Jean Simmons, the demure British beauty was born January 31, 1929,
in London. At the age of 14, Jean started her career in the film
"Give Us the Moon." This led to bigger parts, in movies like "Great
Expectations." Her career reached new heights after that. In 1948,
she played opposite Laurence Olivier in "Hamlet"; this brought her
first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress. In
1950, Jean married actor Stewart Granger; they costarred in several
films. They had a daughter, Tracy, in 1955. That same year, Jean
starred in the Sinatra "Rat Pack" musical "Guys and Dolls" (1955);
Jean used her own singing voice and earned her first Golden Globe
Award. After her divorce, writer and director Richard Brooks cast
her in "Elmer Gantry." Soon after, Jean and Brooks got married
(they were married for 32 years, until his death in 1992). In 1967,
Jean won acclaim portraying a hard-nosed, frontier businesswoman
opposite "Rat Pack" star Dean Martin in "Rough Night in Jericho."
Jean continued making films well into the 1970s. In the 1980s Jean
would mainly appear in TV mini-series, such as "North and South"
and "The Thorn Birds." Jean recently made a comeback to films in
1995 in "How to Make an American Quilt" costarring Winona Ryder and
Anne Bancroft. Jean resides in Santa Monica, and still has many
fans who appreciate her great movies.
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