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{{Short description|American actress (1920–1991)}}
{{Infobox actor
{{Use American English|date=January 2024}}
| bgcolour = silver
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2021}}
| name = Gene Tierney
{{Infobox person
| image = Gene Tierney in Ghost and Mrs Muir trailer.jpg
| imagesize = 250px | name = Gene Tierney
| image = Studio publicity Gene Tierney.jpg
| caption = from the trailer for '']'' (1947)
| birthname = Gene Eliza Tierney | image_size =
| birthdate = ] ] | alt =
| caption = Tierney in the 1940s
| location = ], ]
| birth_name = Gene Eliza Tierney
| deathdate = ] ], aged {{age|1920|11|19|1991|11|6}}
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1920|11|19|mf=y}}
| deathplace = ], ]
| birth_place = ], New York, U.S.
| yearsactive = ] - ]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1991|11|6|1920|11|19|mf=y}}
| notable role = Martha Strable Van Cleve in ''']''',<br> Laura Hunt in ''']''' <br> Isabel Bradley Maturin in ''']'''<br>Lucy Muir in ''']'''<br> Maggie Carleton McNulty in ''']'''
| death_place = ], Texas, U.S.
|academyawards=
| education =
| resting_place = ]
| height =
| awards = ]
| known_for = {{hlist|'']''|'']''|'']''|'']''|'']''|'']''|'']''}}
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 1938–1964, 1969–1980
| party = ]
| spouse = {{unbulleted list|{{marriage|]|1941|1952|end=div}}|{{marriage|W. Howard Lee|1960|1981|end=died}}}}
| children = 2
}} }}
'''Gene Eliza Tierney''' (November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991)<ref name="The New York Times">{{cite news |title=Gene Tierney, 70, Star of 'Laura' And 'Leave Her to Heaven', Dies |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE4D91639F93BA35752C1A967958260 |date=November 8, 1991 |access-date=November 21, 2007 |first=Richard |last=Severo}}</ref> was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed for her great beauty, she became established as a ].<ref name=TCMTierney>{{cite web |url=http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/191988%7C57782/Gene-Tierney |quote=Tierney emerged as a leading lady of equal beauty and depth...Tierney attained a strata of celebrity that put her on par with fellow sirens Rita Hayworth, Lana Turner and Ava Gardner" |work=Turner Classics Movies |title=Gene Tierney Biography |access-date=August 20, 2018}}</ref><ref name=Vogel2009>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WWkpARnQ3fcC |first=Michelle |last=Vogel |title=Gene Tierney: A Biography |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0786458325 |year=2009 |quote=Called the most beautiful woman in movie history, Gene Tierney starred in a number of 1940s classics, including ''Laura'', ''Leave Her to Heaven'' and ''The Ghost and Mrs. Muir''.}}</ref> She was best known for her portrayal of the title character in the film '']'' (1944), and was nominated for an ] for her performance as Ellen Berent Harland in '']'' (1945).<ref name="selfportrait"/><ref name="bbc">{{cite news |last1=Newland |first1=Christina |title=Gene Tierney and the pitfalls of being 'the most beautiful woman in movie history' |url=https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20240416-gene-tierney-and-the-pitfalls-of-being-the-most-beautiful-woman-in-movie-history |access-date=29 April 2024 |publisher=BBC Culture |date=17 April 2024}}</ref>


Tierney's other roles include Martha Strable Van Cleve in '']'' (1943), Isabel Bradley Maturin in '']'' (1946), Lucy Muir in '']'' (1947), Ann Sutton in '']'' (1949), Mary Bristol in '']'' (1950), Maggie Carleton McNulty in '']'' (1951), and Anne Scott in '']'' (1955).
'''Gene Tierney''' (], ] &ndash; ], ]) was an ] and ] ]. Acclaimed as one of the most beautiful women of the 20th century, she is probably best-remembered for her performance in the title role of '']'' (]) and her ]-nominated performance for Best Actress in '']'' (]).


==Biography== ==Early life==
She was born '''Gene Eliza Tierney''' in ], ], the daughter of Howard Sherwood Tierney and Belle Lavina Taylor. She had an older brother, Howard Sherwood "Butch" Tierney, Jr., and a younger sister, Patricia "Pat" Tierney. Her father was a prosperous ] of Irish descent, her mother a former ] teacher. Gene Eliza Tierney was born on November 19, 1920, in ], New York, the daughter of Howard Sherwood Tierney and Belle Lavinia Taylor. She was named after a beloved uncle, who died young.<ref name="selfportrait"/>{{rp|25}} She had an elder brother, Howard Sherwood "Butch" Tierney Jr., and a younger sister, Patricia "Pat" Tierney. Her father was a successful insurance broker of Irish descent on his paternal side; their mother was a former physical education instructor.<ref name="selfportrait"/>


Tierney spent two years in Europe, attending ] in ], ], where she learned to speak fluent French. She returned to the US in 1936 and attended ] in ]. On a family trip to the ], she visited ] studios, where her mother's cousin – Gordon Hollingshead – worked as a producer of historical short films. Director ], taken by the 17-year-old's beauty, told Tierney that she should become an actress. Warner Bros. wanted to sign her to a contract, but her parents advised against it because of the relatively low salary; they also wanted her to take her position in society.<ref name="selfportrait"/>{{rp|11-13}}
Gene attended St. Margaret School, ], and the Unquowa School in ]. Her first poem, titled "Night", was published in the school magazine, and writing ] became an occasional pastime during the rest of her life. She then spent two years in ] and attended the Brillantmont ] in ], ], where she learned to speak fluent ].


Tierney's ] occurred on September 24, 1938, when she was 17 years old.<ref name="selfportrait"/>{{rp|14}} Soon bored with society life, she decided to pursue an acting career. Her father said, "If Gene is to be an actress, it should be in the ]."<ref name="life"/> Tierney studied acting at a small ] acting studio in New York with Yiddish Broadway actor/director Benno Schneider.<ref>Malcolm Goldstein, ''The Political Stage'' (Oxford University Press, 1974), 45; Claude Amey, ''Le Théâtre d'agit-prop de 1917 à 1932'' (Lausanne: L'âge d'Homme, 1977), 160; and ], ed., ''New York's Yiddish Theater: From the Bowery to Broadway'' (NY: Columbia University Press, 2016), 179–86.</ref> She became a '']'' of Broadway producer-director ].<ref name="life">"Debutante Gene Tierney Makes Her Entrance In A Broadway Success", '']'', February 19, 1940. Vol 8, No. 8, p. 25.</ref><ref name="patriciatierney"/>
She returned to the U.S. in 1938 and attended ]. On a trip to the ], she visited ] and was told by ] - who was so taken by her beauty - that she should become an actress. Warners wanted to sign her to a contract, but her parents advised against it because of the low salary. Her coming-out party as a ] was September 24, when she was seventeen, but she soon became bored with society life and decided to pursue a career in acting. Her father felt if Gene was to be an actress, it should be in the legitimate theater. During this period Tierney had auditioned for the ] in New York and was accepted. Other notable talents include ], ], ] and ], who each studied there.


===Personal life=== ==Career==
===Broadway===
]
In Tierney's first role on ], she carried a bucket of water across the stage in ''What a Life!'' (1938). A '']'' magazine critic declared, "Miss Tierney is certainly the most beautiful water carrier I've ever seen!" She also worked as an understudy in ''The Primrose Path'' (1938).
Tierney married twice. Her first marriage to ] and ] ] ] on ] ] ended in divorce on ] ]. Her second marriage was to ] oilman, W. Howard Lee on ] ] until his death on ], ].


The following year, she appeared in the role of ] in the Broadway production ''Mrs. O'Brien Entertains'' (1939).<ref name="selfportrait"/>{{rp|19}} '']'' critic ] wrote, "As an Irish maiden fresh from the old country, Gene Tierney in her first stage performance is very pretty and refreshingly modest."<ref name="selfportrait"/>{{rp|21}} That same year, Tierney appeared as Peggy Carr in ''Ring Two'' (1939) to favorable reviews. Theater critic ] of the '']'' wrote, "I see no reason why Miss Tierney should not have an interesting theatrical career – that is, if cinema does not kidnap her away."<ref name="selfportrait"/>{{rp|36}}
She and Cassini had two daughters, Antoinette Daria Cassini (born ], ]) and Christina "Tina" Cassini (born ], ]).


Tierney's father set up a corporation, Belle-Tier, to fund and promote her acting career. ] signed her to a six-month contract in 1939. She met ], who tried unsuccessfully to seduce her. From a well-to-do family herself, she was not impressed by his wealth. Hughes eventually became a lifelong friend.{{Citation needed |date=May 2024}}
Cassini served as a second lieutenant in the ] in ]. In June 1943, while pregnant with her first daughter, she contracted ] during her only appearance at the ]. Daria was born prematurely in Washington, D.C., weighing only 3 pounds, 2 ounces, and requiring a total blood transfusion. Because of Tierney's illness, Daria was also ], partially ] with ]s, with severe ]. Tierney's grief over the tragedy led to many years of depression and may have begun her ]. Some time after the tragedy surrounding her daughter Daria's birth, Tierney learned from a fan who approached her for an autograph that the woman, then a member of the women's branch of the Marine Corps, had sneaked out of quarantine while sick with ] to meet Tierney, at her only Hollywood Canteen appearance. In her autobiography, Tierney related that after the woman had recounted her story she just stared at her silently, then turned and walked away. She wrote, "After that I didn't care whether ever again I was anyone's favorite actress."{{Fact|date=July 2007}}


After a cameraman advised Tierney to lose a little weight, she wrote to '']'' magazine for a diet, which she followed for the next 25 years. Tierney was initially offered the lead role in ''],'' but production was delayed.<ref name="selfportrait"/>{{rp|23}} When Columbia Pictures failed to find Tierney a project, she returned to Broadway and starred as Patricia Stanley to critical and commercial success in '']'' (1940). In ''The New York Times'', Brooks Atkinson wrote, "Tierney blazes with animation in the best performance she has yet given".<ref name="selfportrait"/> She was the toast of Broadway before her 20th birthday. ''The Male Animal'' was a hit, and Tierney was featured in '']''. She was also photographed by '']'', '']'', and '']''.<ref name="selfportrait"/>{{rp|38}}
Tierney separated from Cassini, challenged by the marital stress of Daria's condition, but they later reconciled and had a second daughter, Tina. During her separation, Tierney had two romances. The first was with ], her co-star in ''The Razor's Edge''. That came to an end in the spring of ]. During the filming of ''Dragonwyck'', she met a young ], who was visiting the set. They began a romance that ended the following year, when Kennedy told her he could never marry her because of his political ambitions. Tierney then reconciled with Cassini. In ], Tierney sent Kennedy a note of congratulations on his election victory although she later admitted that she voted for ] because she thought that he would make a better president.


Two weeks after ''The Male Animal'' opened, ], the head of ], was rumored to have been in the audience. During the performance, he told an assistant to note Tierney's name. Later that night, Zanuck dropped by the ], where he saw a young lady on the dance floor. He told his assistant, "Forget the girl from the play. See if you can sign that one." She was Tierney. At first, Zanuck did not think she was the actress he had seen. Tierney was quoted (after the fact), saying: "I always had several different 'looks', a quality that proved useful in my career."<ref name="selfportrait"/>{{rp|38}}<ref name="patriciatierney">''Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait'', The Biography Channel, March 26, 1999, interview with Gene Tierney's sister Patricia.</ref>
In 1958, she met Texas oil baron W.Howard Lee; they were married in Aspen in 1960 and lived in ]. Tierney loved life in Texas with Lee and became an expert ] player. In 1962, 20th Century Fox announced she would play the lead role in '']'', but she became pregnant and dropped out of the project. She later miscarried the baby.


===Film career===
Her screen comeback was in '']'' (1962), co-starring ]. A year later she played Albertine Prine in ''],'' starring ] and ]. She received overall critical praise for her performances. Tierney played Jane Barton in '']'' (1964), starring ], ], and ], then again retired.
]


Tierney signed with ]<ref name="selfportrait"/>{{rp|39}} and her motion picture debut was in a supporting role as Eleanor Stone in ]'s ] '']'' (1940), opposite ].
However, she starred in the ] ''Daughter of the Mind'' (1969), with ] and ].


A small role as Barbara Hall followed in '']'' (1941) with ] and she co-starred as Ellie Mae Lester in ]'s comedy '']'' (also 1941), and played the title role in '']'' alongside co-star ], Zia in '']'', and Victoria Charteris (Poppy Smith) in '']''. She played Eve in '']'' (1942), as well as the dual role of Susan Miller (Linda Worthington) in ]'s ] '']'', and roles as Kay Saunders in ''],'' and Miss Young in '']'' (all 1942).
Her ], ''Self-Portrait'', in which she candidly discussed her life, career and mental illness, was published in 1979.


Receiving top billing in ]'s comedy '']'' (1943), as Martha Strable Van Cleve, signaled an upward turn in Tierney's career. Tierney recalled during the production of ''Heaven Can Wait'':
Tierney's final performance was in the TV ] '']'' (1980), starring ].


<blockquote>Lubitsch was a tyrant on the set, the most demanding of directors. After one scene, which took from noon until five to get, I was almost in tears from listening to Lubitsch shout at me. The next day I sought him out, looked him in the eye, and said, 'Mr. Lubitsch, I'm willing to do my best but I just can't go on working on this picture if you're going to keep shouting at me.' 'I'm paid to shout at you', he bellowed. 'Yes', I said, 'and I'm paid to take it – but not enough.' After a tense pause, Lubitsch broke out laughing. From then on we got along famously.<ref name="selfportrait"/></blockquote>
In 1981, she was widowed after a long and supportive marriage. Tierney died in 1991 at age 71 of ] in Houston, Texas, and is interred, beside Lee, in Section E-1 of ]. She has a star on the ] at 6125 ] in ].


Tierney starred in what became her best-remembered role: the title role in ]'s ] '']'' (1944),<ref name="bbc"/> opposite ] (with whom she would work again in '']'' and Preminger's '']''). After playing Tina Tomasino in '']'' (1945), she played the jealous, narcissistic '']'' Ellen Berent Harland in '']'' (1945),<ref name="bbc"/> adapted from a bestselling novel by ]. Appearing with ], Tierney won an ] nomination for ]. This was 20th Century-Fox's most successful film of the 1940s. It was cited by director ] as one of his favorite films, and he assessed Tierney as one of the most underrated actresses of the Golden Era.<ref>{{YouTube|ATfhKmkM-rE|Martin Scorsese discusses ''Leave Her to Heaven'' at the 45th New York Film Festival}}</ref>
==Career==
===Broadway===
In her first part on ], she carried a bucket of water across the stage in ''What a Life!'' (1938). The '']'' critic declared, "Miss Tierney is certainly the most beautiful water carrier I've ever seen!" At the same time, she was an understudy for ''The Primerose Path'' (1938). The next year, she appeared in the role as Molly O'Day in the Broadway production ''Mrs. O'Brien Entertains'' (1939), and was praised by ] in the '']''. That same year, Gene appeared as Peggy Carr in ''Ring Two'' (1939), to favorable reviews. Theater critic Richard Watts wrote, "I see no reason why Miss Tierney should not have long and interesting Stage career, that is if ] does not steal her away."


] in '']'' (1945)]]
Tierney also worked as a photographic ] in between her appearances on the stage. Photos of her appeared in '']'', ''],'' and '']''.


Tierney starred as Miranda Wells in '']'' (1946), along with ] and ]. It was ]' debut film as a director. In the same period, she starred as Isabel Bradley, opposite ], in '']'' (also 1946), an adaptation of ]'s ] of the same name. Her performance was critically praised.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}
Her father set up a corporation, Belle-Tier, to fund and promote her acting career (he went on to steal all of her money), and ] signed her to a six-month contract in 1939. She also met ], who tried unsuccessfully to seduce her, but she was from a well-to-do family and was not impressed by his wealth. However, he became a lifelong friend. A cameraman advised her to lose a little weight, saying "a thinner face is more seductive." She then wrote to ''Harper's Bazaar'' for a slimming diet, which she followed for the next twenty years.


Tierney played Lucy Muir in Mankiewicz's '']'' (1947), opposite ].<ref>''Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait''. The Biography Channel, March 26, 1999, interview with film scholar Jeanine Basinger.</ref> The following year, she co-starred again with Power, this time as Sara Farley in the successful screwball comedy '']'' (1948). As the decade came to a close, Tierney reunited with ''Laura'' director Preminger to star as Ann Sutton in the classic film noir '']'' (1950), co-starring ] and ]. She appeared in two other films noir: ]'s '']'', shot in London, and Otto Preminger's '']'' (both 1950), reunited with both Preminger and leading man ], with whom she appeared in five movies total including ''The Iron Curtain'' and, before ''Laura'', ''Belle Starr'' and ''Tobacco Road''.
The ] failed to find her a project, so she returned to New York and starred as Patricia Stanley to critical and commercial success in '']'' (1940). She was the toast of Broadway before her twentieth birthday.


Tierney was lent to ], giving a comic turn as Maggie Carleton in ]'s ] ], '']'' (1951), with ], ], and ].<ref name="selfportrait"/> She gave a tender performance as Midge Sheridan in the ] film, '']'' (1951), with ]. The film is about a couple trying to adopt a child.<ref name="selfportrait"/> Later in her career, she was reunited with Milland in '']'' (1969).
===Early film successes===
]'' (1944), in which she played the title role.]]
Hollywood called once again. Tierney was offered the lead in ]'s '']'', but when the production was delayed, she signed with ]. Her ] debut was in a co- starring role as Elenore Stone in ]'s ] '']'' (1940) opposite ]. A small role as Barbra Hall followed in ''Hudson's Bay'' (1941) with ].


After Tierney appeared opposite ] as Teresa in '']'' (1952), her contract at 20th Century-Fox expired. That same year, she starred as Dorothy Bradford in '']'', opposite ] at ]. Tracy and she had a brief affair during this time.<ref name="Osborne 2006 p. 195">Osborne (2006). Chronicle Books. ''Leading Ladies''. p. 195.</ref> Tierney played Marya Lamarkina opposite ] in '']'' (1953), filmed in England.<ref name="selfportrait"/>
] was a busy year for the actress, as she co- starred as Ellie Mae Lester in ]'s drama '']'', the title role in ''Belle Starr'', Zia in ''Sundown'', Victoria Charteris aka Poppy Smith in '']''. In ], she played Eve in ''Son of Fury'', the dual role as Susan Miller aka Linda Worthington in the ] '']'', Kay Saunders in '']'', and Miss Young in '']''.


In the course of the 1940s, she reached a pinnacle of fame as a beautiful leading lady, on a par with "fellow sirens Rita Hayworth, Lana Turner and Ava Gardner".<ref name=TCMTierney /> She was called “the most beautiful woman in movie history" and many of her movies in the 1940s became classic films.<ref name=Vogel2009 /><ref name="bbc"/>
Top billing in ]'s classic 1943 ] '']'' as Martha Strable Van Cleve signaled an upward turn in Tierney's career as her popularity increased.


Tierney remained in Europe to play Kay Barlow in ]' '']'' (1953). While in Europe, she began a romance with ], but their marriage plans met with fierce opposition from his father ].<ref name="Portrait179"/> Early in 1953, Tierney returned to the U.S. to co-star in the film noir '']'' (1954) as Iris Denver, with ] and ].
In 1944, she starred in what became her most famous role, as the intended murder victim, Laura Hunt, in ]'s ] '']''.


===Health===
After playing Tina Tomasino in '']'' (1945), she played the jealous, narcissistic ] Ellen Berent Harland, opposite ], in the film version of the best-selling book '']''&mdash;a performance that won her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress (1945). ''Leave Her To Heaven'' was Fox's most successful film of the 1940s.
Tierney had reportedly started smoking after a screening of her first movie to lower her voice, because she felt that she sounded "like an angry ]."<ref name="gene"/> She subsequently became a heavy smoker.<ref name="gene">{{cite web|url=http://www.cmgww.com/stars/tierney/about/bio.htm|title=Biography|publisher=Gene Tierney The Official Web Site|access-date=February 1, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207111220/http://www.cmgww.com/stars/tierney/about/bio.htm|archive-date=February 7, 2012}}</ref>


] magazine ''Brief'']]
Tierney starred as Miranda Wells in '']'' (1946). That same year, she played Isabel Bradley opposite ] in '']'', an adaptation of ]'s ]. She followed that with her role as Lucy Muir in ] (1947) opposite ]. The following year, Tierney co-starred once again with Power as Sara Farley in the successful ] '']'' (1948). As the decade came to a close, Tierney reunited with ''Laura'' director Preminger to star as Ann Sutton in the classic ] ], co-starring ] and ] (1949).
Tierney struggled for years with episodes of ]. In 1943, she gave birth to a daughter, Daria, who was deaf and mentally disabled due to ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kuperberg |first=Clara and Julia |year=2016 |title=Gene Tierney - Hollywoods vergessener Star |url=https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/117725-000-A/gene-tierney-hollywoods-vergessener-star/ |access-date=2024-02-27 |website=] |language=de}}</ref><ref name="bbc"/> In 1953, she suffered problems with concentration, which affected her film appearances. She dropped out of '']'' and was replaced by ].<ref name="selfportrait"/>{{page needed|date=January 2014}} While playing Anne Scott in '']'' (1955), opposite ], Tierney became ill. Bogart's sister Frances (known as Pat) had suffered from mental illness, so he showed Tierney great sympathy, feeding her lines during the production and encouraging her to seek help.<ref name="selfportrait"/>


Tierney consulted a psychiatrist and was admitted to Harkness Pavilion in New York. Later, she went to ] in ]. After some 27 ], intended to alleviate severe depression, Tierney fled the facility, but was caught and returned. She later became an outspoken opponent of shock treatment therapy, claiming it had destroyed significant portions of her memory.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marion |first=Jane |date=2022-11-22 |title=ECT is Coming Out of the Shadows as a Lifesaving Treatment for Mental Illness |url=https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/health/ect-electroconvulsive-therapy-severe-mental-illness-treatment-baltimore-hospitals/ |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=Baltimore Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref>
===Later career===
]''.]]
Tierney gave memorable performances in two classic ], ]'s '']'' as Mary Bristol co-starring ] and Otto Preminger's '']'' as Morgan Taylor with her ''Laura'' co-star Dana Andrews (both in ]).


In late December 1957, Tierney, from her mother's apartment in Manhattan, stepped onto a ledge 14 stories above ground and remained for about 20 minutes in what was considered a suicide attempt.<ref name="ledge">{{cite news |url=http://people.com/archive/gene-tierney-began-her-trip-back-from-madness-on-a-ledge-14-floors-above-the-street-vol-11-no-18/ |first=Kent |last=Demaret |title=Gene Tierney Began Her Trip Back from Madness on a Ledge 14 Floors Above the Street |magazine=] |date=May 7, 1979 |access-date=January 18, 2017}}</ref> Police were called, and afterwards, Tierney's family arranged for her to be admitted to the ] in ]. The following year, after treatment for ], she was discharged. Afterwards, she worked as a sales girl in a local dress shop with hopes of integrating back into society.<ref name="ledge"/> A Topeka newspaper reported on her employment status, which gained national attention.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hrenchir |first=Tim |title=History Guy: Movie star who spent time in Topeka was born 100 years ago |url=https://www.cjonline.com/story/news/local/2020/11/19/history-guy-movie-star-who-spent-time-in-topeka-was-born-100-years-ago/43166763/ |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=The Topeka Capital-Journal |language=en-US}}</ref>
In 1951, she was loaned out to ] and gave a memorable comic turn as Maggie Carleton in ]'s classic ] '']'' with ], ] and ]. This was also the year Tierney gave a tender performance as Midge Sheridan opposite ] in '']'' (]) (]). The film is about a couple trying to adopt. Gene felt this was her best role in a half dozen years, as it touched the chords of her own experience. The film addressed the issue of "]" and opened an early conversation about the adoption process. Later in her career she would be reunited with Milland in '']'' (1969), which has a cult following.


Later in 1958, 20th Century Fox offered Tierney a lead role in '']'' (1959), but the stress upon her proved too great, so only days into production, she dropped out of the film and returned to Menninger for a time.<ref name="ledge"/>
After appearing opposite ] as Teresa in '']'' (1952), her contract at 20th Century Fox expired. That same year, she starred as Dorothy Bradford in '']'' opposite ] at MGM, which was followed by '']'' (1953) as Marya Lamarkina opposite ] which was filmed in England. Gene found Gable patient and considerate, but lonely and vulnerable, still mourning the death of ]. She remained in Europe to play Kay Barlow in ]'s '']'' (]), which was released that same year. During 1953, Tierney's mental health problems were becoming harder for her to hide, forcing her to drop out of '']'' and was replaced by ].


===Comeback===
While Tierney was in Europe, she began a romance with ], but their marriage plans met with fierce opposition from his father, the ]. She returned to the U.S., where she played Iris Denver in '']'' (1954), co-starring ], ], ], with ].
Tierney made a screen comeback in '']'' (1962), co-starring with ] and reuniting with director Otto Preminger.<ref name="selfportrait"/> Soon afterwards, she played Albertine Prine in '']'' (1963), based on the play by ]. This was followed by the international production of '']'' (''Four Nights of the Full Moon'' – 1963), in which she starred with ]. She received critical praise overall for her performances.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}}


Tierney's career as a solid character actress seemed to be back on track as she played Jane Barton in '']'' (1964), but then she suddenly retired. She returned to star in the television movie '']'' (1969) with ] and ]. Her final performance was in the TV ] '']'' (1980).<ref name="selfportrait"/>
While playing Anne Scott in '']'' (1955) opposite ], Tierney's long string of personal troubles finally took their toll. She said that Bogey could tell that she was mentally unstable. During the production, he fed Tierney her lines, and encouraged her to seek help. Worried about her mental health, she consulted a ], and was admitted to Harkness Pavilion in New York. Later she went to the ] in ]. After some 27 ], she attempted to flee, but was caught and re-institutionalized. She became an outspoken opponent of shock treatment therapy, claiming that it had destroyed significant portions of her memory.


==Personal life==
In 1957, Tierney was seen by a neighbor as she was about to jump from a ledge. The police were called, and she was admitted to the ] in ] on December 25. She was released from Menninger the following year, after a treatment that included, in its final stages, working as a sales girl in a large department store (where she was recognized by a customer, resulting in sensational newspaper headlines).
Tierney was married twice. Her first husband was ], a costume and fashion designer, with whom she eloped on June 1, 1941. She was 20 years old, and Cassini was 28. Her parents opposed the marriage because he was from a Russian-Italian family, born in France.<ref name="ledge"/> She had two daughters, Antoinette Daria Cassini (October 15, 1943 – September 11, 2010)<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/nytimes/obituary.aspx?n=daria-cassini&pid=145308266 |title=Daria Cassini, Obituary |newspaper=The New York Times |via=Legacy.com |date=September 13, 2010 |access-date=August 20, 2018}}</ref> and Christina "Tina" Cassini (November 19, 1948 – March 31, 2015).


In June 1943, while pregnant with Daria, Tierney contracted ] (German measles), likely from a fan ill with the disease.<ref name="ledge"/> Antoinette Daria Cassini was born prematurely in Washington, DC, weighing {{Convert|3|lbs|2|oz|spell=in}} and requiring a total blood transfusion. The rubella caused congenital damage: Daria was deaf, partially blind with cataracts, and severely mentally disabled. She was institutionalized for much of her life.<ref name="ledge"/> This entire incident was inspiration for the plot in the 1962 ] novel '']'' (Christie's official website says about that novel, "The plot was inspired by Agatha Christie's reflections on a mother's feelings for a child born with disabilities and there can be little doubt that Christie was influenced by the real-life tragedy of American actress Gene Tierney.").<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.agathachristie.com/stories/the-mirror-crackd-from-side-to-side |title=The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side|website=The Home of Agatha Christie |via=agathachristie.com | access-date=April 8, 2022}}</ref> Tierney's friend ] paid for Daria's medical expenses, ensuring the girl received the best care. Tierney never forgot his acts of kindness.<ref name="selfportrait">''Self-Portrait''. Tierney and Herskowitz (1979). Wyden Books. pp. 1, 9–10, 14, 18, 19, 21, 23, 25–26, 27, 33, 36, 38, 65–66, 91, 97, 101, 119, 131, 133, 141–42, 144, 150–51, 164–65, 192–192, 207. {{ISBN|0883261529}}</ref> Daria Cassini died in 2010, at the age of 66.
20th Century Fox offered her a lead role in ''Holiday for Lovers'' (1957), but the stress proved too great. Days into production, she was forced to drop out of the film and was readmitted to Menninger.


Tierney and Cassini separated October 20, 1946, and entered into a property settlement agreement on November 10.<ref name="Hedda1948">{{cite news|last=Hopper|first=Hedda |title=Gene Tierney and Mate Reconciled|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=April 9, 1948|page=2}}</ref> Periodicals during this period record Tierney with ],<ref>{{cite news |access-date=July 23, 2015 |publisher=Harrisburg Telegraph|date=February 18, 1948|title=Hedda Hopper's Looking at Hollywood |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5406932/looking_at_hollywood_feb_18/ |first=Hedda |last=Hopper |page=22|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> including articles related to her "twosoming" with Feldman, her "current best beau".<ref>{{cite news|publisher=Pottstown Mercury|date=April 1, 1948|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5406955/hollywood_march_31/|author=Edyth Gwynn|title=Hollywood|page=19|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Her divorce from Cassini was to be finalized in March 1948, but they reconciled before then. They later divorced in 1952, but remained friends until her death in November 1991.<ref name=":0">{{cite magazine |last=Orth |first=Maureen |date=August 19, 2010 |title=Cassini Royale |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2010/09/oleg-cassini-201009 |magazine=]}}</ref>


After his death in 2006, Cassini bequeathed $500,000 in trust to Daria and $1,000,000 to Christina.<ref name="courthouse">{{cite web |date=February 18, 2010 |title=Courthouse NewsService |url=http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/02/18/24795.htm |access-date=July 5, 2010 |publisher=Courthousenews.com}}</ref> Christina was unable to collect her inheritance, as Cassini's widow Marianne Nestor challenged the sum in court in a lengthy case.<ref>{{cite web |last=Brown |first=Karina |date=2010-02-18 |title=Squabble Over Oleg Cassini's Estate |url=https://archive.vanityfair.com/article/2010/9/cassini-royale |url-status=dead |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20100820220034/https://www.courthousenews.com/2010/02/18/24795.htm |archive-date=2010-08-20 |access-date=2024-10-29 |website=Courthouse News Service}}</ref>

During her separation from Cassini, Tierney met ], a young World War II veteran, who was visiting the set of '']'' in 1946. They began a romance that she ended the following year after Kennedy told her he could never marry her because of his political ambitions.<ref name="Osborne 2006 p. 195" /> In 1960, Tierney sent Kennedy a note of congratulations on his victory in the presidential election. Her former husband Cassini would go on to design outfits for ].<ref name=":0" />

In 1952, newspapers documented that Tierney was in a romantic relationship with ].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Parsons|first1=Louella O.|title=Ginger Is Making Much Moola; Begins Television Work in Fall|department=Louella's Movie Go Round|newspaper=Albuquerque Journal|date=February 27, 1952|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/5406977/ginger_is_making_much_moola_begins/|page=19|via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> While filming for '']'' in Europe, she began a romance with ].<ref name="Portrait179">''Self-Portrait''. Tierney and Herskowitz (1979). Wyden Books. pp. 179–193.</ref> They became engaged while Khan was going through a divorce from ].<ref>''The Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes: A Comprehensive History'', </ref> Their marriage plans, however, met with fierce opposition from his father, ].<ref name="Portrait179" />

In 1958, Tierney met Texas oil baron W. Howard Lee, who had been married to actress ] since 1953. Lee and Lamarr divorced in 1960 after a long battle over ].<ref name="leeObit">{{cite news|title=W. Howard Lee |newspaper=The New York Times|date=August 18, 1981|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0DE4D61639F93BA25751C0A967948260|access-date=November 21, 2007}}</ref> Lee and Tierney married in ], on July 11, 1960. They lived quietly in ], and ]<ref name="ledge"/> until his death in 1981.<ref name="leeObit"/>

Despite her self-imposed exile in Texas, Tierney received work offers from Hollywood, prompting her to a comeback. She appeared in a November 1960 broadcast of '']'', during which time she discovered that she was pregnant. Shortly after, 20th Century Fox announced Tierney would play the lead role in '']'', but she withdrew from the production after suffering a miscarriage.<ref> .</ref>

As a lifelong ], she supported ] and ] in their elections.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.movieactors.com/actors/genetierney.htm |title=About Gene Tierney |newspaper=MovieActors.com |access-date=January 7, 2021 |archive-date=May 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515021946/http://www.movieactors.com/actors/genetierney.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Later years==
Tierney's autobiography, ''Self-Portrait'', in which she candidly discusses her life, career, her appearance, and mental illness, was published in 1979.<ref name="bbc"/>

In 1986, Tierney was honored alongside actor ] with the first ] at the ] in Spain.<ref>Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait, The Biography Channel. March 26, 1999.</ref>

Tierney has a star on the ] at 6125 ].

==Death==
Tierney died of ] on November 6, 1991, in Houston, 13 days before what would have been her 71st birthday.<ref name="The New York Times"/> She is interred in ] in Houston.

Certain documents of Tierney's film-related material, personal papers, letters, etc., are held in the ] Cinema Archives, though her papers are closed to the public.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wesleyan.edu/cinema|title=Cinema Archives|publisher=]|access-date=October 7, 2010}}</ref>

==Broadway credits==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Format/genre
! Role
! Staged by
|-
| 1938
| ''What A Life!''
| Original play, comedy
| Walk on, Water carrier
| {{sortname|George|Abbott}}
|-
| 1938
| ''{{sortname|The|Primrose Path|nolink=1}}''
| Original play, drama/comedy
| Understudy
| {{sortname|George|Abbott|nolink=1}}
|-
| 1939
| ''Mrs O'Brien Entertains''
| Original play, comedy
| Molly O'Day
| {{sortname|George|Abbott|nolink=1}}
|-
| 1939
| ''Ring Two''
| Original play, comedy
| Peggy Carr
| {{sortname|George|Abbott|nolink=1}}
|-
| 1940
| ''{{sortname|The|Male Animal}}''
| Original play, comedy
| Patricia Stanley
| {{sortname|Herman|Shumlin}}
|}


==Filmography== ==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
{{col-begin}}
|-
{{col-break}}
! Year
*'']'' (1940) as Eleanor Stone - ]
! Title
*'']'' (1940) as Barbra Hall - ]
! Role
*'']'' (1941) as Ellie Mae Lester
! Director
*'']''(1941) as Belle Sterr - ], ]
! class="unsortable" |Other cast members
*'']'' (1941) as Zia - ]
! class="unsortable" | Notes
*'']'' (1942) as Victoria Charteris aka Poppy Smith - ]
|-
*'']'' (1942) as Eve - ]
| 1940
*'']'' (1942) as Susan Miller aka Linda Worthington - ]
| ''{{sortname|The|Return of Frank James}}''
*'']'' (1942) as Kay Saunders - ], ]
| Eleanor Stone
*'']'' (1942) as Miss Young - ]
| {{sortname|Fritz|Lang}}
*'']'' (1943) as Martha Strabel Van Cleve - ]
| ]
*'']'' (1944) as Laura Hunt - ]
| ]
*'']'' (1945) as Tina Tomasino - ]
|-
*'']'' (1945) as Ellen Brent Harland - ]
| rowspan=5 | 1941
*'']'' (1946) as Miranda Wells Van Ryn - ]
*'']'' (1946) as Isabel Bradley Maturin- ] | '']''
| Barbara Hall
*''] (1947]])'' as Lucy Muir - ]
| {{sortname|Irving|Pichel}}
*'']'' (1948) as Anne Gouzenko - ]
| {{unbulleted list|]|]}}
*'']'' (1948) as Sara Farley - ]
|
*'']'' (1949) as Ann Sutton - ], ]
|-
{{col-break}}
| '']''
*'']'' (1950) as Mary Bristol - ]
| Ellie Mae Lester
*'']'' (1950) as Morgan Taylor (Paine) - ]
| {{sortname|John|Ford}}
*'']'' (1951) as Maggie Carleton McNulty - ]
| {{unbulleted list|]|]}}
*'']'' (1951) as Lili Duran - ]
|
*''] (1951) as Marcia Stoddard - ]
|-
*'']'' (1951) as Midge Seridan - ]
| '']''
*'']'' (1952) as Teresa - ]
| ]
*'']'' (1952) as Dorothy Bradford - ]
| {{sortname|Irving|Cummings}}
*'']'' (1953) as Marya Lamarkina - ]
| {{unbulleted list|]|Dana Andrews}}
*'']'' (1953) as Kay Barlow - ]
| Technicolor
*'']'' (1954) as Iris Denver - ]
|-
*'']'' (1954) as Baketamon - ]
| '']''
*'']'' (1955) as Anne Scott - ]
| Zia
*'']'' (1962) as Dolly Harrison - ]
| {{sortname|Henry|Hathaway}}
*'']'' (1963) as Albertine Prine - ]
| ]
*'']'' (1964) as Jane Barton - ]
|
*'']'' (1969) as Lenore Constable - ]
|-
*'']'' (1980) as Harriet Toppington - ]
| ''{{sortname|The|Shanghai Gesture}}''
{{col-end}}
| Victoria Charteris aka<br>Poppy Smith
| {{sortname|Josef|von Sternberg}}
| ]
|
|-
| rowspan=4 | 1942
| '']''
| Eve
| {{sortname|John|Cromwell|John Cromwell (director)}}
| ]
| ] (sequences)
|-
| '']''
| Susan Miller (aka Linda Worthington)
| {{sortname|Rouben|Mamoulian}}
| Henry Fonda
|
|-
| '']''
| Kay Saunders
| {{sortname|William A.|Wellman}}
| {{unbulleted list|]|]}}
| Technicolor
|-
| '']''
| Miss Haoli Young
| {{sortname|Henry|Hathaway|nolink=1}}
| ]
|
|-
| 1943
| '']''
| Martha Strabel Van Cleve
| {{sortname|Ernst|Lubitsch}}
| ]
| Technicolor
|-
| 1944
| '']''
| ]
| {{sortname|Otto|Preminger}}
| {{unbulleted list|]|]|]}}
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1945
| ''{{sortname|A|Bell for Adano}}''
| Tina Tomasino
| {{sortname|Henry|King|Henry King (director)}}
| ]
|
|-
| '']''
| Ellen Berent Harland
| {{sortname|John M.|Stahl}}
| {{unbulleted list|]|]|Vincent Price}}
| {{unbulleted list|Nominated—]|Technicolor}}
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1946
| '']''
| Miranda Wells Van Ryn
| {{sortname|Joseph L.|Mankiewicz}}
| {{unbulleted list|Walter Huston|Vincent Price}} ||
|-
| ''{{sortname|The|Razor's Edge|The Razor's Edge (1946 film)}}''
| Isabel Bradley Maturin
| {{sortname|Edmund|Goulding}}
| {{unbulleted list|Tyrone Power|]|]}}
|
|-
| 1947
| ''{{sortname|The|Ghost and Mrs. Muir}}''
| Lucy Muir
| {{sortname|Joseph L.|Mankiewicz|nolink=1}}
| {{unbulleted list|]||]|]|]}}
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1948
| ''{{sortname|The|Iron Curtain|The Iron Curtain (film)}}''
| Anna Gouzenko
| {{sortname|William A.|Wellman|nolink=1}}
| Dana Andrews
|
|-
| '']''
| Sara Farley
| {{sortname|Robert B.|Sinclair|nolink=1}}
| Tyrone Power
|
|-
| rowspan=3 | 1950
| '']''
| Ann Sutton
| {{sortname|Otto|Preminger|nolink=1}}
| {{unbulleted list|]|]}}
|
|-
| '']''
| Mary Bristol
| {{sortname|Jules|Dassin}}
| ]
|
|-
| '']''
| Morgan Taylor (Payne)
| {{sortname|Otto|Preminger|nolink=1}}
| Dana Andrews
|
|-
| rowspan=4 | 1951
| ''{{sortname|The|Mating Season|The Mating Season (film)}}''
| Maggie Carleton McNulty
| {{sortname|Mitchell|Leisen}}
| {{unbulleted list|]|]|]}}
|
|-
| '']''
| Lili Duran
| {{sortname|Walter|Lang}}
| ]
| Technicolor
|-
| ''{{sortname|The|Secret of Convict Lake}}''
| Marcia Stoddard
| {{sortname|Michael|Gordon|Michael Gordon (film director)}}
| ]
|
|-
| '']''
| Midge Sheridan
| {{sortname|William|Keighley}}
| ]
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1952
| '']''
| Teresa
| {{sortname|Jacques|Tourneur}}
| ]
| Technicolor
|-
| '']''
| Dorothy Bradford
| {{sortname|Clarence|Brown}}
| {{unbulleted list|]|]|Leo Genn}}
| Technicolor
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1953
| '']''
| Marya Lamarkina
| {{sortname|Delmer|Daves}}
| ]
|
|-
| '']''
| Kay Barlow
| {{sortname|Anthony|Pelissier}}
| {{unbulleted list|]|]}}
|
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1954
| '']''
| Iris Denver
| {{sortname|Nunnally|Johnson}}
| {{unbulleted list|]|]}}
| ], Deluxe color
|-
| ''{{sortname|The|Egyptian|The Egyptian (film)}}''
| Baketamon
| {{sortname|Michael|Curtiz}}
| {{unbulleted list|]|]|]}}
| CinemaScope, Deluxe color
|-
| 1955
| ''{{sortname|The|Left Hand of God}}''
| Anne Scott
| {{sortname|Edward|Dmytryk}}
| ]
| CinemaScope, Deluxe color
|-
| 1962
| '']''
| Dolly Harrison
| {{sortname|Otto|Preminger|nolink=1}}
| {{unbulleted list|Henry Fonda|]|]}}
| ]
|-
| rowspan=2 | 1963
| '']''
| Albertine Prine
| {{sortname|George Roy|Hill}}
| {{unbulleted list|]|]}}
|
|-
| '']''
|
| {{sortname|Sobey|Martin}}
| ]
| English title: ''Four Nights of the Full Moon''
Lost film.
|-
| 1964
| ''{{sortname|The|Pleasure Seekers|The Pleasure Seekers (1964 film)}}''
| Jane Barton
| {{sortname|Jean|Negulesco}}
| {{unbulleted list|]|]}}
| CinemaScope, Deluxe color
|}


== Books== ==Television credits==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
*Gene Tierney - Self - Portrait: (1979)
|-
*] - Gene Tierney: (1987)
! Year
*]'s - Gene Tierney: (2005) A Biography
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" |Other cast members
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1947
| ''The Sir Charles Mendl Show''
| Herself
| Host: Sir Charles Mendl
|
|-
| 1953
| '']''
| Herself
| Host: ]
| Episode #6.33
|-
| 1954
| '']''
| Herself
| Host: ], ]
| Presenter: ] Awards
|-
| 1957
| '']''
| Herself
| Host: ]
| Episode: August 25, Mystery guest<ref></ref>
|-
| 1960
| '']''
| Ellen Galloway
| Host: ]
| Episode: "Journey to a Wedding"
|-
| 1969
| ''{{sortname|The|F.B.I.|The F.B.I. (TV series)}}''
| Faye Simpson
| ]
| Episode: "Conspiracy of Silence"
|-
| 1969
| '']''
| Lenore Constable
| ]
| TV movie
|-
| 1974
| ''{{sortname|The|Merv Griffin Show}}''
| Herself
| Host: ]
|
|-
| 1979
| ''{{sortname|The|Merv Griffin Show|nolink=1}}''
| Herself
| Host: ]
|
|-
| 1980
| ''{{sortname|The|Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson}}''
| Herself
| Host: ]
|
|-
| 1980
| ''{{sortname|The|Mike Douglas Show}}''
| Herself
| Host: ]
|
|-
| 1980
| '']''
| Herself
| Host: ]
|
|-
| 1980
| '']''
| Harriet Toppington
| ]
| TV miniseries
|-
| 1999
| '']''
| Herself (archive material)
| Host: ]
| "Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait", biographical documentary, March 26
|}

==Radio appearances==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year !! Program !! Episode/source
|-
| 1945 || ''Old Gold Comedy Theatre'' || ''A Lady Takes a Chance''<ref name=rga1>{{cite journal|title=Radio's Golden Age|journal=Nostalgia Digest|date=Summer 2012|volume=38|issue=3|pages=40–41}}</ref>
|-
| 1946 || '']'' || '']''<ref>{{cite news|title=Theatre Date|newspaper=Harrisburg Telegraph |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3335474/harrisburg_telegraph/|agency=Harrisburg Telegraph|date=October 5, 1946|page=17|via = ]|access-date = October 1, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref>
|-
| 1946 || '']'' || '']''<ref>{{cite news|title=Hollywood Host|newspaper=Harrisburg Telegraph |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/3323389/harrisburg_telegraph/|agency=Harrisburg Telegraph|date=October 26, 1946|page=21|via = ]|access-date = September 29, 2015}} {{Open access}}</ref>
|}


==Quotes== ==Quotes==
{{Copy section to Wikiquote}}
===About Tierney===
* "Undeniably the most beautiful woman in movie history" - ], former chief of production and founder of Twentieth Century Fox.
* "Although she was beautiful in her films, they couldn't quite capture all of her. Fortunately, I did, even if it was late in my life." - ]
* "This one is in Technicolor. That means that the audience will also get the force of those Tierney green eyes. Now maybe they'll understand why scripwriters have me go off the deep end every time I'm in the same picture as her." - ]
* "The woman with the Mona Lisa smile who left us haunting images of her presence on screen forever remembered as 'the face in the misty light'." - ], film historian.


===By Tierney=== ===By Tierney===
* "I don't think ]] could love anything that did not have a motor in it."<ref name="ledge"/>
* "Everyone should see Hollywood once, I think, through the eyes of a teenage girl who has just passed a screen test."
* "], a top 20th Century-Fox executive, once said to me that he really believed I had a future, and that was because I was the only girl who could survive so many bad pictures." —quoted in ''The RKO Girls''
* "I loved to eat. For all of Hollywoods rewards, I was hungry for most of those 25 years.
* "Jealousy is, I think, the worst of all faults, it makes a victim of both parties."
* "I do not recall spending long hours in a mirror loving my reflection."
* "Wealth, beauty and fame are transient. When those are gone, little is left except the need to be useful."


==Cultural references - Miscellaneous facts== ==Cultural references==
* Tierney was ranked number 71 in '']''{{-'}}s 2006 list of "The 100 Sexiest Movie Stars of All Time".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.premiere.com/List/The-100-Sexiest-Movie-Stars-of-All-Time/71.-Gene-Tierney |title=The 100 Sexiest Movie Stars of All Time – 71. Gene Tierney |publisher=premiere.com |quote=Tierney, a classic beauty, may at first seem too elegant to be a sex symbol, but her Oscar-nominated performance as the femme fatale in '']'' firmly established her sexy cred. Plus, Tierney owned her look. She didn't let studio executives mess with her hair color or length, and refused to fix a slight ], earning extra sexy points for confidence. |access-date=May 6, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406023549/http://www.premiere.com/List/The-100-Sexiest-Movie-Stars-of-All-Time/71.-Gene-Tierney |archive-date=April 6, 2009 }}</ref>
* A comedy routine between ] and ] involved Lewis (in boxing shorts and gear) stating that he's fighting Gene Tierney.<ref>''Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait,'' The Biography Channel. March 26, 1999.</ref> This plays on the similarly named ], who held the world heavyweight boxing title from 1926 to 1928.
* In a third-season episode of '']'' ("]"), the characters watch Tierney in '']''. After ] kisses Tierney passionately, ] says, "If he straightens out that overbite, I'll kill him."
* Tierney was featured as the heroine of a novel, ''Gene Tierney and the Invisible Wedding Gift'' (1947), written by Kathryn Heisenfelt.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.series-books.com/whitman/whitman.html |title=Whitman Authorized Editions for Girls}}</ref>
* ] is widely assumed to have drawn the basic idea for her 1962 novel '']'' from the real-life German measles tragedy of Tierney and her baby.
*The ] Musical '']'' references Gene Tierney several times. The main character Violet states that she wants a pair of "Gene Tierney eyes" due to the fact that her face was disfigured after an accident involving her father.
* Tierney is routinely discussed in the 2005 Irish novel '']'' by ]


== See also ==
*Some have speculated that ] used the ] tragedy of Tierney and her older daughter to construct her ]al ] in '']'' (]), as the ] behind the murder in the ] is similar.
{{Portal bar|Biography}}
*Tierney negotiated a unique contract with a raise every six months and she was to be given half a year off-with written notice to the studio-to appear on Broadway.
*When ] resumed cement handprints and footprints after WW II ended (1945), Gene was the first Actor/Actress asked to continue the tradition. ''Laura'' (1944) was a hit and with the release of ''Leave Her to Heaven'' (1945) her star was rising fast by the mid-1940s.
*Tierney's second husband, W.Howard Lee, was married to ] from ] to ].
*Known for her prominent ] which was clearly protuberant in ''The Shanghai Gesture'' (1941).
* Gene started smoking after a screening of her first movie " I sounded like an angry Minnie Mouse" to lower her voice. She was a heavy smoker her entire life which contributed to her death from emphysema.
* In 2004 film historian Michelle Vogel wrote ''Gene Tierney: A Biography''. It was the first full-length book about Tierney since her autobiography was published. The book included a foreword by Tierney's daughter, Christina, and never before published photos. It sold out its entire first printing.
*] and ] had a comedy routine in which Lewis (in boxing shorts and gear) states he's fighting Gene Tierney, Martin corrects Lewis and suggests that he must mean ] (the Heavyweight Boxing Champ). Lewis then quips, "You fight who you wanna fight, I'm fight'n who I wanna fight, I'm fight'n Gene Tierney."
* The theme from ''Laura'' was adapted by ] (who wrote the lyrics), ], ] and ], all of whom had hits. ''Laura'' has been recorded by various artists over four hundred times.
*Contrary to some published reports, Gene's birth name was never "Jean". Gene was named after a beloved uncle who died young as told in her autobiography Self-Portrait (1979)
* The famous portrait of Gene in ''Laura'' was in fact a photograph that the studio lightly brushed with paint. That same portrait can be seen in color in '']'' (1951).


==References== ==References==
{{Reflist}} {{reflist|30em}}


==Bibliography==
* {{cite book | author = ] | title = In My Own Fashion: An Autobiography | publisher = ] | year = 1987 | id = ISBN 0-671626-40-X}}
* {{cite book | author = Tierney, Gene | title = Self-Portrait | publisher = Peter Wyden | year = 1979 | id = ISBN 0-883261-52-9}} * {{cite book |first=Oleg |last=Cassini |author-link=Oleg Cassini |title=In My Own Fashion: An Autobiography |url=https://archive.org/details/inmyownfashionau00cass |url-access=registration |publisher=] |year=1987 |isbn=0-671-62640-X}}
* {{cite book | author = ] | title = Gene Tierney: A Biography | publisher = McFarland & Company | year = 2005 | id = ISBN 0-786420-35-9}} * {{cite book |author=Devillers, Marceau |title= Gene Tierney: A Biography |publisher=Pygmalion/G.Watelel |year=1987 |isbn=2-85704-230-2}}
* {{cite book | author = Devillers, Marceau | title = Gene Tierney: A Biography | publisher = Pygmalion/G.Watelel | year = 1987 | id = ISBN 2857042302}} * {{cite book |first=Pascal |last=Mérigeau |author-link=Pascal Mérigeau |title=Gene Tierney: A Biography |publisher=Edilig |location=Paris |year=1987 |isbn=2-85601-174-8}}
* {{cite book | author = Merigeau, Pascal | title = Gene Tierney: A Biography | publisher = Paris | year = 1987 | id =ISBN 2856011748 }} * {{cite book |last1=Tierney |first1=Gene |first2=Mickey |last2=Herskowitz |title=Self-Portrait |publisher=] |year=1979 |isbn=0-88326-152-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/selfportrait00tier }}
* {{cite book |first=Michelle |last=Vogel |author-link=Michelle Vogel |title=Gene Tierney: A Biography |publisher=McFarland & Company |year=2005 |isbn=0-7864-2035-9}}


==External links== ==External links==
{{Commons}} {{Commons}}
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* {{official website|http://www.cmgww.com/stars/tierney/}}
*{{ibdb name|62344}}
*{{imdb name|0000074}} * {{IMDb name}}
*{{tcmdb name|191988}} * {{TCMDb name}}
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* * at
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141108155846/http://thenedscottarchive.com/galleries/film-stars/photos-of-gene-tierney.html |date=November 8, 2014 }} by ]
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Latest revision as of 16:37, 22 December 2024

American actress (1920–1991)

Gene Tierney
Tierney in the 1940s
BornGene Eliza Tierney
(1920-11-19)November 19, 1920
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
DiedNovember 6, 1991(1991-11-06) (aged 70)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
Resting placeGlenwood Cemetery
OccupationActress
Years active1938–1964, 1969–1980
Known for
Political partyRepublican
Spouses
  • Oleg Cassini ​ ​(m. 1941; div. 1952)
  • W. Howard Lee ​ ​(m. 1960; died 1981)
Children2
AwardsHollywood Walk of Fame

Gene Eliza Tierney (November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was an American film and stage actress. Acclaimed for her great beauty, she became established as a leading lady. She was best known for her portrayal of the title character in the film Laura (1944), and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Ellen Berent Harland in Leave Her to Heaven (1945).

Tierney's other roles include Martha Strable Van Cleve in Heaven Can Wait (1943), Isabel Bradley Maturin in The Razor's Edge (1946), Lucy Muir in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), Ann Sutton in Whirlpool (1949), Mary Bristol in Night and the City (1950), Maggie Carleton McNulty in The Mating Season (1951), and Anne Scott in The Left Hand of God (1955).

Early life

Gene Eliza Tierney was born on November 19, 1920, in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Howard Sherwood Tierney and Belle Lavinia Taylor. She was named after a beloved uncle, who died young. She had an elder brother, Howard Sherwood "Butch" Tierney Jr., and a younger sister, Patricia "Pat" Tierney. Her father was a successful insurance broker of Irish descent on his paternal side; their mother was a former physical education instructor.

Tierney spent two years in Europe, attending Brillantmont International School in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she learned to speak fluent French. She returned to the US in 1936 and attended Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut. On a family trip to the West Coast, she visited Warner Bros. studios, where her mother's cousin – Gordon Hollingshead – worked as a producer of historical short films. Director Anatole Litvak, taken by the 17-year-old's beauty, told Tierney that she should become an actress. Warner Bros. wanted to sign her to a contract, but her parents advised against it because of the relatively low salary; they also wanted her to take her position in society.

Tierney's society debut occurred on September 24, 1938, when she was 17 years old. Soon bored with society life, she decided to pursue an acting career. Her father said, "If Gene is to be an actress, it should be in the legitimate theatre." Tierney studied acting at a small Greenwich Village acting studio in New York with Yiddish Broadway actor/director Benno Schneider. She became a protégée of Broadway producer-director George Abbott.

Career

Broadway

In Tierney's first role on Broadway, she carried a bucket of water across the stage in What a Life! (1938). A Variety magazine critic declared, "Miss Tierney is certainly the most beautiful water carrier I've ever seen!" She also worked as an understudy in The Primrose Path (1938).

The following year, she appeared in the role of Molly O'Day in the Broadway production Mrs. O'Brien Entertains (1939). New York Times critic Brooks Atkinson wrote, "As an Irish maiden fresh from the old country, Gene Tierney in her first stage performance is very pretty and refreshingly modest." That same year, Tierney appeared as Peggy Carr in Ring Two (1939) to favorable reviews. Theater critic Richard Watts Jr. of the New York Herald Tribune wrote, "I see no reason why Miss Tierney should not have an interesting theatrical career – that is, if cinema does not kidnap her away."

Tierney's father set up a corporation, Belle-Tier, to fund and promote her acting career. Columbia Pictures signed her to a six-month contract in 1939. She met Howard Hughes, who tried unsuccessfully to seduce her. From a well-to-do family herself, she was not impressed by his wealth. Hughes eventually became a lifelong friend.

After a cameraman advised Tierney to lose a little weight, she wrote to Harper's Bazaar magazine for a diet, which she followed for the next 25 years. Tierney was initially offered the lead role in National Velvet, but production was delayed. When Columbia Pictures failed to find Tierney a project, she returned to Broadway and starred as Patricia Stanley to critical and commercial success in The Male Animal (1940). In The New York Times, Brooks Atkinson wrote, "Tierney blazes with animation in the best performance she has yet given". She was the toast of Broadway before her 20th birthday. The Male Animal was a hit, and Tierney was featured in Life. She was also photographed by Harper's Bazaar, Vogue, and Collier's Weekly.

Two weeks after The Male Animal opened, Darryl F. Zanuck, the head of 20th Century Fox, was rumored to have been in the audience. During the performance, he told an assistant to note Tierney's name. Later that night, Zanuck dropped by the Stork Club, where he saw a young lady on the dance floor. He told his assistant, "Forget the girl from the play. See if you can sign that one." She was Tierney. At first, Zanuck did not think she was the actress he had seen. Tierney was quoted (after the fact), saying: "I always had several different 'looks', a quality that proved useful in my career."

Film career

Publicity photo (1941)

Tierney signed with 20th Century-Fox and her motion picture debut was in a supporting role as Eleanor Stone in Fritz Lang's Western The Return of Frank James (1940), opposite Henry Fonda.

A small role as Barbara Hall followed in Hudson's Bay (1941) with Paul Muni and she co-starred as Ellie Mae Lester in John Ford's comedy Tobacco Road (also 1941), and played the title role in Belle Starr alongside co-star Randolph Scott, Zia in Sundown, and Victoria Charteris (Poppy Smith) in The Shanghai Gesture. She played Eve in Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake (1942), as well as the dual role of Susan Miller (Linda Worthington) in Rouben Mamoulian's screwball comedy Rings on Her Fingers, and roles as Kay Saunders in Thunder Birds, and Miss Young in China Girl (all 1942).

Receiving top billing in Ernst Lubitsch's comedy Heaven Can Wait (1943), as Martha Strable Van Cleve, signaled an upward turn in Tierney's career. Tierney recalled during the production of Heaven Can Wait:

Lubitsch was a tyrant on the set, the most demanding of directors. After one scene, which took from noon until five to get, I was almost in tears from listening to Lubitsch shout at me. The next day I sought him out, looked him in the eye, and said, 'Mr. Lubitsch, I'm willing to do my best but I just can't go on working on this picture if you're going to keep shouting at me.' 'I'm paid to shout at you', he bellowed. 'Yes', I said, 'and I'm paid to take it – but not enough.' After a tense pause, Lubitsch broke out laughing. From then on we got along famously.

Tierney starred in what became her best-remembered role: the title role in Otto Preminger's film noir Laura (1944), opposite Dana Andrews (with whom she would work again in The Iron Curtain and Preminger's Where The Sidewalk Ends). After playing Tina Tomasino in A Bell for Adano (1945), she played the jealous, narcissistic femme fatale Ellen Berent Harland in Leave Her to Heaven (1945), adapted from a bestselling novel by Ben Ames Williams. Appearing with Cornel Wilde, Tierney won an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. This was 20th Century-Fox's most successful film of the 1940s. It was cited by director Martin Scorsese as one of his favorite films, and he assessed Tierney as one of the most underrated actresses of the Golden Era.

Gene Tierney and Jeanne Crain in Leave Her to Heaven (1945)

Tierney starred as Miranda Wells in Dragonwyck (1946), along with Walter Huston and Vincent Price. It was Joseph L. Mankiewicz' debut film as a director. In the same period, she starred as Isabel Bradley, opposite Tyrone Power, in The Razor's Edge (also 1946), an adaptation of W. Somerset Maugham's novel of the same name. Her performance was critically praised.

Tierney played Lucy Muir in Mankiewicz's The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), opposite Rex Harrison. The following year, she co-starred again with Power, this time as Sara Farley in the successful screwball comedy That Wonderful Urge (1948). As the decade came to a close, Tierney reunited with Laura director Preminger to star as Ann Sutton in the classic film noir Whirlpool (1950), co-starring Richard Conte and José Ferrer. She appeared in two other films noir: Jules Dassin's Night and the City, shot in London, and Otto Preminger's Where the Sidewalk Ends (both 1950), reunited with both Preminger and leading man Dana Andrews, with whom she appeared in five movies total including The Iron Curtain and, before Laura, Belle Starr and Tobacco Road.

Tierney was lent to Paramount Pictures, giving a comic turn as Maggie Carleton in Mitchell Leisen's ensemble farce, The Mating Season (1951), with John Lund, Thelma Ritter, and Miriam Hopkins. She gave a tender performance as Midge Sheridan in the Warner Bros. film, Close to My Heart (1951), with Ray Milland. The film is about a couple trying to adopt a child. Later in her career, she was reunited with Milland in Daughter of the Mind (1969).

After Tierney appeared opposite Rory Calhoun as Teresa in Way of a Gaucho (1952), her contract at 20th Century-Fox expired. That same year, she starred as Dorothy Bradford in Plymouth Adventure, opposite Spencer Tracy at MGM. Tracy and she had a brief affair during this time. Tierney played Marya Lamarkina opposite Clark Gable in Never Let Me Go (1953), filmed in England.

In the course of the 1940s, she reached a pinnacle of fame as a beautiful leading lady, on a par with "fellow sirens Rita Hayworth, Lana Turner and Ava Gardner". She was called “the most beautiful woman in movie history" and many of her movies in the 1940s became classic films.

Tierney remained in Europe to play Kay Barlow in United Artists' Personal Affair (1953). While in Europe, she began a romance with Prince Aly Khan, but their marriage plans met with fierce opposition from his father Aga Khan III. Early in 1953, Tierney returned to the U.S. to co-star in the film noir Black Widow (1954) as Iris Denver, with Ginger Rogers and Van Heflin.

Health

Tierney had reportedly started smoking after a screening of her first movie to lower her voice, because she felt that she sounded "like an angry Minnie Mouse." She subsequently became a heavy smoker.

Pin-up photo in World War II magazine Brief

Tierney struggled for years with episodes of manic depression. In 1943, she gave birth to a daughter, Daria, who was deaf and mentally disabled due to congenital rubella syndrome. In 1953, she suffered problems with concentration, which affected her film appearances. She dropped out of Mogambo and was replaced by Grace Kelly. While playing Anne Scott in The Left Hand of God (1955), opposite Humphrey Bogart, Tierney became ill. Bogart's sister Frances (known as Pat) had suffered from mental illness, so he showed Tierney great sympathy, feeding her lines during the production and encouraging her to seek help.

Tierney consulted a psychiatrist and was admitted to Harkness Pavilion in New York. Later, she went to the Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut. After some 27 shock treatments, intended to alleviate severe depression, Tierney fled the facility, but was caught and returned. She later became an outspoken opponent of shock treatment therapy, claiming it had destroyed significant portions of her memory.

In late December 1957, Tierney, from her mother's apartment in Manhattan, stepped onto a ledge 14 stories above ground and remained for about 20 minutes in what was considered a suicide attempt. Police were called, and afterwards, Tierney's family arranged for her to be admitted to the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas. The following year, after treatment for depression, she was discharged. Afterwards, she worked as a sales girl in a local dress shop with hopes of integrating back into society. A Topeka newspaper reported on her employment status, which gained national attention.

Later in 1958, 20th Century Fox offered Tierney a lead role in Holiday for Lovers (1959), but the stress upon her proved too great, so only days into production, she dropped out of the film and returned to Menninger for a time.

Comeback

Tierney made a screen comeback in Advise and Consent (1962), co-starring with Franchot Tone and reuniting with director Otto Preminger. Soon afterwards, she played Albertine Prine in Toys in the Attic (1963), based on the play by Lillian Hellman. This was followed by the international production of Las Cuatro Noches de la Luna Llena (Four Nights of the Full Moon – 1963), in which she starred with Dan Dailey. She received critical praise overall for her performances.

Tierney's career as a solid character actress seemed to be back on track as she played Jane Barton in The Pleasure Seekers (1964), but then she suddenly retired. She returned to star in the television movie Daughter of the Mind (1969) with Don Murray and Ray Milland. Her final performance was in the TV miniseries Scruples (1980).

Personal life

Tierney was married twice. Her first husband was Oleg Cassini, a costume and fashion designer, with whom she eloped on June 1, 1941. She was 20 years old, and Cassini was 28. Her parents opposed the marriage because he was from a Russian-Italian family, born in France. She had two daughters, Antoinette Daria Cassini (October 15, 1943 – September 11, 2010) and Christina "Tina" Cassini (November 19, 1948 – March 31, 2015).

In June 1943, while pregnant with Daria, Tierney contracted rubella (German measles), likely from a fan ill with the disease. Antoinette Daria Cassini was born prematurely in Washington, DC, weighing three pounds two ounces (1.4 kg) and requiring a total blood transfusion. The rubella caused congenital damage: Daria was deaf, partially blind with cataracts, and severely mentally disabled. She was institutionalized for much of her life. This entire incident was inspiration for the plot in the 1962 Agatha Christie novel The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (Christie's official website says about that novel, "The plot was inspired by Agatha Christie's reflections on a mother's feelings for a child born with disabilities and there can be little doubt that Christie was influenced by the real-life tragedy of American actress Gene Tierney."). Tierney's friend Howard Hughes paid for Daria's medical expenses, ensuring the girl received the best care. Tierney never forgot his acts of kindness. Daria Cassini died in 2010, at the age of 66.

Tierney and Cassini separated October 20, 1946, and entered into a property settlement agreement on November 10. Periodicals during this period record Tierney with Charles K. Feldman, including articles related to her "twosoming" with Feldman, her "current best beau". Her divorce from Cassini was to be finalized in March 1948, but they reconciled before then. They later divorced in 1952, but remained friends until her death in November 1991.

After his death in 2006, Cassini bequeathed $500,000 in trust to Daria and $1,000,000 to Christina. Christina was unable to collect her inheritance, as Cassini's widow Marianne Nestor challenged the sum in court in a lengthy case.

During her separation from Cassini, Tierney met John F. Kennedy, a young World War II veteran, who was visiting the set of Dragonwyck in 1946. They began a romance that she ended the following year after Kennedy told her he could never marry her because of his political ambitions. In 1960, Tierney sent Kennedy a note of congratulations on his victory in the presidential election. Her former husband Cassini would go on to design outfits for Jackie Kennedy.

In 1952, newspapers documented that Tierney was in a romantic relationship with Kirk Douglas. While filming for Personal Affair in Europe, she began a romance with Prince Aly Khan. They became engaged while Khan was going through a divorce from Rita Hayworth. Their marriage plans, however, met with fierce opposition from his father, Aga Khan III.

In 1958, Tierney met Texas oil baron W. Howard Lee, who had been married to actress Hedy Lamarr since 1953. Lee and Lamarr divorced in 1960 after a long battle over alimony. Lee and Tierney married in Aspen, Colorado, on July 11, 1960. They lived quietly in Houston, Texas, and Delray Beach, Florida until his death in 1981.

Despite her self-imposed exile in Texas, Tierney received work offers from Hollywood, prompting her to a comeback. She appeared in a November 1960 broadcast of General Electric Theater, during which time she discovered that she was pregnant. Shortly after, 20th Century Fox announced Tierney would play the lead role in Return to Peyton Place, but she withdrew from the production after suffering a miscarriage.

As a lifelong Republican, she supported Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan in their elections.

Later years

Tierney's autobiography, Self-Portrait, in which she candidly discusses her life, career, her appearance, and mental illness, was published in 1979.

In 1986, Tierney was honored alongside actor Gregory Peck with the first Donostia Lifetime Achievement Award at the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain.

Tierney has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6125 Hollywood Boulevard.

Death

Tierney died of emphysema on November 6, 1991, in Houston, 13 days before what would have been her 71st birthday. She is interred in Glenwood Cemetery in Houston.

Certain documents of Tierney's film-related material, personal papers, letters, etc., are held in the Wesleyan University Cinema Archives, though her papers are closed to the public.

Broadway credits

Year Title Format/genre Role Staged by
1938 What A Life! Original play, comedy Walk on, Water carrier George Abbott
1938 The Primrose Path Original play, drama/comedy Understudy George Abbott
1939 Mrs O'Brien Entertains Original play, comedy Molly O'Day George Abbott
1939 Ring Two Original play, comedy Peggy Carr George Abbott
1940 The Male Animal Original play, comedy Patricia Stanley Herman Shumlin

Filmography

Year Title Role Director Other cast members Notes
1940 The Return of Frank James Eleanor Stone Fritz Lang Henry Fonda Technicolor
1941 Hudson's Bay Barbara Hall Irving Pichel
Tobacco Road Ellie Mae Lester John Ford
Belle Starr Belle Starr Irving Cummings Technicolor
Sundown Zia Henry Hathaway Bruce Cabot
The Shanghai Gesture Victoria Charteris aka
Poppy Smith
Josef von Sternberg Walter Huston
1942 Son of Fury: The Story of Benjamin Blake Eve John Cromwell Tyrone Power Sepia tone (sequences)
Rings on Her Fingers Susan Miller (aka Linda Worthington) Rouben Mamoulian Henry Fonda
Thunder Birds Kay Saunders William A. Wellman Technicolor
China Girl Miss Haoli Young Henry Hathaway George Montgomery
1943 Heaven Can Wait Martha Strabel Van Cleve Ernst Lubitsch Don Ameche Technicolor
1944 Laura Laura Hunt Otto Preminger
1945 A Bell for Adano Tina Tomasino Henry King John Hodiak
Leave Her to Heaven Ellen Berent Harland John M. Stahl
1946 Dragonwyck Miranda Wells Van Ryn Joseph L. Mankiewicz
  • Walter Huston
  • Vincent Price
The Razor's Edge Isabel Bradley Maturin Edmund Goulding
1947 The Ghost and Mrs. Muir Lucy Muir Joseph L. Mankiewicz
1948 The Iron Curtain Anna Gouzenko William A. Wellman Dana Andrews
That Wonderful Urge Sara Farley Robert B. Sinclair Tyrone Power
1950 Whirlpool Ann Sutton Otto Preminger
Night and the City Mary Bristol Jules Dassin Richard Widmark
Where the Sidewalk Ends Morgan Taylor (Payne) Otto Preminger Dana Andrews
1951 The Mating Season Maggie Carleton McNulty Mitchell Leisen
On the Riviera Lili Duran Walter Lang Danny Kaye Technicolor
The Secret of Convict Lake Marcia Stoddard Michael Gordon Glenn Ford
Close to My Heart Midge Sheridan William Keighley Ray Milland
1952 Way of a Gaucho Teresa Jacques Tourneur Rory Calhoun Technicolor
Plymouth Adventure Dorothy Bradford Clarence Brown Technicolor
1953 Never Let Me Go Marya Lamarkina Delmer Daves Clark Gable
Personal Affair Kay Barlow Anthony Pelissier
1954 Black Widow Iris Denver Nunnally Johnson CinemaScope, Deluxe color
The Egyptian Baketamon Michael Curtiz CinemaScope, Deluxe color
1955 The Left Hand of God Anne Scott Edward Dmytryk Humphrey Bogart CinemaScope, Deluxe color
1962 Advise & Consent Dolly Harrison Otto Preminger Panavision
1963 Toys in the Attic Albertine Prine George Roy Hill
Las cuatro noches de la luna llena Sobey Martin Dan Dailey English title: Four Nights of the Full Moon

Lost film.

1964 The Pleasure Seekers Jane Barton Jean Negulesco CinemaScope, Deluxe color

Television credits

Year Title Role Other cast members Notes
1947 The Sir Charles Mendl Show Herself Host: Sir Charles Mendl
1953 Toast of the Town Herself Host: Ed Sullivan Episode #6.33
1954 26th Academy Awards Herself Host: Donald O'Connor, Fredric March Presenter: Costume Design Awards
1957 What's My Line? Herself Host: John Charles Daly Episode: August 25, Mystery guest
1960 General Electric Theater Ellen Galloway Host: Ronald Reagan Episode: "Journey to a Wedding"
1969 The F.B.I. Faye Simpson Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Episode: "Conspiracy of Silence"
1969 Daughter of the Mind Lenore Constable Ray Milland TV movie
1974 The Merv Griffin Show Herself Host: Merv Griffin
1979 The Merv Griffin Show Herself Host: Merv Griffin
1980 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Herself Host: Johnny Carson
1980 The Mike Douglas Show Herself Host: Mike Douglas
1980 Dinah! Herself Host: Dinah Shore
1980 Scruples Harriet Toppington Lindsay Wagner TV miniseries
1999 Biography Herself (archive material) Host: Peter Graves "Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait", biographical documentary, March 26

Radio appearances

Year Program Episode/source
1945 Old Gold Comedy Theatre A Lady Takes a Chance
1946 Lux Radio Theatre Dragonwyck
1946 Hollywood Star Time Bedelia

Quotes

By Tierney

  • "I don't think Howard could love anything that did not have a motor in it."
  • "Joe Schenck, a top 20th Century-Fox executive, once said to me that he really believed I had a future, and that was because I was the only girl who could survive so many bad pictures." —quoted in The RKO Girls

Cultural references

  • Tierney was ranked number 71 in Premiere Magazine's 2006 list of "The 100 Sexiest Movie Stars of All Time".
  • A comedy routine between Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis involved Lewis (in boxing shorts and gear) stating that he's fighting Gene Tierney. This plays on the similarly named Gene Tunney, who held the world heavyweight boxing title from 1926 to 1928.
  • In a third-season episode of M*A*S*H* ("House Arrest"), the characters watch Tierney in Leave Her to Heaven. After Cornel Wilde kisses Tierney passionately, Hawkeye Pierce says, "If he straightens out that overbite, I'll kill him."
  • Tierney was featured as the heroine of a novel, Gene Tierney and the Invisible Wedding Gift (1947), written by Kathryn Heisenfelt.
  • Agatha Christie is widely assumed to have drawn the basic idea for her 1962 novel The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side from the real-life German measles tragedy of Tierney and her baby.
  • The Off-Broadway Musical Violet references Gene Tierney several times. The main character Violet states that she wants a pair of "Gene Tierney eyes" due to the fact that her face was disfigured after an accident involving her father.
  • Tierney is routinely discussed in the 2005 Irish novel An Evening of Long Goodbyes by Paul Murray

See also

Portal:

References

  1. ^ Severo, Richard (November 8, 1991). "Gene Tierney, 70, Star of 'Laura' And 'Leave Her to Heaven', Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved November 21, 2007.
  2. ^ "Gene Tierney Biography". Turner Classics Movies. Retrieved August 20, 2018. Tierney emerged as a leading lady of equal beauty and depth...Tierney attained a strata of celebrity that put her on par with fellow sirens Rita Hayworth, Lana Turner and Ava Gardner"
  3. ^ Vogel, Michelle (2009). Gene Tierney: A Biography. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786458325. Called the most beautiful woman in movie history, Gene Tierney starred in a number of 1940s classics, including Laura, Leave Her to Heaven and The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.
  4. ^ Self-Portrait. Tierney and Herskowitz (1979). Wyden Books. pp. 1, 9–10, 14, 18, 19, 21, 23, 25–26, 27, 33, 36, 38, 65–66, 91, 97, 101, 119, 131, 133, 141–42, 144, 150–51, 164–65, 192–192, 207. ISBN 0883261529
  5. ^ Newland, Christina (April 17, 2024). "Gene Tierney and the pitfalls of being 'the most beautiful woman in movie history'". BBC Culture. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  6. ^ "Debutante Gene Tierney Makes Her Entrance In A Broadway Success", Life Magazine, February 19, 1940. Vol 8, No. 8, p. 25.
  7. Malcolm Goldstein, The Political Stage (Oxford University Press, 1974), 45; Claude Amey, Le Théâtre d'agit-prop de 1917 à 1932 (Lausanne: L'âge d'Homme, 1977), 160; and Edna Nahshon, ed., New York's Yiddish Theater: From the Bowery to Broadway (NY: Columbia University Press, 2016), 179–86.
  8. ^ Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait, The Biography Channel, March 26, 1999, interview with Gene Tierney's sister Patricia.
  9. Martin Scorsese discusses Leave Her to Heaven at the 45th New York Film Festival on YouTube
  10. Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait. The Biography Channel, March 26, 1999, interview with film scholar Jeanine Basinger.
  11. ^ Osborne (2006). Chronicle Books. Leading Ladies. p. 195.
  12. ^ Self-Portrait. Tierney and Herskowitz (1979). Wyden Books. pp. 179–193.
  13. ^ "Biography". Gene Tierney The Official Web Site. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  14. Kuperberg, Clara and Julia (2016). "Gene Tierney - Hollywoods vergessener Star". arte.tv (in German). Retrieved February 27, 2024.
  15. Marion, Jane (November 22, 2022). "ECT is Coming Out of the Shadows as a Lifesaving Treatment for Mental Illness". Baltimore Magazine. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  16. ^ Demaret, Kent (May 7, 1979). "Gene Tierney Began Her Trip Back from Madness on a Ledge 14 Floors Above the Street". People. Retrieved January 18, 2017.
  17. Hrenchir, Tim. "History Guy: Movie star who spent time in Topeka was born 100 years ago". The Topeka Capital-Journal. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  18. "Daria Cassini, Obituary". The New York Times. September 13, 2010. Retrieved August 20, 2018 – via Legacy.com.
  19. "The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side". The Home of Agatha Christie. Retrieved April 8, 2022 – via agathachristie.com.
  20. Hopper, Hedda (April 9, 1948). "Gene Tierney and Mate Reconciled". Los Angeles Times. p. 2.
  21. Hopper, Hedda (February 18, 1948). "Hedda Hopper's Looking at Hollywood". Harrisburg Telegraph. p. 22. Retrieved July 23, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. Edyth Gwynn (April 1, 1948). "Hollywood". Pottstown Mercury. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. ^ Orth, Maureen (August 19, 2010). "Cassini Royale". Vanity Fair.
  24. "Courthouse NewsService". Courthousenews.com. February 18, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
  25. Brown, Karina (February 18, 2010). "Squabble Over Oleg Cassini's Estate". Courthouse News Service. Archived from the original on August 20, 2010. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
  26. Parsons, Louella O. (February 27, 1952). "Ginger Is Making Much Moola; Begins Television Work in Fall". Louella's Movie Go Round. Albuquerque Journal. p. 19 – via Newspapers.com.
  27. The Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes: A Comprehensive History, p. 179
  28. ^ "W. Howard Lee". The New York Times. August 18, 1981. Retrieved November 21, 2007.
  29. GENE TIERNEY BIOGRAPHY in: www.tcm.com (Turner Classics Movies) .
  30. "About Gene Tierney". MovieActors.com. Archived from the original on May 15, 2021. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  31. Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait, The Biography Channel. March 26, 1999.
  32. "Cinema Archives". Wesleyan University. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
  33. What's My Line? – Gene Tierney; Ernie Kovacs (panel) (Aug 25, 1957)
  34. "Radio's Golden Age". Nostalgia Digest. 38 (3): 40–41. Summer 2012.
  35. "Theatre Date". Harrisburg Telegraph. Harrisburg Telegraph. October 5, 1946. p. 17. Retrieved October 1, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  36. "Hollywood Host". Harrisburg Telegraph. Harrisburg Telegraph. October 26, 1946. p. 21. Retrieved September 29, 2015 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  37. "The 100 Sexiest Movie Stars of All Time – 71. Gene Tierney". premiere.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2009. Retrieved May 6, 2014. Tierney, a classic beauty, may at first seem too elegant to be a sex symbol, but her Oscar-nominated performance as the femme fatale in Leave Her to Heaven firmly established her sexy cred. Plus, Tierney owned her look. She didn't let studio executives mess with her hair color or length, and refused to fix a slight overbite, earning extra sexy points for confidence.
  38. Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait, The Biography Channel. March 26, 1999.
  39. "Whitman Authorized Editions for Girls".

Bibliography

External links

Donostia Award
Lifetime Achievement Award at the San Sebastián International Film Festival
1980s
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