She followed it with The Woman in the Hall (1947). Simmons won her fi rst Oscar nomination for Hamlet when she was just 19 and moved to Hollywood in 1950 with first husband Stewart Granger, who was 16 years her senior and already married when they fi rst met. I really dont have a bad word to say about her., The British-born actress got her start early, garnering international renown at just 17 for her portrayal of Estella in David Leans, . Update, Hawaii Adventures! Simmons made her television debut in Soldier in Love (1967) and in the late 1970s began appearing chiefly in television movies. She had to decline for Hamlet's sake but no young actress was being talked about more. Alamy and its logo are trademarks of Alamy Ltd. and are registered in certain countries. Simmons played the title role in Hilda Crane (1956) at Fox, a box-office disappointment. In 1950 Simmons was voted Britains 4th most popular star. Tuesday, 18th April 2023See today's front and back pages, download the newspaper, order back issues and use the historic Daily Express newspaper archive. I thought the script by David Rocksavage was wonderful and that Hannah was such an interesting character, she said. Simmons and Granger returned to England to make the thriller Footsteps in the Fog (1955). But around 75, she changed: she did a wonderful voice performance in Hayao Miyazaki's Howl's Moving Castle (2004), and she was deeply touching as a dying poet in Shadows in the Sun (2009). The 44-year-old actress - who plays Vanessa Woodfield - announced the news . She did Life at the Top (1965) with Laurence Harvey, Mister Buddwing (1966) with James Garner, Divorce American Style (1967) with Dick Van Dyke, and Rough Night in Jericho (1967) with George Peppard and Dean Martin. In the 2003 New Year Honours, Simmons was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to acting. It was Richard Brooks who saw what was wrong and tried to make me stand on my own two feet. Despite her success and A-list status Jean was no diva, preferring to live quietly in Santa Monica with. According to Richard, there was hidden turmoil beneath the surface of their happy union Jeans struggle with alcohol. [17], Granger became a Hollywood star in King Solomon's Mines (1950) and was signed to a contract by MGM, so Simmons moved to Los Angeles with him. Im not sure what they were expecting, some diva from Sunset Boulevard perhaps, she told me. Jean Simmons 1st September 1975: Actress Jean Simmons, with her daughters, Kate and Tracy, on a boat trip on the River Thames in London. After a couple of weeks, film director Val Guest visited the school. He neglected her career and was deaf to the entreaties of others offering her gainful employment. She added the caption: It will all work out in the end #behappy #nationalcomingoutday #loveislove(sic).. She has a very positive attitude about life., Like Jean herself perhaps? The marriage to Brooks came to an end in 1977, and there were stories that she was drinking too much. And he'd say: 'Never be afraid to fail. Tracy Granger and Kate Brooks, Los Angeles Times said. Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Officer of the Order of the British Empire, Bambi Award for Best Actress International, National Board of Review Award for Best Actress, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Laurel Award for Top Female Dramatic Performance, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress Motion Picture Drama, Laurel Award for Top Female Comedy Performance, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie, Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress Series, Miniseries or Television Film, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, Best Actress Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie, Best Supporting Actress Series, Miniseries or Television, Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, "Jean Simmons dies at 80; radiant beauty was known for stunning versatility", "Jean Simmons: Actress who dazzled opposite the likes of Marlon Brando, Kirk Douglas and Laurence Olivier", "Jean Simmons: an unforgettable English rose", "Critics Praise Drama: Comedians Win Profits", "Stewart Granger Jean Simmons and Claire Bloom adventures of two north London girls", "English actress was known for roles in the films 'Hamlet' and 'Elmer Gantry', "Looking at Hollywood: Story of Talking Animals Bought for Movie", "Jean Simmons Suit Settled by Hughes: British Actress Wins on Points; Producer to Pay All Costs of Trial", "Philip French's screen legends No 11: Jean Simmons profile", "A Little Night Music: 1974 Touring Production; 1975 London Production", "The Stewart Grangers Become Citizens of US", "Jean Simmons Files To Divorce Stewart Granger", "Sting leads campaign against Blair's plan to reclassify cannabis", "British-born Hollywood actress Jean Simmons dies at 80", "Bob Hope Takes Lead from Bing In Popularity", In Appreciation of Jean Simmons (19292010), https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jean_Simmons&oldid=1148072615, Most Outstanding British Actress of the Year, This page was last edited on 3 April 2023, at 22:34. I just spent the day lolling around, watching television and playing Scrabble., A far cry from the days when she was voted Britains favourite actress maybe but theres no denying Jean. In 1950, Simmons was voted the fourth-most popular star in Britain. Open your image file to the full size using image processing software. I think thats down to my family and especially my brother whose attitude about me was always, Oh good, the kid is working., Jeans father Colin won an Olympic bronze medal for gymnastics and died when she was just 16. Michelle, 45, was last seen on our screens 19 months ago after exiting the ITV soap as she prepared to welcome son Teddy, one, with wife Kate Brooks. She also previously worked as a story liner on Hollyoaks and shows like A League of their Own. 42-year-old Liverpool native Kate Brooks works as a series producer on ITV soap Emmerdale, after being promoted from her assistant producer role on the show in April 2018. By the 1970s, Simmons turned her focus to stage and television acting. The film brought her into limelight earning her international stardom and also fetched her first Academy Awards nomination. The producer, Sam Goldwyn, had wanted Grace Kelly for the part. And so, aged only 21, she went to Hollywood. I really dont have a bad word to say about her., Despite Jeans demanding work schedule, she always managed to make time for her family, especially at Christmas. Jean Simmons, who has died aged 80, had a bounteous moment, early in her career, when she seemed the likely casting for every exotic or magical female role. They remained in contact until his death in 1992 but she admitted that when the roles were less interesting she battled alcoholism. Reporting by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Janet Lawrence. Personal life. Pascal saw potential in Simmons, and in 1945 he signed her to a seven-year contract to the J. Arthur Rank Organisation. And there were always hints that the lady might be very sexy. AKA Jean Merilyn Simmons. The British-born actress got her start early, garnering international renown at just 17 for her portrayal of Estella in David Leans Great Expectations. After seeing her performance as Estela, Laurence Olivier resolved to cast her as Ophelia in his film Hamlet (1948) and requested Rank Organisation, with whom she was contract-bound, to allot thirty days of her time, which they granted. While she featured mostly in films produced in Great Britain during and post the World War II, from 1950s she worked extensively in Hollywood. In 1989, Simmons appeared as murder mystery author Eudora McVeigh Shipton, a self proclaimed rival to Jessica Fletcher, in the two part Murder, She Wrote episode "Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall" with Angela Lansbury. Belle's new romance as villain returns to Emmerdale after 10 years, Major character to return to Emmerdale and fans will be 'delighted', Emmerdale star Chelsea Halfpenny expecting first baby with fianc James Baxter, Sometimes if Kate and I see a group of young lads we instinctively let go of each others hands because were scared theyll turn on us.. The couple divorced in 1980. She also won an Emmy Award for the miniseries The Thorn Birds (1983). She was spotted by director Val Guest, who cast her in the Margaret Lockwood vehicle Give Us the Moon (1944) in a large role as Lockwood's sister. Jean made Elmer Gantry during the production of Spartacus. She performed in the musical for three years that include the shows production in the West End of London. She portrayed Fiona "Fee" Cleary, the Cleary family matriarch, in the miniseries The Thorn Birds (1983); she won an Emmy Award for her role. Only one thing emerged from the stand-off, Angel Face, in which she is a spoiled child and lethal temptress who seduces nearly everyone she meets (most notably Robert Mitchum). Publishers have asked, she informed me. Who is Kate Brooks? So, too, were This Could Be the Night (1957) and Until They Sail (1957), both at MGM. In fact, the handsome Granger was 16 years her senior, and married once, having divorced Elspeth March in 1948. Jean Simmons, the English actress who made the covers of Time and Life magazines by the time she was 20 and became a major midcentury star alongside strong leading men like Laurence . Michelle shared the nuptials on Instagram with an image of them captioned: In over 100 degrees heat, on Tuesday 10th September, I became Mrs Brooks.. Even when Val Guest, the movie director who stumbled upon her dance troupe in a back-street theatre, begged her to give acting a go Simmons insisted she wanted to teach. Katherine Brooks (born March 15, 1976) is an American film writer and director.Brooks is a member of the Directors Guild of America, a Jury Member for Samsung Fresh-Films 2007 (the largest teen filmmaking program in the USA) and is the recipient of the LACE Award for Arts and Entertainment.In 2011, she was named one of the "Amazing Gay Women in Showbiz" by POWER UP. [18][19], Hughes was eager to start a sexual relationship with Simmons, but Granger put a stop to his advances by angrily telling Hughes over the phone: "Mr Howard bloody Hughes, you'll be sorry if you don't leave my wife alone. Several other films followed, with modest roles: Mr Emmanuel; Kiss the Bride Goodbye; Meet Sexton Blake; a singer in The Way to the Stars; and a slave girl for Leigh in Caesar and Cleopatra. Is the actress Jean Simmons still alive? 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