Jean Brooks

Skådespelare

23 december 1915 — 25 november 1963 (47 år)
Fluent in Spanish, Jean Brooks began professionally by singing with Enric Madriguera and Orchestra in New York. She had a small role in the New York City-filmed The Crime of Doctor Crespi (1935) and the second lead in a Broadway play, "Name Your Poison" (1938), with Lenore Ulric, all under her real name of Jeanne Kelly. She was signed by an independent film production company that had gone under by the time she got to Hollywood. She spent several years at Universal as a leading lady in "B" pictures, including several Johnny Mack Brown westerns, but her option was dropped in late 1941. By this time she had married writer (later director) Richard Brooks and, with a certain Broadway hoofer having just signed at MGM, dropped the Kelly and became Jean Brooks. She signed with RKO, where film buffs know her for her three appearances for cult producer Val Lewton, particularly her stunning performance as a haunted devil worshiper in The Seventh Victim (1943).

Her clipped delivery and intense, forceful acting style made her a promising bet for stardom, but RKO lost interest in her by mid-'44 and her roles got gradually smaller until she was dropped in 1946. She and Brooks divorced (his later studio biographies omitted her name as one of his ex-wives). For many years she was listed as a "Lost Player" championed in several magazine articles by writer Doug McClelland. She was eventually located in San Francisco, where she had moved after her film career petered out, and was employed as a classified ad solicitor on the "San Francisco Examiner" newspaper. She had married a printer called Leddy. Her death at the Kaiser Hospital in Richmond, California, in 1963 was due to nutritional problems caused by alcoholism, a sad ending for a stylish and talented performer who didn't get the breaks she deserved, both personally and professionally.

Date of Death 25 November 1963, Richmond, California  (extreme malnutrition & alcoholism)

Filmer och Serier på Plex

  • Women in the Night
    Women in the Night1948

Känd för

  • Det sjunde offret
    Det sjunde offret1943
  • Leopardmannen
    Leopardmannen1943
  • Falken får sista ordet
    Falken får sista ordet1943
  • Two O'Clock Courage
    Two O'Clock Courage1945
  • Falken i Hollywood
    Falken i Hollywood1944
  • Falkens alibi
    Falkens alibi1946
  • The Crime of Doctor Crespi
    The Crime of Doctor Crespi1935
  • The Bamboo Blonde
    The Bamboo Blonde1946
  • The Boss of Big Town
    The Boss of Big Town1942
  • Women in the Night
    Women in the Night1948
  • Miracle on Main Street
    Miracle on Main Street1939
  • Boot Hill Bandits
    Boot Hill Bandits1942
  • A Dangerous Game
    A Dangerous Game1941
  • Klondike Fury
    Klondike Fury1942

Filmography

1948
Women in the Night · as MayaPå Plex
1946
The Bamboo Blonde · as Marsha
1946
The Falcon's Alibi · as Baroness Lena
1945
Two O'Clock Courage · as Barbara Borden
1944
The Falcon in Hollywood · as Roxanna Miles
1944
Youth Runs Wild · as Mary Hauser Coates
1944
A Night of Adventure · as Julie Arden
1943
The Falcon and the Co-eds · as Vicky Gaines
1943
The Seventh Victim · as Jacqueline Gibson
1943
The Falcon in Danger · as Iris Fairchild
1943
The Leopard Man · as Kiki Walker
1943
The Falcon Strikes Back · as Spanish Girl
1942
The Boss of Big Town · as Iris Moore
1942
Boot Hill Bandits · as May Meadows
1942
Klondike Fury · as Rae Langton
1941
Fighting Bill Fargo · as Linda Tyler (as Jeanne Kelly)
1941
Badlands of Dakota · as Bella Union Girl
1941
A Dangerous Game · as Anne Bennett (as Jeanne Kelly)
1941
Riders of Death Valley · as Mary Morgan (as Jeanne Kelly)
1941
Buck Privates · as Camp Hostess
1940
The Green Hornet Strikes Again! · as Gloria Manning
1940
Junior G-Men · as Waitress (uncredited)
1940
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe · as Olga (uncredited)
1940
The Invisible Man Returns · as Minor Role (uncredited)
1939
1939
The Invisible Killer · as Gloria Cunningham
1936
Frankie and Johnnie · as Cabaret Girl
1935
The Crime of Doctor Crespi · as Nurse Gordon (as Jeanne Kelly)
1935
Tango Bar · as Young Ship's Passenger On Lower Deck (uncredited)

Take Plex everywhere

Watch free anytime, anywhere, on almost any device.
See the full list of supported devices