View source for Jean Simmons

{{short description|British actress (1929–2010)}}
{{distinguish|Gene Simmons|Jen Simmons}}
{{Use British English|date=May 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name             = Jean Simmons
| honorific_suffix = [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]]
| image            = Studio publicity Jean Simmons.jpg
| caption          = Simmons in a 1955 studio publicity shot
| birth_name       = Jean Merilyn Simmons
| birth_date       = {{birth date|df=y|1929|1|31}}
| birth_place      = [[Islington]], London, England
| death_date       = {{death date and age|df=y|2010|1|22|1929|1|31}}
| death_place      = [[Santa Monica, California]], US
| resting_place    = [[Highgate Cemetery]]
| citizenship      = {{ubl|United Kingdom|United States (from 1956)}}<!-- she became a US citizen as is clearly stated in the text -->
| spouse           = {{plainlist|
* {{marriage|[[Stewart Granger]]|1950|1960|end=div}}
* {{marriage|[[Richard Brooks]]|1960|1980|end=div}}
}}
| children         = 2
| father           = [[Charles Simmons (gymnast)|Charles Simmons]]
| occupation       = Actress, singer
| years_active     = 1944–2010
}}

'''Jean Merilyn Simmons''' (31 January 1929 – 22 January 2010) was a British actress and singer.<ref>{{cite news |last=Nelson |first=Valerie J. |title=Jean Simmons dies at 80; radiant beauty was known for stunning versatility |url=https://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-jean-simmons23-2010jan23-story.html |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=23 January 2010 |access-date=12 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Vallance |first=Tom |title=Jean Simmons: Actress who dazzled opposite the likes of Marlon Brando, Kirk Douglas and Laurence Olivier |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/jean-simmons-actress-who-dazzled-opposite-the-likes-of-marlon-brando-kirk-douglas-and-laurence-olivier-1878829.html |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |location=London |date=26 January 2010}}</ref> One of [[J. Arthur Rank]]'s "well-spoken young starlets", she appeared predominantly in films, beginning with [[Cinema of the United Kingdom|those made in Britain]] during and after the Second World War, followed mainly by [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood films]] from 1950 onwards.<ref name=NYTObit>{{cite news |last=Harmetz |first=Aljean |author-link=Aljean Harmetz |title=Jean Simmons, Actress, Dies at 80 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/movies/24simmons.html |quote=Jean Simmons, the English actress who made the covers of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' and ''[[Life (magazine)|Life]]'' magazines by the time she was 20 and became a major mid-century star alongside strong leading men like [[Laurence Olivier]], [[Richard Burton]] and [[Marlon Brando]], often playing their demure helpmates, died on Friday at her home in [[Santa Monica, California]]. She was 80. The cause was [[lung cancer]], according to Judy Page, her agent. |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=23 January 2010 |access-date=24 January 2010}}</ref>

Simmons was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress]] for ''[[Hamlet (1948 film)|Hamlet]]'' (1948), and won a [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy|Golden Globe Award for Best Actress]] for ''[[Guys and Dolls (film)|Guys and Dolls]]'' (1955). Among her other films were ''[[Great Expectations (1946 film)|Great Expectations]]'' (1946), ''[[Black Narcissus]]'' (1947), ''[[The Blue Lagoon (1949 film)|The Blue Lagoon]]'' (1949), ''[[So Long at the Fair]]'' (1950), ''[[Angel Face (1953 film)|Angel Face]]'' (1953), ''[[Young Bess]]'' (1953), ''[[The Robe (film)|The Robe]]'' (1953), ''[[The Big Country]]'' (1958), ''[[Elmer Gantry (film)|Elmer Gantry]]'' (1960), ''[[Spartacus (film)|Spartacus]]'' (1960), and  ''[[The Happy Ending]]'' (1969), for which she was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Actress]]. She also won an [[Emmy Award]] for the miniseries ''[[The Thorn Birds (miniseries)|The Thorn Birds]]'' (1983).

==Early life==
Simmons was born on 31 January 1929, in [[Islington]], London,<ref>''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Jean Simmons, (Brian McFarlane) [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-103243?rskey=Ex2fdt&result=2]</ref> to [[Charles Simmons (gymnast)|Charles Simmons]], a physical education teacher,<ref>Per [[Gloria Hunniford]] in ''Sunday, Sunday'' television interview LWT, autumn 1985</ref> and his wife, Winifred Ada (née Loveland). Jean was the youngest of four children, with siblings Lorna, Harold, and Edna. She began acting at the age of 14.<ref>{{cite news |title=Jean Simmons' Age Is Exposed |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1985589/jean_simmons_age/ |work=The Salina Journal |issue=96 |volume=116 |page=20 |date=26 April 1967 |access-date=14 March 2015 |via=[[Newspapers.com]]}} {{Open access}}</ref>

During the Second World War, the Simmons family was evacuated to [[Winscombe]], [[Somerset]].<ref name=picturegoer>"Are They Being Fair to Jean Simmons?", ''[[Picturegoer]]'', 2 August 1947.</ref> Her father, a bronze medalist in [[gymnastics at the 1912 Summer Olympics]], taught briefly at [[Sidcot School]], and sometime during this period, Simmons followed her eldest sister onto the village stage and sang popular songs such as "[[Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow Wow]]". At this point, her ambition was to be an [[acrobatic dance]]r.<ref>''TV Times'', 22–28 March 1975, p. 4</ref>

==Career==
===Early films===
On her return to London from Somerset, Simmons enrolled at the [[Aida Foster stage school|Aida Foster School of Dance]]. She was spotted by director [[Val Guest]], who cast her in a large role as [[Margaret Lockwood]]'s sister in ''[[Give Us the Moon]]'' (1944).<ref>{{cite book |last=Guest |first=Val |url= |title=So You Want to be in Pictures? |publisher=Reynolds & Hearn |year=2001 |isbn=978-1903111154 |page=58}}</ref>
Small roles in several other films followed, including ''[[Mr. Emmanuel]]'' (1944), ''[[Kiss the Bride Goodbye]]'' (1945), ''[[Meet Sexton Blake]]'' (1945), and the popular ''[[The Way to the Stars]]'' (1945), as well as the short ''[[Sports Day (film)|Sports Day]]'' (1945).

Simmons had a small part as a harpist in the high-profile ''[[Caesar and Cleopatra (film)|Caesar and Cleopatra]]'' (1945), produced by [[Gabriel Pascal]], starring [[Vivien Leigh]], and co-starring Simmons's future husband [[Stewart Granger]].

===Stardom===
[[File:Jean Simmons 1948 crop.jpg|thumb|left|Simmons at the [[20th Academy Awards|1948 Academy Awards]], where she received her first [[Academy Awards|Oscar]] nomination]]

Simmons was cast as the young Estella in [[David Lean]]'s version of ''[[Great Expectations (1946 film)|Great Expectations]]'' (1946). The film was the third-most-popular at the British box office in 1947, Simmons received excellent reviews,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27893195 |title=Anna Neagle Most Popular Actress |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=3 January 1948 |access-date=24 April 2012 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> and achieved stardom in the UK.

The experience of working on ''Great Expectations'' caused her to pursue an acting career more seriously:{{blockquote|text=I thought acting was just a lark, meeting all those exciting movie stars, and getting £5 a day which was lovely because we needed the money. But I figured I'd just go off and get married and have children like my mother. It was working with David Lean that convinced me to go on.<ref name=weekly>''[[Woman's Weekly (UK magazine)|Woman's Weekly]]'', Christmas 1989<!-- ISBN (if any), pages needed --></ref>}}
Simmons had support roles in ''[[Hungry Hill (film)|Hungry Hill]]'' (1947) with Margaret Lockwood and the [[Powell and Pressburger|Powell-Pressburger]] film ''[[Black Narcissus]]'' (1947), playing an Indian woman in the latter alongside [[Sabu Dastagir|Sabu]].<ref name="reelclassics">[https://www.reelclassics.com/Actresses/Simmons/simmons-bio.htm Biography], reelclassics.com; accessed 24 April 2014.</ref><ref name=picturegoer/>

Simmons was top-billed for the first time in the drama ''[[Uncle Silas (film)|Uncle Silas]]'' (1947). She followed it with ''[[The Woman in the Hall]]'' (1947). Neither was particularly successful, but Simmons was then in a huge international hit, playing [[Ophelia]] in [[Laurence Olivier]]'s ''[[Hamlet (1948 film)|Hamlet]]'' (1948), for which she received her first Oscar nomination. Olivier offered her the chance to work and study at the [[Old Vic]], advising her to play anything they offered her to get experience, but she was under contract to the J. Arthur Rank Organisation, which vetoed the idea.<ref>{{cite news| first=Philip| last=French| url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2010/jan/23/the-unforgettable-jean-simmons| title=Jean Simmons: an unforgettable English rose| work=[[The Observer]]| location=London| date=24 January 2010}}</ref>

Simmons had the lead in [[Frank Launder]]'s ''[[The Blue Lagoon (1949 film)|The Blue Lagoon]]'' (1949), based on [[The Blue Lagoon (novel)|the 1908 novel]] by [[Henry De Vere Stacpoole]] and co-produced with Launder's partner [[Sidney Gilliat]],<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article55886550 |title=...and from London |newspaper=[[The Mail (Adelaide)|The Mail]] |volume=35 |issue=1,806 |date=4 January 1947 |access-date=10 October 2017 |page=9 (Sunday Magazine) |location=Adelaide |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> a project originally announced for Lockwood a decade earlier. It was a considerable financial success.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Gillett |first1=Philip |title=The British working class in postwar film |date=2003 |publisher=Manchester University Press |location=Manchester |isbn=0719062578 |page=200 |url=https://archive.org/details/britishworkingcl0000gill |access-date=3 April 2023}}</ref>

Simmons starred with Stewart Granger in the comedy ''[[Adam and Evelyne]]'' (1949). It was her first adult role, and Granger and she became romantically involved; they soon married.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63371662 |title=JEAN SIMMONDS TO FACE F/LIGHTS (sic) |newspaper=[[Townsville Daily Bulletin]] |location=Queensland |date=16 November 1948 |access-date=20 June 2015 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

Simmons made two films that were popular at the local box office: ''[[So Long at the Fair]]'' (1950) with [[Dirk Bogarde]] and ''[[Trio (1950 film)|Trio]]'' (1950), where she was one of several stars. She was then in ''[[Cage of Gold]]'' (1950) with [[David Farrar (actor)|David Farrar]] and [[Ralph Thomas]]' ''[[The Clouded Yellow]]'' (1950) with [[Trevor Howard]]. In 1950, Simmons was voted the fourth-most popular star in Britain.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18193224|title=Critics Praise Drama: Comedians Win Profits| newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald| agency=[[Australian Associated Press]]| date=29 December 1950| access-date=24 April 2012| page=3| publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

===Hollywood===
[[File:Victor Mature and Jean Simmons in Androcles and the Lion, 1952.jpg|thumb|right|Simmons with [[Victor Mature]] in ''[[Androcles and the Lion (1952 film)|Androcles and the Lion]]'' (1952)]]
Granger became a Hollywood star in ''[[King Solomon's Mines (1950 film)|King Solomon's Mines]]'' (1950) and was signed to a contract by MGM, so Simmons moved to Los Angeles with him. In 1951, Rank sold her contract to [[Howard Hughes]], who then owned [[RKO Pictures]].<ref>{{cite book| title=Howard Hughes, The Untold Story| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WnbDirjSyHUC&q=simmons| first1=Peter| last1=Brown| first2=Pat| last2=Broeske| page=241| publisher=Penguin| year=1997| isbn=978-0451180285}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title=The Year of the Flirt| newspaper=[[The Guardian]]| location=London| last=Lennon| first=Peter| author-link=Peter Lennon| date=12 November 1999| url=https://www.theguardian.com/friday_review/story/0,,254808,00.html}}</ref>

Hughes was eager to start a sexual relationship with Simmons, but Granger put a stop to his advances by angrily telling Hughes over the phone: "Mr. Howard bloody Hughes, you'll be sorry if you don't leave my wife alone."<ref>{{cite web |title=Stewart Granger Jean Simmons and Claire Bloom – adventures of two north London girls |url=https://www.aenigma-images.com/tag/stewart-granger/ |website=aenigma |access-date=26 December 2020}}</ref>  

Her first Hollywood film was ''Androcles and the Lion'' (1952), produced by Pascal and co-starring Victor Mature. It was followed by ''[[Angel Face (1953 film)|Angel Face]]'' (1953), directed by [[Otto Preminger]] with [[Robert Mitchum]]. [[David Thomson (film critic)|David Thomson]] wrote that "if she had made only one film – ''Angel Face'' – she might now be spoken of with the awe given to [[Louise Brooks]]."<ref name="Thomson">{{cite news| first=David| last=Thomson| url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/jan/24/jean-simmons-obituary| title=Jean Simmons obituary| work=The Guardian| date=25 January 2010}}</ref> Smarting over his rebuff from Granger, Hughes instructed Preminger to treat Simmons as roughly as possible, leading the director to demand that costar Mitchum repeatedly slap the actress harder and harder, until Mitchum turned and punched Preminger, asking if that was how he wanted it.<ref>{{cite news| last=Bernstein| first=Adam| title=English actress was known for roles in the films 'Hamlet' and 'Elmer Gantry'| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/22/AR2010012205323.html| access-date=1 January 2018| newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]| date=24 January 2010}}</ref> He also made her appear in ''[[She Couldn't Say No (1954 film)|She Couldn't Say No]]'' (1954), a comedy with Mitchum.

A court case freed Simmons from the contract with Hughes in 1952.<ref name="Thomson"/> They settled out of court; part of the arrangement was that Simmons would do one more film for no additional money.<ref>{{cite news |last=Hopper |first=Hedda |date=18 July 1952 |title=Looking at Hollywood: Story of Talking Animals Bought for Movie |url= |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune|Chicago Daily Tribune]] |page=A4}}</ref> Simmons also agreed to make three more movies under the auspices of RKO, but not actually at that studio—she would be lent out. She would make an additional picture for 20th Century Fox while RKO got the services of Victor Mature for one film.<ref>{{cite news| title=Jean Simmons Suit Settled by Hughes: British Actress Wins on Points; Producer to Pay All Costs of Trial| url=https://latimes.newspapers.com/search/#query=Jean+Simmons+Suit+Settled+by+Hughes%3A+British+Actress+Wins+on+Points%3B+Producer+to+Pay+All+Costs+of+Trial| newspaper=Los Angeles Times| date=18 July 1952| page=A1|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

Simmons and Granger returned to England to make the thriller ''[[Footsteps in the Fog]]'' (1955). Then, [[Joseph Mankiewicz]] cast her opposite [[Marlon Brando]] in the screen adaptation of ''Guys and Dolls'' (1955), where she did her own singing in a role turned down by [[Grace Kelly]]; it was a big hit.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2 January 1957 |title=109 top money films of 1956 |url=https://archive.org/details/variety205-1957-01 |magazine=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]] |volume=205 |issue=5 |pages=1 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

So, too, were ''[[This Could Be the Night (film)|This Could Be the Night]]'' (1957) and ''[[Until They Sail]]'' (1957), both at MGM.

''[[The Big Country]] ''(1958), directed by [[William Wyler]], was a great success for Simmons. She starred in ''[[Home Before Dark (film)|Home Before Dark]]'' (1958) at Warner Bros. and ''[[This Earth Is Mine (1959 film)|This Earth Is Mine]]'' (1959) with [[Rock Hudson]] at Universal. In the opinion of film critic [[Philip French]], ''Home Before Dark'' was "perhaps her finest performance as a housewife driven into a breakdown in [[Mervyn LeRoy]]'s psychodrama."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/apr/06/1| title=Philip French's screen legends – No 11: Jean Simmons profile| work=The Observer| date=6 April 2008| first=Philip| last=French}}</ref>

Simmons went into ''[[Elmer Gantry (film)|Elmer Gantry]]'' (1960), directed by [[Richard Brooks]], who became her second husband. It was successful, as was ''[[Spartacus (film)|Spartacus]]'' (1960), where she played [[Kirk Douglas]]'s character's love interest. Simmons then did ''[[The Grass Is Greener]]'' (1960) with Mitchum, [[Cary Grant]], and [[Deborah Kerr]].

She took some years off screen, then returned in ''[[All the Way Home (1963 film)|All the Way Home]]'' (1963) with [[Robert Preston (actor)|Robert Preston]]. She did ''[[Life at the Top (film)|Life at the Top]]'' (1965) with [[Laurence Harvey]], ''[[Mister Buddwing]]'' (1966) with [[James Garner]], ''[[Divorce American Style]]'' (1967) with [[Dick Van Dyke]], and ''[[Rough Night in Jericho (film)|Rough Night in Jericho]]'' (1967) with [[George Peppard]] and Dean Martin.

===1970s and 1980s===
By the 1970s, Simmons turned her focus to stage and television acting. She toured the United States in [[Stephen Sondheim]]'s ''[[A Little Night Music]]'', then took the show to London, thus originating the role of Desirée Armfeldt in the [[West End theatre|West End]]. Performing in the show for three years, she said she never tired of Sondheim's music; "No matter how tired or 'off' you felt, the music would just pick you up."<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.sondheimguide.com/night.html| publisher=The Stephen Sondheim Reference Guide| title=A Little Night Music: 1974 Touring Production; 1975 London Production| access-date=12 August 2018}}</ref>

She portrayed Fiona "Fee" Cleary, the Cleary family matriarch, in the miniseries ''The Thorn Birds'' (1983); she won an [[Emmy Award]] for her role. She appeared in ''[[North and South (miniseries)|North and South]]'' (1985–86), again playing the role of the family matriarch as Clarissa Main, and starred in ''[[The Dawning]]'' (1988) with [[Anthony Hopkins]] and [[Hugh Grant]]. In 1989, Simmons appeared as murder mystery author Eudora McVeigh Shipton, a self-proclaimed rival to Jessica Fletcher, in the two-part [[Murder, She Wrote]] episode "Mirror, Mirror, On the Wall" with [[Angela Lansbury]].

===1990s and 2000s===
In 1989, she starred in a remake of ''[[Great Expectations (1989 TV series)|Great Expectations]]'', this time playing the role of Miss Havisham, Estella's adoptive mother. In 1991, she appeared in the ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' episode "[[The Drumhead]]" as a retired [[Starfleet]] admiral and hardened legal investigator who conducts a [[Witch-hunt#Metaphorical usage|witch hunt]]; and as Elizabeth Collins Stoddard/Naomi Collins, in the short-lived revival of the 1960s daytime series [[Dark Shadows (1991 TV series)|''Dark Shadows'']], in roles originally played by [[Joan Bennett]]. From 1994 until 1998, Simmons narrated the [[A&E Network|A&E]] documentary television series ''[[Mysteries of the Bible]]''. In 1995, she appeared in ''[[How to Make an American Quilt]]'' with [[Winona Ryder]], [[Maya Angelou]], [[Ellen Burstyn]], [[Anne Bancroft]], and [[Alfre Woodard]]. In 2004, she voiced the lead role of Sophie in the English dub of ''[[Howl's Moving Castle (film)|Howl's Moving Castle]]''.<ref name="reelclassics"/>

==Personal life==
[[File:Stewart Granger and Jean Simmons, 1955.jpg|thumb|left|Simmons with her first husband [[Stewart Granger]] in 1955]]
Simmons was married and divorced twice. At 21, she married [[Stewart Granger]] in Tucson, Arizona, on 20 December 1950.<ref>{{cite news| title=English Stars Married Here| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2000315/english_stars_married_here/| access-date=16 March 2015| work=[[Tucson Citizen|Tucson Daily Citizen]]| volume=78| issue=304| date=21 December 1950| page=4| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> She and Granger became US citizens in 1956;<ref>{{cite news| title=The Stewart Grangers Become Citizens of US| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19560608&id=Zx8aAAAAIBAJ&pg=1136,4989103| access-date=16 March 2015| work=[[Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|The Milwaukee Journal]]| agency=[[Associated Press]]| date=9 June 1956| page=1}}{{Dead link|date=March 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> in the same year, their daughter Tracy Granger was born. They divorced in 1960.<ref>{{cite news| title=Jean Simmons Files To Divorce Stewart Granger| url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1350&dat=19600708&id=a75OAAAAIBAJ&pg=7294,4472816| access-date=16 March 2015| work=[[The Blade (Toledo)|The Blade]]| agency=[[United Press International]]| date=8 July 1960| location=[[Toledo, Ohio]]| page=7}}</ref>

On 1 November 1960, Simmons married director [[Richard Brooks]];<ref>{{cite news| title=Actress Weds Film Director| url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/2114492/actress_weds_film_director/| access-date=1 April 2015| work=[[The Odessa American]]| agency=Associated Press| issue=263| date=2 November 1960| volume=35| page=27| via=Newspapers.com}} {{open access}}</ref> their daughter, Kate Brooks, was born a year later. Simmons and Brooks divorced in 1980.{{sfn|Daniel|2011|p=210}} Although both men were significantly older than Simmons, she denied that she was looking for a father figure. Her father had died when she was just 16, but she said: <blockquote>They were really nothing like my father at all. My father was a gentle, softly spoken man. My husbands were both much noisier and much more opinionated&nbsp;... it's really nothing to do with age&nbsp;... it's to do with what's there&nbsp;– the twinkle and sense of humour.<ref name=weekly/></blockquote> In a 1984 interview, given in Copenhagen at the time she was shooting the film ''Going Undercover'' (1988,<ref name="BFIGU">{{cite web|url=https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b795f0c10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707144213/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b795f0c10|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 July 2020|title=Going Undercover (1988)|work=BFI|access-date=7 July 2020}}</ref><ref name="LAT1988">{{cite news|last=Wilmington|first=Michael|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-20-ca-3471-story.html|title=''Going Undercover''—the Gags, Ideas Get Lost in the Chase|work=Los Angeles Times|date=20 June 1988|access-date=7 July 2020}}</ref> a.k.a. ''Yellow Pages''; completed 1985)<ref name="BBFCYP">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/yellow-pages-1985|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200708204318/https://www.bbfc.co.uk/releases/yellow-pages-1985|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 July 2020|title=Yellow Pages (1985)|work=British Board of Film Classification|access-date=7 July 2020}}</ref> she elaborated slightly on her marriages, stating, {{blockquote|text=It may be simplistic, but you could sum up my two marriages by saying that, when I wanted to be a wife, Jimmy [Stewart Granger] would say: "I just want you to be pretty." And when I wanted to cook, Richard would say: "Forget the cooking. You've been trained to act&nbsp;– so act!" Most people thought I was quite helpless&nbsp;– a clinger and a butterfly&nbsp;– during my first marriage. It was Richard Brooks who saw what was wrong and tried to make me stand on my own two feet. I'd whine: 'I'm afraid.' And he'd say: 'Never be afraid to fail. Every time you get up in the morning, you are ahead.'}}

Simmons had two daughters, Tracy Granger and Kate Brooks, one by each marriage. Tracy's name reflects her friendship with [[Spencer Tracy]];<ref>''Picture Show and TV Mirror'', 2 July 1960, p. 7. Simmons said in an interview that Tracy was named after Spencer Tracy, but adds, "Jimmy [Granger] says he got the name from the role Katharine Hepburn played [Tracy Lord] in ''[[The Philadelphia Story (film)|The Philadelphia Story]].''"</ref> Tracy became a film editor, and Kate a TV production assistant and producer.

In the [[2003 New Year Honours]], Simmons was appointed an [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] (OBE) for services to acting.<ref name="LG 31 December 2002">{{London Gazette |issue=56797 |date=31 December 2002 |page=24 |supp=y}}</ref>

In 2003, she became the patron of the British drugs and human rights charity [[Release (agency)|Release]]. In 2005, she signed a petition to British Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] asking him not to upgrade [[Cannabis (drug)|cannabis]] from a class C drug to class B.<ref name="petition">{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/stinyg-leads-campaign-against-blairs-plan-to-reclassify-cannabis-519959.html| title=Sting leads campaign against Blair's plan to reclassify cannabis| work=The Independent| access-date=17 March 2010| location=London| first=Sophie| last=Goodchild| date=18 December 2005}}</ref>

==Illness and death==
[[File:Grave of Jean Simmons.jpg|thumb|right|Grave of Jean Simmons in [[Highgate Cemetery]], London]]
Simmons, aged 80, died from lung cancer at her home in Santa Monica on 22 January 2010. She was interred in [[Highgate Cemetery]], north London.<ref name="death">{{cite news| url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8476400.stm| title=British-born Hollywood actress Jean Simmons dies at 80| publisher=[[BBC News]]| access-date=23 January 2010| date=23 January 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3516771.stm| title=Obituary: Jean Simmons|publisher=BBC News| access-date=12 August 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=23 January 2010 |title=Jean Simmons |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/film-obituaries/7061131/Jean-Simmons.html |url-access=subscription |access-date=12 July 2024 |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |language=en}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 100%;"
|-
! Year
! Film
! Role
! Notes
|-
| rowspan="3" | 1944
|''[[Give Us the Moon]]''
|Heidi
|
|-
|''[[Mr. Emmanuel]]''
| Sally Cooper
| Billed as Jean Simmonds
|-
|''[[Sports Day (film)|Sports Day]]''
|Peggy
|
|-
| rowspan="4" |1945
|''[[Kiss the Bride Goodbye]]''
|Molly Dodd<ref>{{cite web|title=''Kiss the Bride Goodbye'' (1945)|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0036985/|publisher=IMDb|access-date=19 January 2016}}</ref>
|
|-
|''[[Meet Sexton Blake!]]''
|Eva Watkins<ref>{{cite web|title=''Meet Sexton Blake'' (1945)|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0037061/fullcredits#cast|publisher=IMDb|access-date=19 January 2016}}</ref>
|
|-
|''[[The Way to the Stars]]''
| A singer
|
|-
|''[[Caesar and Cleopatra (film)|Caesar and Cleopatra]]''
| Harpist
|Uncredited
|-
|1946
|''[[Great Expectations (1946 film)|Great Expectations]]''
|Estella as a girl
|
|-
| rowspan="4" | 1947
|''[[Hungry Hill (film)|Hungry Hill]]''
|Jane Brodrick
|
|-
|''[[Black Narcissus]]''
|Kanchi
|
|-
|''[[Uncle Silas (film)|Uncle Silas]]''
|Caroline Ruthyn
|
|-
|''[[The Woman in the Hall]]''
| Jay Blake
|
|-
|1948
|''[[Hamlet (1948 film)|Hamlet]]''
|[[Ophelia]]
|[[Volpi Cup for Best Actress]]<br />Nominated — [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress]]
|-
|rowspan="2"|1949
|''[[Adam and Evelyne]]''
|Evelyne Kirby
|
|-
|''[[The Blue Lagoon (1949 film)|The Blue Lagoon]]''
|Emmeline Foster
|
|-
|rowspan="4"|1950
|''[[So Long at the Fair]]''
|Vicky Barton
|[[Bambi Award|Bambi Award for Best Actress – International]] (2nd place)
|-
|''[[Trio (1950 film)|Trio]]''
|Evie Bishop
|Segment "Sanatorium"<br />[[Bambi Award|Bambi Award for Best Actress – International]] (2nd place)
|-
|''[[Cage of Gold]]''
|Judith Moray
|
|-
|''[[The Clouded Yellow]]''
|Sophie Malraux
|
|-
|1952
|''[[Androcles and the Lion (1952 film)|Androcles and the Lion]]''
|Lavinia
|
|-
|rowspan="5"|1953
|''[[Angel Face (1953 film)|Angel Face]]''
|Diane Tremayne Jessup
|
|-
|''[[Young Bess]]''
|Princess Elizabeth
|[[National Board of Review Award for Best Actress]] <small>(also for [[The Robe (film)|''The Robe'']] and ''[[The Actress]]'')</small>
|-
|''[[Affair with a Stranger]]''
|Carolyn Parker
|
|-
|''[[The Robe (film)|The Robe]]''
|Diana
|[[National Board of Review Award for Best Actress]] <small>(also for ''[[Young Bess]]'' and ''[[The Actress]]'')</small>
|-
|''[[The Actress]]''
|Ruth Gordon Jones
|[[National Board of Review Award for Best Actress]] <small>(also for ''[[Young Bess]]'' and ''[[The Robe (film)|The Robe]]'')</small>
|-
|rowspan="5"|1954
|''[[She Couldn't Say No (1954 film)|She Couldn't Say No]]'' 
|Corby Lane
|AKA ''Beautiful but Dangerous''
|-
|''[[The Egyptian (film)|The Egyptian]]''
|Meryt
|
|-
|''[[A Bullet Is Waiting]]''
|Cally Canham
|
|-
|''[[Désirée (film)|Désirée]]''
|[[Désirée Clary]]
|
|-
|''[[Demetrius and the Gladiators]]''
|Diana
|Appeared in a clip from ''The Robe''
|-
|rowspan="2"|1955
|''[[Footsteps in the Fog]]''
|Lily Watkins
|
|-
|''[[Guys and Dolls (film)|Guys and Dolls]]''
|Sergeant Sarah Brown
|[[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy]]<br />Nominated – [[BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role|BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress]]
|-
|1956
|''[[Hilda Crane]]''
|Hilda Crane Burns
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|1957
|''[[This Could Be the Night (film)|This Could Be the Night]]''
|Anne Leeds
|Nominated – [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy]]
|-
|''[[Until They Sail]]''
|Barbara Leslie Forbes
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|1958
|''[[The Big Country]]''
|Julie Maragon
|
|-
|''[[Home Before Dark (film)|Home Before Dark]]''
|Charlotte Bronn
|[[Laurel Award|Laurel Award for Top Female Dramatic Performance]] (4th place)<br />Nominated – [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama]]
|-
|1959
|''[[This Earth Is Mine (1959 film)|This Earth Is Mine]]''
|Elizabeth Rambeau
|
|-
|rowspan="3"|1960
|''[[Elmer Gantry (film)|Elmer Gantry]]''
|Sharon Falconer
|[[Laurel Award|Laurel Award for Top Female Dramatic Performance]] (3rd place)<br />Nominated – [[BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role|BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress]]<br />Nominated – [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama]]
|-
|''[[Spartacus (film)|Spartacus]]''
|Varinia
|
|-
|''[[The Grass Is Greener]]''
|Hattie Durant
|[[Laurel Award|Laurel Award for Top Female Comedy Performance]] (5th place)
|-
|1963
|''[[All the Way Home (1963 film)|All the Way Home]]''
|Mary Follett
|
|-
|1965
|''[[Life at the Top (film)|Life at the Top]]''
|Susan Lampton
|
|-
|1966
|''[[Mister Buddwing]]''
|The Blonde
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|1967
|''[[Divorce American Style]]''
|Nancy Downes
|
|-
|''[[Rough Night in Jericho (film)|Rough Night in Jericho]]''
|Molly Lang
|
|-
|1968
|''[[Heidi (1968 film)|Heidi]]''
|Fräulein Rottenmeier
|TV
|-
|1969
|''[[The Happy Ending]]''
|Mary Wilson
|Nominated – [[Academy Award for Best Actress]]<br />Nominated – [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama]]
|-
|1971
|''[[Say Hello to Yesterday]]''
|Woman
|
|-
|1972
|''[[The Odd Couple (1970 TV series)|The Odd Couple]]''
|Princess Lydia
|Episode: "The Princess"
|-
|rowspan="2"|1975
|''[[Mr. Sycamore (film)|Mr. Sycamore]]''
|Estelle Benbow
|
|-
|''The Easter Promise''
|Constance Payne
|TV
|-
|1977
|''[[Hawaii Five-O (1968 TV series)|Hawaii Five-O]]''
|Terri O'Brien
|TV; Episode "A Cop on the Cover"
|-
|rowspan="2"|1978
|''[[The Dain Curse (miniseries)|The Dain Curse]]''
|Aaronia Haldorn
|TV
|-
|''[[Dominique (1978 film)|Dominique]]''
|Dominique Ballard
|
|-
|1979
|''[[Beggarman, Thief]]''
|Gretchen Jordache Burke
|TV
|-
|rowspan="3"|1981
|''A Small Killing''
|Margaret Lawrence
|TV
|-
|''Golden Gate''
|Jane Kingsley
|TV
|-
|''[[Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls]]''
|Helen Lawson
|TV
|-
|1983
|''[[The Thorn Birds (miniseries)|The Thorn Birds]]'' 
|Fee Cleary
|TV<br />[[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie]]<br />Nominated – [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film]]
|-
|rowspan="2"|1984
|''[[December Flower]]''
|Etta Marsh
|TV
|-
|''[[All for Love (British TV series)|All for Love]]''
|Deidre Mackay
|Episode: "Down at the Hydro"
|-
|rowspan="2"|1985
|''Midas Valley''
|Molly Hammond
|TV
|-
|''[[North and South (miniseries)|North and South]]''
|Clarissa Gault Main
|TV
|-
|1986
|''[[North and South (miniseries)|North and South Book II]]''
|Clarissa Gault Main
|TV
|-
|1987
|''[[Perry Mason (TV film series)|Perry Mason: The Case of the Lost Love]]''
|Laura Robertson
|TV
|-
|rowspan="3"|1988
|''[[Inherit the Wind (1988 film)|Inherit the Wind]]''
|Lucy Brady
|TV
|-
|''[[The Dawning]]''
|Aunt Mary
|
|-
|''Going Undercover''
|Maxine de la Hunt<ref name="CBIFD">{{cite book|editor-last1=Allon|editor-first1=Yoram|editor-last2=Cullen|editor-first2=Del|editor-last3=Patterson|editor-first3=Hannah|author-last=Brown|author-first=David|chapter=James Kenelm Clarke|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OJAcf31BweQC&pg=PA60|title=Contemporary British and Irish Film Directors|publisher=Wallflower Press|year=2001|page=60, viii|isbn=9781903364215}}</ref>
|Released as ''Going Undercover'' in the US in 1988.<ref name="BFIGU" /><ref name="LAT1988" /> Straight to video in the UK as ''Yellow Pages'' (completed 1985).<ref name="BBFCYP" /><ref name="CBIFD" />
|-
|rowspan="2"|1989
|''[[Great Expectations (1989 TV series)|Great Expectations]]''
|[[Miss Havisham]]
|TV
|-
|''[[Murder, She Wrote]]''
|Eudora McVeigh Shipton
|Episode: "Mirror, Mirror on the Wall"<br />Nominated – [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series]]
|-
|rowspan="3"|1991
|''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''
|Rear Admiral Norah Satie
|Episode: "[[The Drumhead]]"
|-
|''[[Dark Shadows (1991 TV series)|Dark Shadows]]''
| Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
Naomi Collins
|
|-
|''[[They Do It with Mirrors#Film, TV or theatrical adaptations|They Do It with Mirrors]]''
|Carrie-Louise Serrocold
|TV; [[Miss Marple (TV series)]]
|-
|1994
|''[[In the Heat of the Night (TV series)|In the Heat of the Night]]''
|Miss Cordelia
|TV; Episode: "Ches and the Grand Lady"
|-
| 1994–1998
| ''[[Mysteries of the Bible]]''
| Narrator
|
|-
|rowspan="2"|1995
|''[[How to Make an American Quilt]]''
|Em Reed
|Nominated – [[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture]]
|-
|''Daisies in December''
|Katherine Palmer
|
|-
|2001
|''[[Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within]]''
|Council Member 2 
|Voice
|-
|2003
|''Winter Solstice''
|Countess Lucinda Rhives
|Released in Germany as ''Wintersonne''
|-
|rowspan="2"|2004
|''Jean Simmons: Rose of England''
|Herself
|
|-
|''[[Howl's Moving Castle (film)|Howl's Moving Castle]]''
|Old Sophie
|Voice, English version
|-
|2005
|''[[Thru the Moebius Strip]]''
|Shepway
|Voice
|-
|2009
|''[[Shadows in the Sun (2009 film)|Shadows in the Sun]]''
|Hannah
|Final film role
|}

==Box office ranking==
For a number of years, British film exhibitors voted Simmons among the top ten British stars at the box office via an annual poll in the ''Motion Picture Herald''.
*1949 – 4th<ref>{{cite news| url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2759831| title=Bob Hope Takes Lead from Bing In Popularity| newspaper=[[Canberra Times]]| date=31 December 1949| access-date=27 April 2012| page=2| publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> (9th most popular overall)<ref>{{cite news| url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article49700937| title=Tops At Home | newspaper=[[The Courier-Mail]]| location=Brisbane| date=31 December 1949| access-date=27 April 2012| page=4| publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
*1950 – 2nd (4th most popular overall)<ref>{{cite news| url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article26748158| title=Bob Hope Best Draw In British Theatres| newspaper=[[The Mercury (Hobart)|The Mercury]]| location=Hobart, Tasmania| date=29 December 1950| access-date=27 April 2012| page=4| publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
*1951 – 3rd<ref>{{cite news| url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63397098| title=Vivien Leigh Actress of the Year.| newspaper=[[Townsville Daily Bulletin]]| location=Queensland, Australia| date=29 December 1951| access-date=27 April 2012| page=1| publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

==Awards and nominations==
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Association
! Category
! Nominated work
! Result
|-
| 1949
| [[Academy Awards]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress|Best Supporting Actress]]
| ''Hamlet''
| {{nom}}
|-
|1950
|[[Daily Mail National Film Awards]]
|Most Outstanding British Actress of the Year
|
| {{won}}
|-
| 1953
| [[National Board of Review]]
| [[National Board of Review Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]]
| ''The Actress'' / ''The Robe'' / ''Young Bess'' 
| {{won}}
|-
| 1956
| [[Golden Globe Awards]]
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy|Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy]]
| rowspan="2" | ''Guys and Dolls''
| {{won}}
|-
| 1957
| [[BAFTA Awards]]
| [[BAFTA Awards|Best Foreign Actress]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| 1958
| rowspan="2" | [[Golden Globe Awards]]
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy|Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy]]
| ''This Could Be the Night''
| {{nom}}
|-
| 1959
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama|Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama]]
| ''Home Before Dark''
| {{nom}}
|-
| 1961
| [[BAFTA Awards]]
| [[BAFTA Awards|Best Foreign Actress]]
| rowspan="2" | ''Elmer Gantry''
| {{nom}}
|-
| 1961
| [[Golden Globe Awards]]
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama|Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| 1970
| [[Academy Awards]]
| [[Academy Award for Best Actress|Best Actress]]
| rowspan="2" | ''The Happy Ending''
| {{nom}}
|-
| 1970
| [[Golden Globe Awards]]
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama|Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| 1983
| [[Primetime Emmy Awards]]
| [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie|Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special]]
| rowspan="2" | ''The Thorn Birds''
| {{won}}
|-
| 1984
| [[Golden Globe Awards]]
| [[Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film|Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| 1989
| [[Primetime Emmy Awards]]
| [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series|Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series]]
| ''Murder, She Wrote''
| {{nom}}
|-
| 1996
| [[Screen Actors Guild Awards]]
| [[Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture|Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture]]
| ''How to Make an American Quilt''
| {{nom}}
|}

==See also==
* [[List of British actors]]
* [[List of Academy Award winners and nominees from Great Britain]]
* [[List of actors with Academy Award nominations]]
* [[List of Golden Globe winners]]
==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|last=Capua|first=Michelangelo|title=Jean Simmons: Her Life and Career|date=2022|publisher=[[McFarland & Company]]|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|isbn=978-1-4766-8224-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Daniel |first=Douglass K. |title=Tough as Nails: The Life and Films of Richard Brooks |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HBpagIZywpwC&q=simmons |publisher=[[University of Wisconsin Press]] |location=Madison, WI |year=2011 |pages=66, 141, 233 |isbn=978-0299251239}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Commons}}
*{{IMDb name|1739}}
*[https://www.aenigma-images.com/2016/11/jean-simmons-claire-bloom/ Jean Simmons and Claire Bloom] at [https://www.aenigma-images.com/ aenigma]
{{Memoryalpha}}
*{{Tcmdb name}}
*[https://www.youtube.com/user/JeanSimmonsMemorial The Jean Simmons Memorial YouTube Page]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110818214135/http://jeansimmons.netfirms.com/ Jean Simmons – A Fan Resource]
*[http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=48279 Jean Simmons 1946 newsreel footage] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611043009/http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=48279 |date=11 June 2011}} from [[British Pathe]] &nbsp; ([http://www.britishpathe.com/results.php?search=%22jean+simmons%22 newsreel search] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304002940/http://www.britishpathe.com/results.php?search=%22jean+simmons%22 |date=4 March 2016}})
*[http://www.britishpathe.com/video/jean-simmons-in-motorboat Jean Simmons in motorboat Britlsh Pathe]
*[https://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/movies/24simmons.html Obituary] in ''[[The New York Times]]'' (23 January 2010)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110425013411/http://moviemorlocks.com/2010/01/27/in-appreciation-of-jean-simmons-1929-2010.htm In Appreciation of Jean Simmons (1929–2010)]
*[https://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/1603/jean-simmons Photographs and literature]

{{Navboxes
| title = Awards for Jean Simmons
| list =
{{British Film Institute Fellowship}}
{{EmmyAward MiniseriesSupportingActress 1976-2000}}
{{GoldenGlobeBestActressMotionPictureMusicalComedy 1950-1960}}
{{National Board of Review Award for Best Actress}}
{{Volpi Cup for Best Actress}}
}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmons, Jean}}
[[Category:1929 births]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century British actresses]]
[[Category:21st-century British actresses]]
[[Category:Actresses from London]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Aida Foster Theatre School]]
[[Category:American film actresses]]
[[Category:American musical theatre actresses]]
[[Category:American stage actresses]]
[[Category:American television actresses]]
[[Category:American voice actresses]]
[[Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (film) winners]]
[[Category:Burials at Highgate Cemetery]]
[[Category:Deaths from lung cancer in California]]
[[Category:British emigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:British expatriate actresses in the United States]]
[[Category:British film actresses]]
[[Category:British musical theatre actresses]]
[[Category:British stage actresses]]
[[Category:British television actresses]]
[[Category:British voice actresses]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie Primetime Emmy Award winners]]
[[Category:People from Islington (district)]]
[[Category:Actors from the London Borough of Islington]]
[[Category:Volpi Cup for Best Actress winners]]
[[Category:21st-century American women]]