As a baby, Jane Greer was winning beauty contests; as a teenager, with good looks and an attractive contralto voice, she was singing with big bands (most notably Enric Madriguera's orchestra in Latin Club Del Rio in Washington, D.C.)
Howard Hughes spotted Greer modeling on the cover of Life magazine of June 8, 1942 and sent her to Hollywood to become an actress. She married Rudy Vallee, her senior by 22 years, in 1943. Hughes lent out the actress to RKO to star in many films, including Dick Tracy (1945), Out of the Past (1947), They Won't Believe Me (1947), and the comedy/suspense film The Big Steal (1949), alongside Out of the Past co-star Robert Mitchum.
with Tom Conway and Ann Rutherford in Two O'Clock Courage (1945)
with Mike Mazurki and Anne Jeffreys in Dick Tracy (1945)
The Bamboo Blonde (1946)
The Falcon's Alibi (1946)
The Falcon's Alibi (1946)
Out of the Past (1947)
Out of the Past (1947)
Out of the Past (1947) with Steve Brodie and Robert Mitchum
Out of the Past (1947) with Robert Mitchum
Out of the Past (1947) with Robert Mitchum
with Kirk Douglas in Out of the Past (1947)
Out of the Past (1947) with Steve Brodie and Robert Mitchum
Station West (1948)
in Station West (1948) with Dick Powell
in Station West (1948) with Dick Powell
in Station West (1948) with Dick Powell
The Big Steal (1949)
The Big Steal (1949)
with Robert Mitchum in The Big Steal (1949)
with Robert Mitchum in The Big Steal (1949)
Lizabeth Scott and Jane Greer in The Company She Keeps (1951)
The Company She Keeps (1951)
The Company She Keeps (1951)
You're in the Navy Now (1951)
with Gary Cooper in You're in the Navy Now (1951)
with Gary Cooper in You're in the Navy Now (1951)
The Prisoner of Zenda (1952)
The Prisoner of Zenda (1952) with Stewart Granger
with director Taylor Hackford, Jeff Bridges, and Swoosie Kurtz
at the premier of Against All Odds (1984)
At age 15, an attack of palsy left Jane's face partially paralyzed. She claimed that it was through facial exercises to overcome the paralysis that she learned the efficacy of facial expression in conveying human emotion, a skill she was renowned for using in her acting.
Lovely!
ReplyDeleteLovely!!
ReplyDeleteJane was a tuff, tuff girl.
ReplyDeleteCute, beautiful, soft, sweet, and vulnerable.
I love her.
These are beautiful pictures of a beautiful lady. Thanks for posting them!
ReplyDeleteI have one small correction, though. The second black and white still from "Out of the Past" isn't of Steve Brodie. That's Paul Valentine.
Jane just doesn't fit as Gary Cooper's better half in You're in the Navy Now. She's half his age. There's no chemistry between them.
ReplyDeleteIn out of the past with Mitchum she was a liar a double-crosser and a murderer.She played that part better than anyone don't you think so
ReplyDeleteOn the cover of the June 8, 1942 issue of Life magazine is socialite turned nurses aide Lorraine Ames (later Lorraine Watriss). However Jane Greer is pictured modeling a WAC officer summer uniform on page 27, her Mona Lisa smile is rather unmistakable. Thanks for a great collection of Jane Greer photos.
ReplyDelete