Jeanne Crain
{{Short description|American actress (1925–2003)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Jeanne Crain
| image = Studio_publicity_Jeanne_Crain.jpg
| caption = Promotional photograph (1940s)
| birth_name = Jeanne Elizabeth Crain
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1925|05|25}}
| birth_place = Barstow, California, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2003|12|14|1925|05|25}}
| death_place = Santa Barbara, California, U.S.
| alma_mater =
| known_for = Pinky
In the Meantime, Darling
State Fair
Leave Her to Heaven
Margie
A Letter to Three Wives
| resting_place = Santa Barbara Cemetery
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1943–1972
| spouse = {{Marriage|Paul Brinkman|1945|2003|end=his death}}
| children = 7
| other_names = Jeanne Crain Brinkman
}}
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
Crain was born in Barstow, California, to George A. Crain, who was a high school English teacher, and Loretta Crain, née Carr. Both of Crain's parents were Catholics of Irish descent.{{cite news| url= https://www.theguardian.com/news/2003/dec/16/guardianobituaries2 |work= The Guardian| title= Jeanne Crain | first= Ronald| last= Bergan| date= December 16, 2003 | access-date= November 2, 2017}} By 1930, they were living in Inglewood, California at 822 S. Walnut Avenue.{{cite web| title=United States Census | url= http://search.ancestrylibrary.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?gss=angs-c&new=1&rank=1&msT=1&gsfn=Jeanne&gsln=Crain&msbdy=1926&msbpn__ftp=Barstow%2c+Fresno%2c+California%2c+USA&msbpn=67930&msbpn_PInfo=8-%7c0%7c1652393%7c0%7c2%7c3249%7c7%7c0%7c1090%7c67930%7c0%7c&msrpn__ftp=Los+Angeles&msfng=George&msfns=Crain&msmng=Loretta&msmns=Carr%5d&MSAV=0&uidh=6i3&pcat=USFEDCEN&h=72412823&db=1940usfedcen&indiv=1&ml_rpos=2| publisher= U.S. Census| via= ancestrylibrary.com| date= 1930 }} 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.{{cite web| title= United States Census| url= http://interactive.ancestrylibrary.com/2442/m-t0627-00383-00054/72412823?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.ancestrylibrary.com%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgss%3dangs-c%26new%3d1%26rank%3d1%26msT%3d1%26gsfn%3dJeanne%26gsln%3dCrain%26msbdy%3d1926%26msbpn__ftp%3dBarstow%252c%2bFresno%252c%2bCalifornia%252c%2bUSA%26msbpn%3d67930%26msbpn_PInfo%3d8-%257c0%257c1652393%257c0%257c2%257c3249%257c7%257c0%257c1090%257c67930%257c0%257c%26msrpn__ftp%3dLos%2bAngeles%26msfng%3dGeorge%26msfns%3dCrain%26msmng%3dLoretta%26msmns%3dCarr%255d%26MSAV%3d0%26uidh%3d6i3%26pcat%3dUSFEDCEN%26h%3d72412823%26db%3d1940usfedcen%26indiv%3d1%26ml_rpos%3d2&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord| publisher= US Census|via=ancestrylibrary.com| date= 1940 }}{{cite web |title=Jeanne Crain - Family |url=https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/40635%7C81110/Jeanne-Crain/#family-companions |website=Turner Classic Movies |publisher=Turner Classic Movies |access-date=25 June 2023}}
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. 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.{{cite news |title=Jeanne Crain Is Dead at 78; Winsome Actress of the 40's |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/16/arts/jeanne-crain-is-dead-at-78-winsome-actress-of-the-40-s.html|work=Associated Press |publisher=The New York Times |access-date=25 June 2023|date=December 16, 2003}}
Career
=20th Century Fox=
File:Jeanne Crain in State Fair trailer.jpg trailer for her third lead 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.{{cite news|title=Darryl F. Zanuck Presents 'Leave Her to Heaven' Starring Gene Tierney, Cornel Wilde, Jeanne Crain|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2554052/the_waxahachie_daily_light/| work= The Waxahachie Daily Light |date=February 10, 1946|page=4|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = June 4, 2015}} {{Open access}}
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.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1944/10/18/archives/screen-news-fox-picks-starring-film-for-jeanne-crain.html |title=SCREEN NEWS; Fox Picks Starring Film for Jeanne Crain |access-date=2010-02-05|work=The New York Times | date=October 18, 1944}}
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=
File:Jeanne Crain 1948.JPG 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.{{cn|date=August 2023}}
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.{{cite news| title= Gets Anne's Role| author-link= Louella Parsons| first= Louella | last= Parsons | work= Deseret News| date= March 12, 1951| page= 3}}
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.{{cite news| title= Gets Anne's Role| first= Louella | last= Parsons | work= San Antonio Light | date= May 24, 1951| page= 6}} 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=
File:Jeanne Crain by Phil Stern, 1954.jpg
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=
Crain appeared in fewer films in the 1960s as she entered semiretirement. She starred as Nefertiti in the Italian production of 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.{{cite encyclopedia| last= Katz| first= Ephraim| encyclopedia= The Film Encyclopedia| edition= Third| year= 1998| page= 304|title=Jeanne Crain}}
Personal life
File:Jeanne Crain dancing with her husband Paul Brooks at the Mocambo, 1946.jpg, 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.{{cite news| title= Jeanne Crain Likes Night Life, Says So| work= Long Beach Independent| date= March 18, 1955| page= 27}}
Against her mother's wishes, on December 31, 1945, Crain married Paul Brinkman, 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.{{cite web| url= http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/50/Jeanne+Crain/ | title= Jeanne Crain| website= glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com}}
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,{{cite news|title=Reconciled Couple Expecting 5th Child|newspaper=The Daily Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2675030/the_daily_herald/|agency=The Daily Herald|date=June 7, 1957|page=13|via = Newspapers.com|access-date = June 23, 2015}} {{Open access}} and Crain had three more children with Brinkman through 1965.
In the early 1960s, she was one of many conservative actors who spent their time promoting the Republican Party.
Crain was a devout Catholic.{{cite web|url=https://classicfilmclub.com/_people/jeanne_crain/jeanne_crain.php|title=Jeanne Crain|accessdate=30 October 2024|work=Classic Film Club}}
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. Brinkman died in October 2003.{{Cite web |date=2018-02-12 |title=Jeanne Crain |url=https://hometownstohollywood.com/california/jeanne-crain/ |access-date=2022-10-12 |website=Hometowns to Hollywood |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Bernstein |first=Adam |date=2003-12-16 |title='40s Actress Jeanne Crain Dies |language=en-US |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2003/12/16/40s-actress-jeanne-crain-dies/ea3d29dc-2857-4822-825f-74dad9afae29/ |access-date=2022-10-12 |issn=0190-8286}}
Crain died two months after her husband from a heart attack. Her funeral mass was held at the Santa Barbara Mission.{{cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/latimes/name/jeanne-brinkman-obituary?id=27539402|title=Jeanne Brinkman Obituary (2003)|accessdate=30 October 2024|work=Los Angeles Times}} She is buried next to her husband{{cite web |title=Famous Grave Tour - Santa Barbara |url=https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=i_Oas518EOo |website=youtube.com |publisher=Arthur Dark |access-date=7 September 2023}} under the name Jeanne Crain Brinkman.
Legacy
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.{{cite web| url= http://www.wesleyan.edu/cinema/ | website= Wesleyan.edu| publisher= Wesleyan University| title= Cinema Archives| access-date= November 2, 2017}}
Her son, Paul F. Brinkman Jr., a television executive, is most known for his work on the television series JAG.{{cite news |last1=Meisler |first1=Andy |title=TELEVISION/RADIO; Around the World in a Day (With No Overtime) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/04/08/arts/television-radio-around-the-world-in-a-day-with-no-overtime.html |access-date=25 June 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=April 8, 2001}}
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |
| 1943
| Chorus Girl / Pool Party Guest | uncredited |
| rowspan=3|1944
| 'Char' Bruce | |
| In the Meantime, Darling
| Margaret 'Maggie' Preston | |
| Winged Victory
| Helen | |
| rowspan=2|1945
| Margy Frake | {{aka}} Rodgers and Hammerstein's State Fair |
| Leave Her to Heaven
| Ruth Berent | |
| rowspan=2|1946
| Julia Rogers | also soundtrack |
| Margie
| Marjorie 'Margie' MacDuff | also soundtrack |
| rowspan=2|1948
| Peggy Mayhew | |
| Apartment for Peggy
| Peggy Taylor | also soundtrack |
| rowspan=3|1949
| Deborah Bishop | |
| The Fan
| Lady Margaret 'Meg' Windermere | {{aka}} Lady Windermere's Fan |
| Pinky
| Patricia 'Pinky' Johnson | nominated for Academy Award for Best Actress |
| rowspan=2|1950
| Anne Gilbreth | |
| I'll Get By
| Herself | uncredited cameo |
| rowspan=3|1951
| Elizabeth 'Liz' Erickson | |
| People Will Talk
| Deborah Higgins | |
| The Model and the Marriage Broker
| Kitty Bennett | |
| rowspan=2|1952
| Anne Gilbreth | {{aka}} Belles on Their Toes: The Further Adventures of the Gilbreth Family |
| O. Henry's Full House
| Della Young | segment: "The Gift of the Magi" |
| rowspan=3|1953
| Ruth Stanton Bowman | |
| Vicki
| Jill Lynn | |
| City of Bad Men
| Linda Culligan | |
| 1954
| Marian Taylor | |
| rowspan=3|1955
| Reed Bowman | |
| Gentlemen Marry Brunettes
| Connie Jones / Mitzi Jones | also soundtrack |
| The Second Greatest Sex
| Liza McClure | also soundtrack |
| 1956
| Dora Temple | |
| rowspan=2|1957
| Diane Blane | |
| The Joker Is Wild
| Letty Page | {{aka}} All the Way |
| 1960
| Laura Riley | |
| rowspan=3|1961
| Peggy Shannon | |
| Twenty Plus Two
| Linda Foster | {{aka}} It Started in Tokyo |
| Queen of the Nile
| Tenet/Nefertiti |{{aka}} Nefertiti, Queen of the Nile |
| 1962
| |
| 1963
| {{aka}} Daggers of Blood and With Fire and Sword |
| 1967
| Peg Phillips | {{aka}} 52 Miles to Terror |
| 1971
| Fanny Pierce | {{aka}} Scream |
| 1972
| Mrs. Clara Shaw | {{aka}} Sky Terror |
=Television=
| class="wikitable"
! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |
| 1955
| Nancy | 1 episode |
| 1956
| Joyce Randall | 1 episode |
| rowspan=2|1958 |
| Schlitz Playhouse of Stars
| Ruth Elliot | 1 episode |
| rowspan=3|1959
| Meet Me in St. Louis | Rose Smith | TV movie |
| Goodyear Theatre
| Lila Babrek Barnes | 1 episode |
| Riverboat
| Laura Sutton | 1 episode |
| 1960-62
| Hope/Marion Miller | 3 episodes |
| 1963
| Elsie | 1 episode |
| 1964-65
| Amy Booth / Lorraine Turner / Polly Martin | 3 episodes |
| rowspan=2|1968
| 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
= Awards and nominations =
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+Awards |
| Year
! Award ! Category ! Production ! Result |
|---|
| 1949
| Academy Award for Best Actress | Pinky | {{nom}} |
Sources
- Girl Next Door: The Life and Career of Jeanne Crain by Rupert Alistair CreateSpace {{ISBN|9781976152658}} {{ISBN|1976152658}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name}}
- {{Tcmdb name}}
- {{rotten-tomatoes-person|jeanne_crain}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20080602122854/http://www.jeannecrain.org/ jeannecrain.org], a Jeanne Crain tribute website by Crain's granddaughter Bret Crain Csupo
- [http://film.virtual-history.com/person.php?personid=1979 Photographs and literature]
- {{cite magazine|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=GFIEAAAAMBAJ|title= Jeanne Crain cover photo| magazine= Life| date= October 17, 1949 }}
- {{Find a Grave}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crain, Jeanne}}
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:20th-century Roman Catholics
Category:20th Century Studios contract players
Category:Actresses from Los Angeles
Category:Actresses from Santa Barbara, California
Category:American film actresses
Category:American people of Irish descent
Category:American radio actresses
Category:American Roman Catholics
Category:American television actresses
Category:Burials at Santa Barbara Cemetery
Category:California Republicans
Category:Catholics from California