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Jeanne Crain

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Jeanne Crain
Crain promotional photograph (1940s)
Born
Jeanne Elizabeth Crain

(1925-05-25)May 25, 1925
Barstow, California, U.S.
DiedDecember 14, 2003(2003-12-14) (aged 78)
Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
Resting placeSanta Barbara Cemetery
Other namesJeanne Crain Brinkman
EducationInglewood High School
Alma materUniversity of California, Los Angeles
OccupationActress
Years active1943–1972
Known forPinky
In the Meantime, Darling
State Fair
Leave Her to Heaven
Margie
A Letter to Three Wives
Spouse
Paul Brinkman
​
​
(m. 1945; died 2003)​
Children7

Jeanne Elizabeth Crain (May 25, 1925 – December 14, 2003) was an American actress. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her title role in Pinky (1949). She also starred in the films In 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), and The Joker Is Wild (1957).

Early life

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Crain was born in Barstow, California, to George A. Crain, who was a high school English teacher,[1] and Loretta Crain, née Carr. Both of Crain's parents were Roman Catholics of Irish descent.[2] By 1930, they were living in Inglewood, 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 Ave in Los Angeles.[4][1]

Crain began winning leads in school plays at 14 and beauty contests at 15. An excellent ice skater, she first attracted attention when she was crowned Miss Pan-Pacific at the Pan-Pacific Auditorium in Los Angeles. She attended Inglewood High School where her father was head of the English department.[1][5] While still in high school, she was asked to take a screen test with Orson Welles, but she did not get the part. After high school, she enrolled at UCLA to study drama. In 1943, at age 18, she appeared in a bit part in the film The Gang's All Here, produced by 20th Century Fox.[6][7]

Career

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20th Century Fox

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State Fair trailer for her third lead starring role

At age 19, Crain was cast by Fox in her first sizable role, in the romantic drama Home in Indiana (1944) with Walter Brennan, in which she played the love interest of Lon McCallister's character. The film, shot in Technicolor, was popular at the box office and established Crain as a film name.[8]

Darryl F. Zanuck, head of Fox, gave Crain top billing in In the Meantime, Darling (1944), directed by Otto 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 in The Shocking Miss Pilgrim in October 1944, a musical film which was eventually made with Betty Grable as the star.[9]

Crain first received critical acclaim when she starred in Winged Victory (1944). She co-starred in 1945 with Dana Andrews in the musical film State Fair, where Louanne Hogan dubbed 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 was Leave Her to Heaven (1945), in which Crain played the "good" sister of her "bad" sibling, played by Gene Tierney, both of whom are in love with Cornel 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 in My Darling Clementine (1946).

Crain and Wilde were reunited in Centennial Summer (1946), directed by Preminger, Fox's attempt to match the success of Meet Me in St. Louis (1944). More popular was Margie (1946), which displayed her ice skating ability, and where she and Conrad Janis danced around the ice rink as her boyfriend, played by Alan 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 included Marilyn Monroe's first film appearance; and Apartment for Peggy, with William Holden.

Career peak

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Crain on cover of 1948 New York Sunday News magazine

In 1949, Crain was in three films. A Letter to Three Wives (1949), where she was top-billed, was a solid box-office hit that won Joseph L. Mankiewicz two Oscars and is considered a classic. The Fan, directed by Preminger and based on Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde, was poorly received. Pinky brought Crain a nomination for the Academy 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-skinned African American woman who passed for white in the Northern United States. Although Lena Horne and other black actresses were considered, producer Darryl F. Zanuck chose to cast a white actress for fear of racial backlash.[citation needed]

Crain had another big success when she starred with Myrna Loy and Clifton Webb in the 1950 biographical film Cheaper by the Dozen, although hers was more of a supporting role. She had a cameo as herself in I'll Get By (1951) and starred in Take Care of My Little Girl (1951), a mildly popular drama about snobbery in college sororities.

Next, Crain paired with Cary Grant in the Joseph L. Mankiewicz film of the offbeat comedy/drama People Will Talk (1951). Despite Crain's intense campaigning for the female lead, Anne Baxter was initially cast in the part; but when she had to forfeit due to pregnancy, Crain got the role after all.[10]

Shortly after, Crain starred in Charles Brackett's production The Model and the Marriage Broker (1951). Cast in May 1951, she was Brackett's first choice.[11] She was reunited with Loy for Belles on Their Toes (1952), the sequel to Cheaper by the Dozen, and got top billing this time.

While still at 20th Century Fox, Crain played a young wife losing her mind amid high-seas intrigue in Dangerous Crossing (1953), co-starring Michael Rennie. She starred in Vicki (1953), a remake of I 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.

Universal

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Crain in 1954

Crain made Duel in the Jungle (1954) in Britain and then Man Without a Star (1955), a Western with Kirk Douglas at Universal, where she played the lead female role of a hard-nosed ranch-owner.

She showed her dancing skills in 1955's Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, a quasi-sequel to Gentlemen Prefer Blondes based on Anita Loos' novel and co-starring Jane Russell. The film was shot partly in Paris and was released in France as A Paris Pour les Quatre (To Paris for the Four), and in Belgium as Cevieren Te Parijs. 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 comedy The Second Greatest Sex (1956), then starred with Glenn Ford, Russ Tamblyn, and Broderick Crawford in The Fastest Gun Alive directed by Russell Rouse. It was a big hit. At Universal, she starred with Jeff Chandler in the thriller The Tattered Dress (1957), then played a socialite who helps floundering singer and comedian Joe E. Lewis (Frank Sinatra) redeem himself in The Joker Is Wild (1957).

At this time, Crain began working in television, playing Daisy in a 1958 adaptation of The Great Gatsby and Rose in 1959's all-star production of Meet Me in St. Louis alongside Myrna Loy, Walter Pidgeon, Jane Powell, Ed Wynn, and top billed Tab Hunter.

Later career

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Crain appeared in fewer films in the 1960s as she entered semiretirement. She starred as Nefertiti in the Italian production of Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile (1961) with Edmund Purdom and Vincent Price; and in Madison Avenue (1962) with Dana Andrews and Eleanor Parker. During this period, Crain appeared—for the second time—as a mystery guest on What's My Line?, and made guest appearances on the Riverboat and Burke's Law.

She again co-starred with Dana Andrews in Hot Rods To Hell (1967). Her last films were The Night God Screamed (1971) and Skyjacked (1972) with Charlton Heston.[12]

Personal life

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Crain dancing with her husband Paul Brinkman at the Mocambo, 1946

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]

Against her mother's wishes, on December 31, 1945, Crain married Paul Brinkman,[5] a former contract player at RKO Pictures who was credited as Paul Brooks. He later became a top executive with an arms manufacturing company. They had seven children.[14]

In the mid-1950s, the marriage became rocky and Crain obtained an interlocutory divorce decree. Each claimed the other was unfaithful, and she alleged he was abusive. However, they reconciled on December 31, 1956,[15] and Crain had three more children with Brinkman through 1965.[1]

In the early 1960s, she was one of many conservative actors who spent their time promoting the Republican Party.[14]

Crain and her husband remained married, although they later lived separately in Santa Barbara County, maintaining an amicable relationship, with Brinkman visiting Crain approximately once a month and on her birthday.[14] Brinkman died in October 2003.[5][6]

Crain died two months later from a heart attack.[6] Her funeral mass was held at the Santa Barbara Mission. She is buried next to her husband[16] under the name Jeanne Crain Brinkman.[14]

Legacy

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Crain's career is documented in the Jeanne Crain Collection of memorabilia assembled by Charles J. Finlay, a longtime 20th Century Fox publicist, which resides at the Cinema Archives at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut.[17] Her son, Paul F. Brinkman Jr., a television executive, is most known for his work on the television series JAG.[18]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1943 The Gang's All Here Chorus Girl / Pool Party Guest uncredited
1944 Home in Indiana 'Char' Bruce
In the Meantime, Darling Margaret 'Maggie' Preston
Winged Victory Helen
1945 State Fair Margy Frake a.k.a. Rodgers and Hammerstein's State Fair
also soundtrack
Leave Her to Heaven Ruth Berent
1946 Centennial Summer Julia Rogers also soundtrack
Margie Marjorie 'Margie' MacDuff also soundtrack
1948 You Were Meant for Me Peggy Mayhew
Apartment for Peggy Peggy Taylor also soundtrack
1949 A Letter to Three Wives Deborah Bishop
The Fan Lady Margaret 'Meg' Windermere a.k.a. Lady Windermere's Fan
Pinky Patricia 'Pinky' Johnson nominated for Academy Award for Best Actress
1950 Cheaper by the Dozen Anne Gilbreth
I'll Get By Herself uncredited cameo
1951 Take Care of My Little Girl Elizabeth 'Liz' Erickson
People Will Talk Deborah Higgins
The Model and the Marriage Broker Kitty Bennett
1952 Belles on Their Toes Anne Gilbreth a.k.a. Belles on Their Toes: The Further Adventures of the Gilbreth Family
O. Henry's Full House Della Young segment: "The Gift of the Magi"
1953 Dangerous Crossing Ruth Stanton Bowman
Vicki Jill Lynn
City of Bad Men Linda Culligan
1954 Duel in the Jungle Marian Taylor
1955 Man Without a Star Reed Bowman
Gentlemen Marry Brunettes Connie Jones / Mitzi Jones also soundtrack
The Second Greatest Sex Liza McClure also soundtrack
1956 The Fastest Gun Alive Dora Temple
1957 The Tattered Dress Diane Blane
The Joker Is Wild Letty Page a.k.a. All the Way
1960 Guns of the Timberland Laura Riley
1961 Madison Avenue Peggy Shannon
Twenty Plus Two Linda Foster a.k.a. It Started in Tokyo
Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile Tenet/Nefertiti
1962 Pontius Pilate Claudia Procula
1963 Invasion 1700 Helena Kurcewiczówna a.k.a. Daggers of Blood and With Fire and Sword
1967 Hot Rods to Hell Peg Phillips a.k.a. 52 Miles to Terror
1971 The Night God Screamed Fanny Pierce a.k.a. Scream
1972 Skyjacked Mrs. Clara Shaw a.k.a. Sky Terror

Television

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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

Radio performances

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Year Program Episode/source
1951 Suspense The Case Study of a Murderer
1952 Lux Radio Theatre Take Care of My Little Girl[19]
1953 Lux Radio Theatre You're My Everything[20]
1953 Lux Summer Theatre One More Spring[21]

Awards and nominations

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Awards
Year Award Category Production Result
1949 Academy Awards Academy Award for Best Actress Pinky Nominated

Sources

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  • Girl Next Door: The Life and Career of Jeanne Crain by Rupert Alistair CreateSpace ISBN 9781976152658 ISBN 1976152658

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Jeanne Crain - Family". tcm.com. Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  2. ^ Bergan, Ronald (December 16, 2003). "Jeanne Crain". The Guardian. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  3. ^ "United States Census". U.S. Census. 1930 – via ancestrylibrary.com.
  4. ^ "United States Census". US Census. 1940 – via ancestrylibrary.com.
  5. ^ a b c "Jeanne Crain". Hometowns to Hollywood. 2018-02-12. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
  6. ^ a b c Bernstein, Adam (2003-12-16). "'40s Actress Jeanne Crain Dies". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-10-12.
  7. ^ "Jeanne Crain Is Dead at 78; Winsome Actress of the 40's". Associated Press. The New York Times. December 16, 2003. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  8. ^ "Darryl F. Zanuck Presents 'Leave Her to Heaven' Starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain". The Waxahachie Daily Light. February 10, 1946. p. 4. Retrieved June 4, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  9. ^ "SCREEN NEWS; Fox Picks Starring Film for Jeanne Crain". The New York Times. October 18, 1944. Retrieved 2010-02-05.
  10. ^ Parsons, Louella (March 12, 1951). "Gets Anne's Role". Deseret News. p. 3.
  11. ^ Parsons, Louella (May 24, 1951). "Gets Anne's Role". San Antonio Light. p. 6.
  12. ^ Katz, Ephraim (1998). "Jeanne Crain". The Film Encyclopedia (Third ed.). p. 304.
  13. ^ "Jeanne Crain Likes Night Life, Says So". Long Beach Independent. March 18, 1955. p. 27.
  14. ^ a b c d "Jeanne Crain". glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com.
  15. ^ "Reconciled Couple Expecting 5th Child". The Daily Herald. The Daily Herald. June 7, 1957. p. 13. Retrieved June 23, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  16. ^ "Famous Grave Tour - Santa Barbara". youtube.com. Arthur Dark. Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  17. ^ "Cinema Archives". Wesleyan.edu. Wesleyan University. Retrieved November 2, 2017.
  18. ^ Meisler, Andy (April 8, 2001). "TELEVISION/RADIO; Around the World in a Day (With No Overtime)". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  19. ^ Kirby, Walter (February 3, 1952). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 40. Retrieved June 3, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  20. ^ Kirby, Walter (February 22, 1953). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 40. Retrieved June 23, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  21. ^ Kirby, Walter (June 28, 1953). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. p. 44. Retrieved July 1, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
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