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Jean Brooks‌

Gender

Female

Birthday

calendar1915-12-23

Popularity

star2.4

Jean Brooks

Houston, Texas, USA

Jean Brooks

Houston, Texas, USA

Gender

Female

Birthday

calendar1915-12-23

Popularity

star2.4

Biography

Fluent in Spanish, Jean Brooks began professionally by singing with Enric Madriguera and Orchestra in New York. She had a small role in the New York City-filmed The Crime of Doctor Crespi (1935) and the second lead in a Broadway play, "Name Your Poison" (1938), with Lenore Ulric, all under her real name of Jeanne Kelly. She was signed by an independent film production company that had gone under by the time she got to Hollywood. She spent several years at Universal as a leading lady in "B" pictures, including several Johnny Mack Brown westerns, but her option was dropped in late 1941. By this time she had married writer (later director) Richard Brooks and, with a certain Broadway hoofer having just signed at MGM, dropped the Kelly and became Jean Brooks. She signed with RKO, where film buffs know her for her three appearances for cult producer Val Lewton, particularly her stunning performance as a haunted devil worshiper in The Seventh Victim (1943). Her clipped delivery and intense, forceful acting style made her a promising bet for stardom, but RKO lost interest in her by mid-'44 and her roles got gradually smaller until she was dropped in 1946. She and Brooks divorced (his later studio biographies omitted her name as one of his ex-wives). For many years she was listed as a "Lost Player" championed in several magazine articles by writer Doug McClelland. She was eventually located in San Francisco, where she had moved after her film career petered out, and was employed as a classified ad solicitor on the "San Francisco Examiner" newspaper. She had married a printer called Leddy. Her death at the Kaiser Hospital in Richmond, California, in 1963 was due to nutritional problems caused by alcoholism, a sad ending for a stylish and talented performer who didn't get the breaks she deserved, both personally and professionally. Date of Death 25 November 1963, Richmond, California  (extreme malnutrition & alcoholism)

Movie Credits

The Seventh Victim

The Seventh Victim‌
star6.4
calendar 1943

Women in the Night

Women in the Night‌
star3.9
calendar 1948

The Leopard Man

The Leopard Man‌
star6.4
calendar 1943

Two O'Clock Courage

Two O'Clock Courage‌
star6.2
calendar 1945

The Falcon in Danger

The Falcon in Danger‌
star5.6
calendar 1943

The Falcon in Hollywood

The Falcon in Hollywood‌
star6.0
calendar 1944

The Falcon and the Co-Eds

The Falcon and the Co-Eds‌
star6.2
calendar 1943

The Falcon's Alibi

The Falcon's Alibi‌
star5.2
calendar 1946

The Boss of Big Town

The Boss of Big Town‌
star5.0
calendar 1942

Youth Runs Wild

Youth Runs Wild‌
star4.2
calendar 1944

The Bamboo Blonde

The Bamboo Blonde‌
star6.0
calendar 1946

A Night of Adventure

A Night of Adventure‌
star4.9
calendar 1944

Miracle on Main Street

Miracle on Main Street‌
star5.5
calendar 1939

Man from Montana

Man from Montana‌
star0.0
calendar 1941

The Devil's Pipeline

The Devil's Pipeline‌
star6.0
calendar 1940

Frankie and Johnnie

Frankie and Johnnie‌
star5.0
calendar 1936

The Invisible Killer

The Invisible Killer‌
star4.0
calendar 1939

The Green Hornet Strikes Again!

The Green Hornet Strikes Again!‌
star6.2
calendar 1940

The Invisible Man Returns

The Invisible Man Returns‌
star6.2
calendar 1940

The Crime of Doctor Crespi

The Crime of Doctor Crespi‌
star4.5
calendar 1935

Riders of Death Valley

Riders of Death Valley‌
star6.5
calendar 1941

A Dangerous Game

A Dangerous Game‌
star5.0
calendar 1941

Meet the Chump

Meet the Chump‌
star0.0
calendar 1941

Buck Privates

Buck Privates‌
star6.6
calendar 1941

Son of Roaring Dan

Son of Roaring Dan‌
star0.0
calendar 1940

Junior G-Men

Junior G-Men‌
star6.1
calendar 1940

Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe

Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe‌
star5.6
calendar 1940

Klondike Fury

Klondike Fury‌
star3.9
calendar 1942

Boot Hill Bandits

Boot Hill Bandits‌
star5.8
calendar 1942

Fighting Bill Fargo

Fighting Bill Fargo‌
star6.0
calendar 1941

Badlands Of Dakota

Badlands Of Dakota‌
star5.6
calendar 1941

Tango Bar

Tango Bar‌
star7.8
calendar 1935

Obeah

Obeah‌
star0.0
calendar 1935

Tv Credits