Jean Brooks
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)
Known For
Credits
- 1948 · Women in the Night as Maya
- 1946 · The Bamboo Blonde as Marsha
- 1946 · The Falcon's Alibi as Baroness Lena
- 1945 · Two O'Clock Courage as Barbara Borden
- 1944 · The Falcon in Hollywood as Roxanna Miles
- 1944 · Youth Runs Wild as Mary Hauser Coates
- 1944 · A Night of Adventure as Julie Arden
- 1943 · The Falcon and the Co-Eds as Vicky Gaines
- 1943 · The Seventh Victim as Jacqueline Gibson
- 1943 · The Falcon in Danger as Iris Fairchild
- 1943 · The Leopard Man as Kiki Walker
- 1942 · The Boss of Big Town as Iris Moore
- 1942 · Boot Hill Bandits as May Meadows
- 1942 · Klondike Fury as Rae Langton
- 1941 · Fighting Bill Fargo as Linda Tyler (as Jeanne Kelly)
- 1941 · Badlands Of Dakota as Bella Union Girl
- 1941 · Man from Montana as Linda Thompson
- 1941 · A Dangerous Game as Anne Bennett (as Jeanne Kelly)
- 1941 · Riders of Death Valley as Mary Morgan (as Jeanne Kelly)
- 1941 · Meet the Chump as Madge Reilly (as Jeanne Kelly)
- 1941 · Buck Privates as Camp Hostess
- 1940 · The Green Hornet Strikes Again! as Gloria Manning
- 1940 · Junior G-Men as Waitress (uncredited)
- 1940 · The Devil's Pipeline as Laura Larson (as Jeanne Kelly)
- 1940 · Son of Roaring Dan as Eris Brooke (as Jeanne Kelly)
- 1940 · Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe as Olga (uncredited)
- 1940 · The Invisible Man Returns as Minor Role (uncredited)
- 1939 · Miracle on Main Street as Nina
- 1939 · The Invisible Killer as Gloria Cunningham
- 1936 · Frankie and Johnnie as Cabaret Girl
- 1935 · The Crime of Doctor Crespi as Nurse Gordon (as Jeanne Kelly)
- 1935 · Tango Bar as Young Ship's Passenger on Lower Deck (uncredited)
- 1935 · Obeah as