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 from the trailer for The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) | |
| Born | Gene Eliza Tierney |
| Years active | 1940 - 1980 |
Gene Tierney (November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was an American Film and Stage actress. 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 Laura (1944) and her Academy Award-nominated performance for Best Actress in Leave Her to Heaven (1945).
Biography
She was born Gene Eliza Tierney in Brooklyn, New York, 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 insurance broker of Irish decent, her mother a former gym teacher.
Gene attended St. Margaret School, Waterbury, Connecticut, and the Unquowa School in Bridgeport. Her first poem, titled "Night", was published in the school magazine, and writing verse became an occasional pastime during the rest of her life. She then spent two years in Europe and attended the Brillantmont finishing school in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she learned to speak fluent French.
She returned to the U.S. in 1938 and attended Miss Porter's School. On a trip to the West Coast, she visited Warner Bros. and was told by Anatole Litvak - 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 debutante 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 American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and was accepted. Other notable talents include Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Grace Kelly and Lauren Bacall, who each studied there.
Personal life
Tierney married twice. Her first marriage to costume and fashion designer Oleg Cassini on July 11 1941 ended in divorce on February 28 1952. Her second marriage was to Texas oilman, W. Howard Lee on July 11 1960 until his death on February 17, 1981.
She and Cassini had two daughters, Antoinette Daria Cassini (born October 15, 1943) and Christina "Tina" Cassini (born November 19, 1948).
Cassini served as a second lieutenant in the Army in World War II. In June 1943, while pregnant with her first daughter, she contracted German measles during her only appearance at the Hollywood Canteen. 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 deaf, partially blind with cataracts, with severe mental retardation. Tierney's grief over the tragedy led to many years of depression and may have begun her bi-polar disorder. 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 German measles 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."
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 Tyrone Power, her co-star in The Razor's Edge. That came to an end in the spring of 1946. During the filming of Dragonwyck, she met a young John F. Kennedy, 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 1960, Tierney sent Kennedy a note of congratulations on his election victory although she later admitted that she voted for Richard Nixon because she thought that he would make a better president.
In 1958, she met Texas oil baron W.Howard Lee; they were married in Aspen in 1960 and lived in Houston. Tierney loved life in Texas with Lee and became an expert bridge player. In 1962, 20th Century Fox announced she would play the lead role in Return to Peyton Place, but she became pregnant and dropped out of the project. She later miscarried the baby.
Her screen comeback was in Advise and Consent (1962), co-starring Franchot Tone. A year later she played Albertine Prine in Toys in the Attic, starring Dean Martin and Geraldine Page. She received overall critical praise for her performances. Tierney played Jane Barton in The Pleasure Seekers (1964), starring Ann-Margret, Anthony Franciosa, and Carol Lynley, then again retired.
However, she starred in the television movie Daughter of the Mind (1969), with Don Murray and Ray Milland.
Her autobiography, Self-Portrait, in which she candidly discussed her life, career and mental illness, was published in 1979.
Tierney's final performance was in the TV mini-series Scruples (1980), starring Lindsay Wagner.
In 1981, she was widowed after a long and supportive marriage. Tierney died in 1991 at age 71 of emphysema in Houston, Texas, and is interred, beside Lee, in Section E-1 of Glenwood Cemetery. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6125 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood.
Career
Broadway
In her first part on Broadway, she carried a bucket of water across the stage in What a Life! (1938). The Variety Magazine 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 Brooks Atkinson in the New York Times. 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 Hollywood does not steal her away."
Tierney also worked as a photographic model in between her appearances on the stage. Photos of her appeared in Life, Harper's Bazaar, and Collier's Weekly.
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 Columbia signed her to a six-month contract in 1939. She also met Howard Hughes, 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.
The studio failed to find her a project, so she returned to New York and starred as Patricia Stanley to critical and commercial success in The Male Animal (1940). She was the toast of Broadway before her twentieth birthday.
Early film successes
Hollywood called once again. Tierney was offered the lead in MGM's National Velvet, but when the production was delayed, she signed with 20th Century Fox. Her motion picture debut was in a co- starring role as Elenore Stone in Fritz Lang's western The Return of Frank James (1940) opposite Henry Fonda. A small role as Barbra Hall followed in Hudson's Bay (1941) with Paul Muni.
1941 was a busy year for the actress, as she co- starred as Ellie Mae Lester in John Ford's drama Tobacco Road, the title role in Belle Starr, Zia in Sundown, Victoria Charteris aka Poppy Smith in The Shanghai Gesture. In 1942, she played Eve in Son of Fury, the dual role as Susan Miller aka Linda Worthington in the screwball comedy Rings on Her Fingers, Kay Saunders in Thunder Birds, and Miss Young in China Girl.
Top billing in Ernst Lubitsch's classic 1943 comedy Heaven Can Wait as Martha Strable Van Cleve signaled an upward turn in Tierney's career as her popularity increased.
In 1944, she starred in what became her most famous role, as the intended murder victim, Laura Hunt, in Otto Preminger's mystery Laura.
After playing Tina Tomasino in A Bell for Adano (1945), she played the jealous, narcissistic femme fatale Ellen Berent Harland, opposite Cornel Wilde, in the film version of the best-selling book Leave Her to Heaven—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 starred as Miranda Wells in Dragonwyck (1946). That same year, she played Isabel Bradley opposite Tyrone Power in The Razor's Edge, an adaptation of Somerset Maugham's novel. She followed that with her role as Lucy Muir in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947) opposite Rex Harrison. The following year, Tierney co-starred once again with Power 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, co-starring Richard Conte and Jose Ferrer (1949).
Later career
Tierney gave memorable performances in two classic film noirs, Jules Dassin's Night and the City as Mary Bristol co-starring Richard Widmark and Otto Preminger's Where the Sidewalk Ends as Morgan Taylor with her Laura co-star Dana Andrews (both in 1950).
In 1951, she was loaned out to Paramount Pictures and gave a memorable comic turn as Maggie Carleton in Mitchell Leisen's classic screwball comedy The Mating Season with John Lund, Thelma Ritter and Miriam Hopkins. This was also the year Tierney gave a tender performance as Midge Sheridan opposite Ray Milland in Close to my Heart (1951) (Warner Bros.). 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 "nature vs nurture" and opened an early conversation about the adoption process. Later in her career she would be reunited with Milland in Daughter of the Mind (1969), which has a cult following.
After appearing opposite Rory Calhoun as Teresa in Way of The 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, which was followed by Never Let Me Go (1953) as Marya Lamarkina opposite Clark Gable which was filmed in England. Gene found Gable patient and considerate, but lonely and vulnerable, still mourning the death of Carole Lombard. She remained in Europe to play Kay Barlow in United Artist's Personal Affair (1953), 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 Mogambo and was replaced by Grace Kelly.
While Tierney was in Europe, she began a romance with Prince Ali Khan, but their marriage plans met with fierce opposition from his father, the Aga Khan. She returned to the U.S., where she played Iris Denver in Black Widow (1954), co-starring Ginger Rogers, Van Heflin, George Raft, with Peggy Ann Garner.
While playing Anne Scott in The Left Hand of God (1955) opposite Humphrey Bogart, 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 psychiatrist, and was admitted to Harkness Pavilion in New York. Later she went to the The Institute of Living in Hartford, Connecticut. After some 27 shock treatments, 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.
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 Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas 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).
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.
Filmography
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Books
- Gene Tierney - Self - Portrait: (1979)
- Marceau Devillers - Gene Tierney: (1987)
- Michelle Vogel's - Gene Tierney: (2005) A Biography
Quotes
 | This section is a candidate for copying over to Wikiquote using the Transwiki process. |
About Tierney
- "Undeniably the most beautiful woman in movie history" - Darryl F Zanuck, 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." - Spencer Tracy
- "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." - Vincent Price
- "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'." - Neil Doyle, film historian
By Tierney
- "Everyone should see Hollywood once, I think, through the eyes of a teenage girl who has just passed a screen test."
- "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
- Some have speculated that Agatha Christie used the real life tragedy of Tierney and her older daughter to construct her fictional plot in The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side (1962), as the motive behind the murder in the novel is similar.
- 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 Grauman's Chinese Theatre 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 Hedy Lamarr from 1953 to 1960.
- Known for her prominent overbite 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.
- Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis 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 Gene Tunney (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 Johnny Mercer (who wrote the lyrics), Dick Haymes, Woody Herman and Frank Sinatra, 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 On the Riviera (1951).
References
- Cassini, Oleg (1987). In My Own Fashion: An Autobiography. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671626-40-X.
- Tierney, Gene (1979). Self-Portrait. Peter Wyden. ISBN 0-883261-52-9.
- Vogel, Michelle (2005). Gene Tierney: A Biography. McFarland & Company. ISBN 0-786420-35-9.
- Devillers, Marceau (1987). Gene Tierney: A Biography. Pygmalion/G.Watelel. ISBN 2857042302.
- Merigeau, Pascal (1987). Gene Tierney: A Biography. Paris. ISBN 2856011748.
External links
- Template:Amg title
- Gene Tierney at the Internet Broadway Database
- Gene Tierney at IMDb
- Gene Tierney at the TCM Movie Database
- Gene Tierney at Find a Grave
- Gene Tierney: the Offical Web Site
- Gene Tierney at The Biography Channel
- Gene Tierney: A Biography by Michelle Vogel