] Cisco, Texas, U.S |
Died | January 13, 2018[2] Los Angeles, California, U.S | (aged 95)
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 1936–1961 |
Spouse | |
Children | 3 |
Bennie Jean Porter (December 8, 1922 – January 13, 2018) was an American film and television actress. She was notable for her roles in The Youngest Profession (1943), Bathing Beauty (1944), Abbott and Costello in Hollywood (1945), Till the End of Time (1946), Cry Danger (1951), and The Left Hand of God (1955).
Porter was married to Edward Dmytryk, who was one of the Hollywood Ten, the most prominent blacklisted group in the film industry during the McCarthy era.[3]
Early life
Porter was born in
Career
At the age of 12, in 1935, Porter arrived in Hollywood and took dancing lessons at the Fanchon and Marco dancing school,[6] where she was discovered by director Allan Dwan. Porter acted in Dwan's 1936 musical Song and Dance Man, but did not appear in the credits.[7]
Beginning with a small roles in movies such as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) and One Million B.C. (1940), she eventually established herself as an actress for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941.[1][8]
While never a big star, she was active as a wholesome, mainly comedic, ingenue in B pictures throughout the 1940s, appearing in almost 30 motion pictures alongside MGM stars such as Esther Williams, Mickey Rooney, Margaret Dumont and the comedy duo Abbott and Costello.[3]
In the 1950s, Porter appeared regularly on television in series such as The Red Skelton Show and The Abbott and Costello Show. Her final TV roles were on Sea Hunt, and 77 Sunset Strip.[6] She would again be directed by Dmytryk in 1955's The Left Hand of God, before she retired from acting in 1961.[3]
Personal life
Two years after he directed her as a loan replacement to
Porter was the author of the unpublished book The Cost of Living, about her life with Dmytryk. She also wrote Chicago Jazz and Then Some, about jazz pianist Jess Stacy, and with her husband, On Screen Acting.[3]
Death
Porter died of natural causes in
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Source |
---|---|---|---|
1936 | Song and Dance Man | Girl | Uncredited[3] |
1938 | The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | Pauline | Uncredited[3] |
1939 | The Under-Pup | Penguin girl | Uncredited[12] |
1940 | One Million B.C. | Shell person | Uncredited[13] |
1941 | The Hard-Boiled Canary | Girl | Uncredited[14] |
Kiss the Boys Goodbye | Girl going to audition | Uncredited[3] | |
Never Give a Sucker an Even Break | Passerby | Uncredited[13] | |
Henry Aldrich for President | Student | Uncredited[15] | |
Hellzapoppin' | Chorine | Uncredited[3] | |
Babes on Broadway | Chorus girl | Uncredited[3] | |
1942 | Born to Sing | Dancer | Uncredited |
Heart of the Rio Grande | Pudge | [13] | |
About Face | Sally | [3] | |
Home in Wyomin' | Young fan | Uncredited[13] | |
Fall In | Joan | [3] | |
1943 | Calaboose | Major Barabara | [16] |
The Youngest Profession | Patricia Drew | [13] | |
That Nazty Nuisance | Kela | [13] | |
Young Ideas | Southern co-ed | Uncredited[17] | |
1944 | Andy Hardy's Blonde Trouble | Katy Anderson | [13] |
Bathing Beauty | Jean Allenwood | [13] | |
San Fernando Valley | Betty Lou Kenyon | [13] | |
1945 | Thrill of a Romance | Ga-ga bride | Uncredited[13] |
Twice Blessed | Kitty | [13] | |
Abbott and Costello in Hollywood | Ruthie | [13] | |
What Next, Corporal Hargrove? | Jeanne Quidoc | [13] | |
1946 | Easy to Wed | Frances | Uncredited[13] |
Till the End of Time | Helen Ingersoll | [13] | |
Betty Co-Ed | Joanne Leeds | [13] | |
1947 | Little Miss Broadway | Judy Gibson | [13] |
Sweet Genevieve | Genevieve Rogers | [18] | |
That Hagen Girl | Sharon Bailey | [13] | |
Two Blondes and a Redhead | Catherine Abbott | [13] | |
1951 | Cry Danger | Darlene | [13] |
Kentucky Jubilee | Sally Shannon | [13] | |
G.I. Jane
|
Jan Smith | [13] | |
1953 | The Clown | Jean | Uncredited[3] |
1954 | Racing Blood | Lucille Mitchell | [13] |
1955 | The Left Hand of God | Mary Yin | [13] |
1961 | Sea Hunt | Marna Gould | Season 4, Episode 31, (final appearance) |
Bibliography
- Dmytryk, Edward; Dmytryk, Jean Porter (1984). On Screen Acting: An Introduction to the Art of Acting for the Screen. Routledge. ISBN 978-1138584372.
- Dmytryk, Jean Porter (2010). Chicago Jazz and Then Some: As Told by One of the Original Chicagoans, Jess Stacy. BearManor Media. ISBN 978-1593935368.
References
- ^ ISBN 978-0786446582.
- ^ a b "Jean Porter, 1940s starlet, dead at 95". New York Daily News. 14 January 2018.
- ^ ISSN 0018-3660.
- ^ Porter, Jean (17 December 2003). "DONNA AND ME: Camp Tours of Donna Reed and Jean Porter".
- ^ a b c d "Jean Porter, 1940s starlet, dead at 95". New York Daily News. January 14, 2018. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
- ^ "Interview: Jean Porter". Westernclippings. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
- ^ Jean Porter at AllMovie
- ^ ISBN 9780429000713.
- ^ "Jean Porter". Virginia Weidler. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x "Jean Porter Filmography". TV Guide. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
- ^ "The Hard-Boiled Canary". CSFD. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
- ^ "Henry Aldrich for President". CSDF. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
- ^ "Calaboose". Letterboxd. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
- ^ "Young Ideas". Lauramiscmusings. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
- ^ "Sweet Genevieve". TCM. Retrieved January 15, 2018.
External links
- Jean Porter at IMDb
- Jean Porter at the TCM Movie Database