Jean Brooks, the fourth and youngest child of Horace and Robina Kelly, spent her early years in Texas, but relocated to Costa Rica with her mother after her father's passing. This move allowed her to become fluent in Spanish, a skill that would later benefit her professional career.
Jean began her career as a singer, performing with Enric Madriguera and his Orchestra in New York City. She also landed a small role in the 1935 film "The Crime of Doctor Crespi" and appeared in the stage play "Name Your Poison" alongside Lenore Ulric in 1938.
Jean was signed by an independent film production company, but by the time she arrived in Hollywood, the company had gone out of business. She eventually landed at Universal, where she became a leading lady in "B" pictures, including several westerns starring Johnny Mack Brown.
However, her option was dropped in late 1941, and Jean married writer and later director Richard Brooks. She changed her last name to Brooks and signed with RKO, where she gained recognition for her performances in three films produced by Val Lewton, including "The Seventh Victim" in 1943.
Jean's intense and forceful acting style made her a promising talent, but RKO lost interest in her by mid-1944, and her roles gradually became smaller until she was dropped in 1946. She and Richard Brooks divorced, and Jean's name was omitted from his later biographies.
For many years, Jean was considered a "Lost Player," championed by writer Doug McClelland in several magazine articles. She was eventually located in San Francisco, where she worked as a classified ad solicitor for the San Francisco Examiner newspaper. Jean married a printer named Thomas Leddy and lived a quiet life until her death in 1963 at the Kaiser Hospital in Richmond, California, due to complications from cirrhosis.
