Jeanne Crain | |
|---|---|
 Crain in 1954 | |
| Born | Jeanne Elizabeth Crain (1925-05-25)May 25, 1925 Barstow, California, U.S. |
| Died | December 14, 2003(2003-12-14) (aged 78) |
| Resting place | Santa Barbara Cemetery |
| Other names | Jeanne Crain Brinkman |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1943–1972 |
| Known for | Pinky In the Meantime, Darling State Fair Leave Her to Heaven Margie A Letter to Three Wives |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 7 |
Jeanne Elizabeth Crain (May 25, 1925 – December 14, 2003) was an American actress. She was nominated for anAcademy Award for Best Actress for the title role inPinky (1949). She also starred in the filmsIn the Meantime, Darling (1944),State Fair (1945),Leave Her to Heaven (1945),Centennial Summer (1946),Margie (1946),Apartment for Peggy (1948),A Letter to Three Wives (1949),Cheaper by the Dozen (1950),People Will Talk (1951),Man Without a Star (1955),Gentlemen Marry Brunettes (1955),The Fastest Gun Alive (1956), andThe Joker Is Wild (1957).
Crain was born inBarstow, California, to George A. Crain, a high school English teacher,[1] and Loretta Crain, née Carr. Both of Crain's parents wereCatholics of Irish descent.[2] By 1930 they were living inInglewood, California at 822 S. Walnut Avenue.[3] When her parents divorced in 1934, her mother, her sister Rita Marie (who served as Crain's stand-in during the mid-1940s), and she moved to 5817 Van Ness Avenue in Los Angeles.[4][1]
Crain began winning leads in school plays at 14 and beauty contests at 15. A skilled ice skater, she first attracted attention when she was crowned Miss Pan-Pacific at thePan-Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles. She attendedInglewood High School, where her father was head of the English department.[1][5] While still in high school, she was asked to do ascreen test withOrson Welles, but she did not get the part. After high school she enrolled atUCLA to study drama. In 1943 at age 18, she appeared in a bit part in the filmThe Gang's All Here, produced by 20th Century Fox.[6][7]
At age 19 Crain was cast byFox in her first sizable role in the romantic dramaHome in Indiana (1944), withWalter Brennan, in which she played the love interest ofLon McCallister's character. The film, shot inTechnicolor, was popular at the box office and established Crain as a film name.[8]
Darryl F. Zanuck, head of Fox, gave Crain top billing inIn the Meantime, Darling (1944), directed byOtto Preminger, where she played a war bride. Her acting was critically panned, but she gained nationwide attention. It resulted in her landing the lead role inThe Shocking Miss Pilgrim in October 1944, a musical film which was eventually made withBetty Grable as the star.[9]
Crain first received critical acclaim when she starred inWinged Victory (1944). She co-starred in 1945 withDana Andrews in the musical filmState Fair, for which Louanne Hogandubbed Crain's singing. After that, Crain often had singing parts in films, and they were invariably dubbed, usually by Hogan.
State Fair was a hit, as wasLeave Her to Heaven (1945), in which Crain played the "good" sister of her "bad" sibling, played byGene Tierney, both of whom are in love withCornel Wilde's character. Crain became established as one of Fox's bigger stars—so much so that Zanuck refused to let her play the comparatively small part of Clementine inMy Darling Clementine (1946).
Crain and Wilde were reunited inCentennial Summer (1946), directed by Preminger, Fox's attempt to match the success of MGM'sMeet Me in St. Louis (1944). More popular wasMargie (1946), which displayed her ice skating ability when she andConrad Janis danced around the ice rink while her boyfriend, played byAlan Young, slipped and stumbled after them.
She made two films in 1948:You Were Meant for Me, a musical with Dan Dailey that may have includedMarilyn Monroe's first film appearance; andApartment for Peggy withWilliam Holden.
In 1949 Crain appeared in three films.A Letter to Three Wives, where she was top-billed, was a solid box-office hit that wonJoseph L. Mankiewicz two Oscars and is considered a classic.The Fan, directed by Preminger and based onLady Windermere's Fan byOscar Wilde, was poorly received.Pinky brought Crain a nomination for theAcademy Award for Best Actress and was one of the year's more popular films; however, it was controversial. It told the story of a light-skinnedAfrican American woman who passed for white in theNorthern United States. AlthoughLena Horne and other black actresses were considered, producerDarryl F. Zanuck chose to cast a white actress for fear of racial backlash.[citation needed]
Crain had another big success when she starred withMyrna Loy andClifton Webb in the 1950 biographical filmCheaper by the Dozen, although hers was more of a supporting role. She had a cameo as herself inI'll Get By (1951) and starred inTake Care of My Little Girl (1951), a mildly popular drama about snobbery in college sororities.
Next, Crain was paired withCary Grant inJoseph L. Mankiewicz's offbeat comedy/dramaPeople Will Talk (1951). Despite Crain's intense campaigning for the female lead,Anne Baxter was initially cast in the part; however, when Baxter became pregnant, Crain ended up with the role after all.[10]
Shortly after, Crain starred inCharles Brackett's production ofThe Model and the Marriage Broker (1951). Cast in May 1951, she was Brackett's first choice.[11] She was reunited with Loy forBelles on Their Toes (1952), the sequel toCheaper by the Dozen, and received top billing this time.
While still at20th Century Fox, Crain played a young wife losing her mind amid high-seas intrigue inDangerous Crossing (1953), co-starringMichael Rennie. She starred inVicki (1953), a remake ofI Wake Up Screaming; and Fox tried her in a Western,City of Bad Men (1954). Both films performed only mildly at the box office, and Crain left the studio.
Crain worked for a number of studios after leaving Fox. She madeDuel in the Jungle (1954) in Britain, released in the U.S. byWarner Bros., and thenMan Without a Star (1955), a Western withKirk Douglas atUniversal, as the lead female role of a hard-nosed ranch owner.
She showed her dancing skills in 1955'sGentlemen Marry Brunettes, a quasi-sequel toGentlemen Prefer Blondes based onAnita Loos' novel and co-starringJane Russell. An independent production, it was released in the U.S. byUnited Artists. Later in the 1950s, Crain, Russell, and another actress formed a short-lived singing and dancing lounge act on the Las Vegas Strip.
Crain made the Western comedyThe Second Greatest Sex (1956), again for Universal, then starred withGlenn Ford,Russ Tamblyn, andBroderick Crawford inThe Fastest Gun Alive, anMGM production directed byRussell Rouse. It was a big hit. At Universal she starred withJeff Chandler in the thrillerThe Tattered Dress (1957) and then played a socialite who helps floundering singer and comedianJoe E. Lewis (Frank Sinatra) redeem himself inThe Joker Is Wild (1957) byParamount.
At this time Crain began working in television, playing Daisy in a 1958 adaptation ofThe Great Gatsby and Rose in 1959's all-star production ofMeet Me in St. Louis alongsideMyrna Loy,Walter Pidgeon,Jane Powell,Ed Wynn, and top-billedTab Hunter.
Crain appeared in fewer films in the 1960s as she entered semi-retirement. She starred asNefertiti in the Italian production ofQueen of the Nile (1961), withEdmund Purdom andVincent Price, and inMadison Avenue (1962), withDana Andrews andEleanor Parker. During this period Crain appeared—for the second time—as a mystery guest onWhat's My Line? and made guest appearances onRiverboat andBurke's Law.
She again co-starred with Dana Andrews inHot Rods To Hell (1967). Her last films wereThe Night God Screamed (1971) andSkyjacked (1972) withCharlton Heston.[12]
At the height of her stardom in the late 1940s and early 1950s, Crain was known as "Hollywood's Number One party girl", and she was quoted as saying she was invited to at least 200 parties a year.[13] In the early 1960s she was one of many conservative actors who spent their time promoting theRepublican Party.[14] She was a devout Catholic.[15]
Against her mother's wishes, on December 31, 1945, Crain married Paul Brinkman,[5] a formercontract player atRKO Pictures who was credited as Paul Brooks. He later became a top executive with an arms manufacturing company.[1] In the mid-1950s the marriage became rocky, and Crain obtained aninterlocutory divorce decree. Each claimed the other was unfaithful, and she alleged that he was abusive. However, they reconciled on December 31, 1956, and remained married.[16] They had seven children.[1] Although they later lived separately inSanta Barbara County, they maintained an amicable relationship, with Brinkman visiting Crain approximately once a month and on her birthday.[14][better source needed] Brinkman died in October 2003.[6]
Crain died on December 14, 2003, of a heart attack. She was 78.[17][18] Her funeral mass was held at theSanta Barbara Mission.[19] She is buried next to her husband[20] under the name Jeanne Crain Brinkman.[14]
Crain's career is documented in the Jeanne Crain Collection of memorabilia assembled by Charles J. Finlay, a longtime 20th Century Fox publicist, at the Cinema Archives atWesleyan University inMiddletown, Connecticut.[21]Her son, Paul F. Brinkman Jr., a television executive, is most known for his work on the seriesJAG.[22]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | Star Stage | Nancy | 1 episode |
| 1956 | The Ford Television Theatre | Joyce Randall | 1 episode |
| 1958 | The Great Gatsby | Daisy Buchanan | Television play |
| Schlitz Playhouse of Stars | Ruth Elliot | 1 episode | |
| 1959 | Meet Me in St. Louis | Rose Smith | TV movie |
| Goodyear Theatre | Lila Babrek Barnes | 1 episode | |
| Riverboat | Laura Sutton | 1 episode | |
| 1960-62 | G.E. True | Hope/Marion Miller | 3 episodes |
| 1963 | The Dick Powell Show | Elsie | 1 episode |
| 1964-65 | Burke's Law | Amy Booth / Lorraine Turner / Polly Martin | 3 episodes |
| 1968 | The Danny Thomas Hour | Frances Merrill | 1 episode |
| The Name of the Game | Mrs. McKendricks | 1 episode | |
| 1972 | Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law | Lily MacMurdy | 1 episode |
| Year | Program | Episode/source |
|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Suspense | The Case Study of a Murderer |
| 1952 | Lux Radio Theatre | Take Care of My Little Girl[23] |
| 1953 | Lux Radio Theatre | You're My Everything[24] |
| 1953 | Lux Summer Theatre | One More Spring[25] |
| Year | Award | Category | Production | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1949 | Academy Awards | Academy Award for Best Actress | Pinky | Nominated |
