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Jean Brooks

Actor

Jean Brooks

Born December 23, 1915 in Houston, Texas, USADied November 25, 196333 films

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).

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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)

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The best way into Jean Brooks's work
Buck Privates posterFirst watchBuck Privates19416.8as Camp HostessPetty con artists Slicker Smith and Herbie Brown mistakenly join the Army evading the cops. The cop chasing them winds up as their drill instructor.View film

Essential films

Ranked by acclaim and reach
The Seventh Victim poster6.4The Seventh Victim1943The Leopard Man poster6.5The Leopard Man1943The Invisible Man Returns poster6.3The Invisible Man Returns1940

Filmography

33 films as actor
  1. 1948Women in the NightMaya
  2. 1946The Bamboo BlondeMarsha
  3. 1946The Falcon's AlibiBaroness Lena
  4. 1945Two O'Clock CourageBarbara Borden
  5. 1944The Falcon in HollywoodRoxanna Miles
  6. 1944Youth Runs WildMary Hauser Coates
  7. 1944A Night of AdventureJulie Arden
  8. 1943The Falcon and the Co-EdsVicky Gaines
  9. 1943The Seventh VictimJacqueline Gibson
  10. 1943The Falcon in DangerIris Fairchild
  11. 1943The Leopard ManKiki Walker
  12. 1942The Boss of Big TownIris Moore
  13. 1942Boot Hill BanditsMay Meadows
  14. 1942Klondike FuryRae Langton
  15. 1941Fighting Bill FargoLinda Tyler (as Jeanne Kelly)
  16. 1941Badlands of DakotaBella Union Girl
  17. 1941Man from MontanaLinda Thompson
  18. 1941A Dangerous GameAnne Bennett (as Jeanne Kelly)
  19. 1941Riders of Death ValleyMary Morgan (as Jeanne Kelly)
  20. 1941Meet the ChumpMadge Reilly (as Jeanne Kelly)
  21. 1941Buck PrivatesCamp Hostess
  22. 1940The Green Hornet Strikes Again!Gloria Manning
  23. 1940Junior G-MenWaitress (uncredited)
  24. 1940The Devil's PipelineLaura Larson (as Jeanne Kelly)
  25. 1940Son of Roaring DanEris Brooke (as Jeanne Kelly)
  26. 1940Flash Gordon Conquers the UniverseOlga (uncredited)
  27. 1940The Invisible Man ReturnsMinor Role (uncredited)
  28. 1939Miracle on Main StreetNina
  29. 1939The Invisible KillerGloria Cunningham
  30. 1936Frankie and JohnnieCabaret Girl
  31. 1935The Crime of Doctor CrespiNurse Gordon (as Jeanne Kelly)
  32. 1935Tango BarYoung Ship's Passenger on Lower Deck (uncredited)
  33. 1935Obeah