Gene Tierney

Gene Tierney was born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 19, 1920, to well-to-do parents. Her father was a very successful insurance broker and her mother was a former teacher.

By 1938 she was performing on Broadway in "What a Life!" and understudied for "The Primerose Path" (1938) at the same time. Her wealthy father set up a corporation that was only to promote her theatrical pursuits.

After being spotted by the legendary Darryl F. Zanuck during a stage performance of the hit show "The Male Animal" (1940), Gene was signed to a contract with 20th Century-Fox. Her first role as Barbara Hall in "Hudson's Bay" (1941) would be the send-off vehicle for her career. Later that year she appeared in" The Return of Frank James" (1940). The next year would prove to be a very busy one for Gene, as she appeared in "The Shanghai Gesture" (1941), "Sundown" (1941), "Tobacco Road" (1941) and "Belle Starr" (1941). She tried her hand at screwball comedy in "Rings on Her Fingers" (1942), which was a great success.

In 1945 she was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Ellen Brent in "Leave Her to Heaven" (1945).

In 1944 she played what is probably her best-known role (and, most critics agree, her most outstanding performance) in Otto Preminger's "Laura" (1944), in which she played murder victim named Laura Hunt. In 1947 Gene played Lucy Muir in the acclaimed "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir" (1947). By this time Gene was the hottest player around, and the 1950s saw no letup as she appeared in a number of good films, among them "Night and the City" (1950), "The Mating Season" (1951), "Close to My Heart" (1951), "Plymouth Adventure" (1952), "Personal Affair" (1953) and "The Left Hand of God" (1955). The latter was to be her last performance for seven years. The pressures of a failed marriage to Oleg Cassini, the birth of a daughter who was mentally retarded in 1943, and several unhappy love affairs resulted in Gene being hospitalized for depression.

When she returned to the the screen in

Advise Consent

(1962), her acting was as good as ever but there was no longer a big demand for her services. Her last feature film was "The Pleasure Seekers" (1964), and her final appearance in the film industry was in a TV miniseries, "Scruples" (1980).

Gene died of emphysema in Houston, Texas, on November 6, 1991, just two weeks shy of her 71st birthday.