Jean Simmons

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Jean Merilyn Simmons, OBE (born January 31, 1929) is an Oscar-nominated English actress.

She was born in Crouch Hill, London, England and was named an Officer in the Order of the British Empire in 2003.

Career

Simmons began acting at the age of 14 and prior to moving to Hollywood distinguished herself in such roles as the young Estella in David Lean's Great Expectations (1946) and Ophelia in Olivier's opus Hamlet in 1948. By this time, she was already well known for her work in other British films and her stage career.

In 1950, she married the English actor Stewart Granger, with whom she appeared in several films, successfully making the transition to Hollywood. Among her best-known leading roles are The Robe (1953) The Egyptian (1954), Guys and Dolls (1955), The Big Country (1958), Elmer Gantry (1960) (directed by her second husband, Richard Brooks), Spartacus (1960), and The Happy Ending, again directed by Brooks and for which she received her second Oscar nomination.

By the 1970s, Simmons turned her focus to stage and television acting. She toured the U.S. in the well-reviewed A Little Night Music, then took the show to London. For her appearance in the mini-series The Thorn Birds, she won an Emmy Award. In 1988, she starred in her first film for 10 years, titled The Dawning with Anthony Hopkins and Hugh Grant (pictured), and in 1989 she again starred in a miniseries version of Great Expectations, where she performed the role of Miss Havisham, Estella's adoptive mother, as well as in 1985 and 1986 in North & South.

Jean Simmons made a late career appearance in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Drumhead" where as a witch hunt inspiring investigator named Admiral Nora Satie.

Personal Life

She was married twice: in 1950 to Stewart Granger, divorcing in 1960, and in 1960 to director Richard Brooks divorcing in 1977. She has two daughters, Tracy Granger (born 1956) and Kate Brooks, one by each marriage. Simmons sought treatment for alcohol addiction in 1986 and currently lives in Santa Monica, California.

Filmography

• Sports Day (1944)
• Give Us the Moon (1944)
• Mr. Emmanuel (1944)
• Kiss the Bride Goodbye (1945)
• Meet Sexton Blake (1945)
• The Way to the Stars (1945)
• Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)
• Great Expectations (1946)
• The Woman in the Hall (1947)
• Uncle Silas (1947)
• Black Narcissus (1947)
• Hungry Hill (1947)
• Hamlet (1948)
• The Blue Lagoon (1949)
• Adam and Evelyne (1949)
• So Long at the Fair (1950)
• Cage of Gold (1950)
• Trio (1950)
• The Clouded Yellow (1951)
• Angel Face (1952)
• Androcles and the Lion (1952)
• Young Bess (1953)
• Affair with a Stranger (1953)
• The Robe (1953)
• The Actress (1953)
• She Couldn't Say No (1954)
• Demetrius and the Gladiators (1954)
• The Egyptian (1954)
• A Bullet Is Waiting (1954)
• Désirée (1954)
• Footsteps in the Fog (1955)
• Guys and Dolls (1955)
• Hilda Crane (1956)

• This Could Be the Night (1957)
• Until They Sail (1957)
• The Big Country (1958)
• Home Before Dark (1958)
• This Earth Is Mine (1959)
• Elmer Gantry (1960)
• Spartacus (1960)
• The Grass Is Greener (1960)
• All the Way Home (1963)
• Life at the Top (1965)
• Mister Buddwing (1966)
• Divorce American Style (1967)
• Rough Night in Jericho (1967)
• Heidi (1968)
• The Happy Ending (1969)
• Say Hello to Yesterday (1971)
• Mr. Sycamore (1975)
• Dominique (1978)
• ''The Thorn Birds (TV) (1983)
• North & South (1985)
• North & South Book II (1986)
• The Dawning (1988)
• Going Undercover (1988)
• Great Expectations (1989)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (1991)
• Dark Shadows (1991)
• They do it with Mirrors (1991)
• How to Make an American Quilt (1995)
• Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001) (voice)
• Jean Simmons: Rose of England (2004) (documentary)
• Howl's Moving Castle (Hauru no ugoku shiro) (2004) (voice)
• Through the Moebius Strip (2005)

Awards and nominations

Wins

• Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress - Series/Special, The Thorn Birds (1983)
• Golden Globe for Best Musical/Comedy Actress, Guys and Dolls (1956)

Nominations

• Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, Hamlet (1948)
• Academy Award for Best Actress, The Happy Ending (1969)
• BAFTA for Best Actress, Guys and Dolls (1956)
• BAFTA for Best Actress, Elmer Gantry (1960)
• Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress - Drama Series, Murder, She Wrote (1989)
• Golden Globe for Best Musical/Comedy Actress, This Could Be the Night (1958)
• Golden Globe for Best Drama Actress, Home Before Dark (1959)
• Golden Globe for Best Drama Actress, Elmer Gantry (1961)
• Golden Globe for Best Drama Actress, The Happy Ending (1970)
• Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress - Miniseries, The Thorn Birds (1984)

External links

• Jean Simmons at the Internet Movie Database
• Jean Simmons - A Fan Resource

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Last updated on Monday March 10, 2008 at 09:09:26 PDT (GMT -0700)
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