Jennifer Jones as Pearl Chavez in 1946’s controversial Duel in the Sun.
(Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Most famous for her Oscar-winning role in the 1943 movie The Song of Bernadette, actress Jennifer Jones passed away today at the age of 90. According to Norton Simon Museum of Art spokeswoman Leslie C. Denk, Jones died in her Malibu home of natural causes.
Jones began her acting career as Phylis Walker, wife of actor Robert Walker. But, it was producer David O. Selznick that would convince her to change her name and got her the role in The Song of Bernadette, which launched a string of successful films in the 1940s that included Since You Went Away, Love Letters, Portrait of Jennie, and the infamous Duel in the Sun. (Jones would eventually divorce Walker and marry Selznick.)
Jennifer Jones holds her Best Actress Oscar for The Song of Bernadette August 3, 1944. Pictured with Jennifer is actress Ingrid Bergman. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)
From The LA Times:
In addition to her best-actress win for “Bernadette,” Jones was nominated for an Academy Award for leading roles in three other films: “Love Letters” (1945), a soaper in which an amnesiac is cured through the love of a man, played by Cotten; the western epic “Duel in the Sun” (1946), with Peck; and “Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing” (1955), in which she played Dr. Han Suyin opposite Holden. She also was nominated as best supporting actress for “Since You Went Away” (1944), in which she starred with her first husband, Robert Walker.
Jennifer Jones in the lesser-known film Gone To Earth aka The Wild Heart.
(Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Jones’ other 1950s films included cult favorite Beat the Devil with Humphrey Bogart, Gone to Earth (photo above) and the notorious flop A Farewell to Arms, produced by Selznick. Selznick died in 1965 and Jones all but retired from acting, making her final appearance in The Towering Inferno in 1974.
Jennifer Jones married once more, this time to Norton Simon. Simon was an industrialist with a passion for collecting art, and the latter lead to his founding of the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, one of the leading art museums in Southern California. Jones served as chairwoman of the Norton Simon Foundation Board after Simon’s death in 1993.
Jennifer Jones and husband Simon Norton in 1971.
(Photo by Douglas Miller/Keystone/Getty Images)
To find out more about Jennifer Jones head over to the L.A. Times and read their very informative and comprehensive obituary.
I found a great scene from The Song of Bernadette featuring a young Jennifer Jones as the title character Bernadette Sobouris:
Here are a few more photos of Jennifer from throughout her career:
Jennifer Jones (L) and Shirley Temple from Since You Went Away.
(Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Jennifer Jones embracing Gregory Peck from Duel In The Sun.
(Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Jennifer Jones and William Holden from Love Is A Many Splendored Thing.
(Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Jennifer Jones and husband David Selznick with Rock Hudson at the 1957 premiere of A Farewell To Arms.
(Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
