Person Biography:
Jennifer Jones was born Phylis Lee Isley on March 2, 1919, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to Flora Mae (Suber) and Phillip Ross Isley, who ran a travelling stage show. She began her career as a model and radio voice actress before meeting David O. Selznick, who would become her mentor and eventually her lover. Jones was renamed Jennifer Jones and was cast in her breakthrough role as Bernadette Soubirous in The Song of Bernadette (1943),for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress.
Jones' career was marked by her strong performances in films such as Since You Went Away (1944),Love Letters (1945),and Duel in the Sun (1946). She received five Academy Award nominations throughout her career, including for her performances in Love Letters, Duel in the Sun, and Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955). Despite her success, Jones was a private person and managed to stay out of the spotlight, which ultimately led to a decline in her film career.
Jones died on December 17, 2009, in Malibu, California.
