Gene Tierney

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gene Tierney as a pin-up in a United States Army magazine (1945)

Gene Eliza Tierney (born November 19, 1920 in Brooklyn , New York , † November 6, 1991 in Houston , Texas ) was an American theater and film actress . Tierney was considered one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood during the 1940s and early 1950s .

Tierney began her career in 1938 and by the end of her career in 1980 she appeared in over 40 films and occasionally in television series. She embodied her best-known role in 1944 as the title character in the film noir Laura . For her role in Mortal Sin , another film noir, Tierney was nominated for an Oscar for best actress in 1946. In the following years, Gene Tierney was one of the leading actresses in Hollywood. She played mostly serious roles, but has starred in comedies and romance films. In the mid-1950s, Tierney's success waned, and due to private setbacks, she increasingly suffered from depression . In 1962 she made a comeback with a supporting role in Storm Over Washington . Until 1980, however, she was only seen sporadically in small film roles and series. Tierney died in 1991 at the age of 70.

Private life

Childhood and youth

Gene Tierney was born in 1920 in Brooklyn, one of three children - an older brother and a younger sister - of successful insurance salesman Howard Sherwood Tierney and former physical education teacher Belle Lavinia Taylor. She was given her first name Gene in memory of her uncle, who died of diabetes at the age of only 17 . Tierney grew up in Westport and attended St. Margaret's School in Waterbury before moving to Unquowa School in Fairfield . There she published poems for the school newspaper and appeared for the first time as an actress in a school production of Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women .

From 1936 Gene Tierney spent two years at the Brillantmont International School in Lausanne , where she learned French , among other things . During her time in Lausanne, Tierney became friends with Maria Sieber , the daughter of Marlene Dietrich . In 1938 she returned to the United States and henceforth attended Miss Porter's School in Farmington .

While on a family trip to the west coast of the United States , then 17-year-old Tierney visited the Warner Brothers film studio , where she caught the attention of director Anatole Litvak . He recommended her to begin a career as a film actress and suggested her for the lead role in his film The Snake Pit , which ultimately went to Olivia de Havilland . Warner Brothers immediately offered Tierney a contract, which her parents refused because of the low salary.

In September 1938, Gene Tierney was "introduced into society" by her parents as a debutante . However, she continued to have a desire to begin a career as an actress. Her father finally agreed and got her a place at a small drama school in Greenwich Village . Her mentor was the successful theater producer George Abbott .

Marriage to Oleg Cassini, setbacks and mental health problems

Gene Tierney in Yank Magazine (1944)

Tierney had reportedly started smoking to lower her voice after showing her first film Revenge for Jesse James in 1940. She believed "[she] sounded like an angry Minnie Mouse." Over the years that followed, she became a heavy smoker.

In 1941 Tierney married the fashion designer Oleg Cassini . Two years later, their daughter Antoinette Daria (mostly just called Daria) was born, but she was deaf and mentally disabled. Tierney developed rubella during pregnancy . She was probably infected by a fan who, despite his illness, withdrew from the quarantine and met Tierney during her charitable service in the Hollywood Canteen . The actress found out about this through another chance meeting with the same fan after the birth of her child. In 1948 she gave birth to another daughter named Christina.

After their marriage failed in 1952, Tierney began to suffer from deeper levels of depression, which also threatened her career. Since 1953 she suffered from concentration disorders, which was a hindrance when shooting the film. In 1955 she had to go to hospital for treatment.

Shortly after divorcing Oleg Cassini, Tierney began an affair with Pakistani Prince Aly Khan , who at the time was married to actress Rita Hayworth . The bond ended with the intervention of Khan's father Aga Khan III. However, the media blamed Tierney's mental health for the breakup.

Late years and death

In 1960 Tierney married the oil baron W. Howard Lee, who had previously been married to actress Hedy Lamarr since 1953 . The couple lived in seclusion on their Houston and Delray Beach estates until Lee's death in 1981 .

Gene Tierney rarely appeared in public after retreating into private life. In the years following the publication of her autobiography, which was published in 1979, she gave several interviews. Her last major appearances included the acceptance of the Donostia Award for her life's work at the Festival Internacional de Cine de San Sebastián , where she was accompanied by fellow actor Gregory Peck . At this point Tierney was already suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Gene Tierney died after a long illness on November 6, 1991, 13 days before her 71st birthday of emphysema. She was buried in Glenwood Cemetery in Houston. A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has been commemorating the actress at 6125 Hollywood Boulevard since 1960.

Tierney's older daughter, Antoinette Daria, suffered frequent health problems and required lifelong care. She spent much of her life in a New Jersey facility . Despite her disability, Daria played a small role in the 1999 film Bagnomaria . She died in 2010 at the age of 66. Tierney's younger daughter Christina died five years later, also at the age of 66.

Career

Theater career

With the help of her mentor George Abbott and her wealthy father, who set up a corporation to fund his daughter's career, Gene Tierney made the leap to Broadway in 1938 . Her first appearance was as an extra in the piece What a Life! where she was seen in a single scene as a water carrier. Nevertheless, they met with critics who praised their beauty. That same year, Tierney also played a small role in The Primrose Path . Her breakthrough on Broadway came in 1939 in the role of Molly O'Day in Mrs. O'Brien Entertains , through which Tierney attracted a lot of attention despite the play's early cancellation. Her role as Peggy Carr in Ring Two also received positive reviews that year.

In 1940 Tierney returned to Broadway after a failed first attempt at a film career with a role in The Male Animal . Once again, she received positive feedback from the audience and critics. Tierney was then featured in interviews and photo series in well-known magazines such as Life Magazine , Harper's Bazaar , Collier’s and the US edition of Vogue . Tierney has been a popular model, especially since her marriage to Oleg Cassini. Claude Cahun was one of the photographers who took pictures .

Film career

Gene Tierney in Brief Magazin (1945)

Through contacts with her father, Gene Tierney received a six-month contract with Columbia Pictures in 1939 . During this time she also met Howard Hughes , with whom she had a lifelong friendship. Tierney was originally slated to play a role in Little Girl, Big Heart . The productions were delayed for several years. Not receiving a new offer from Columbia, the actress briefly returned to Broadway.

Two weeks after the premiere of her play The Male Animal , Tierney was discovered by Darryl F. Zanuck , who was in the audience. After seeing the young actress on the dance floor of the Stork Club nightclub in Manhattan , he offered her a contract. Tierney was now under contract with the film production company 20th Century Fox and played in the same year at the side of Henry Fonda as Eleanor Stone in revenge for Jesse James, her first film role, which was immediately the female lead. The following year she took part in five films: In Hudson's Bay , Tierney played the minor role of Barbara Hall . She had a bigger appearance as Ellie May Lester in John Ford's tragic comedy Tabakstrasse . This was followed by the title role in Belle Starr alongside Randolph Scott , as well as leading roles as Zia in Arms Smugglers of Kenya and as Victoria Charteris in Settlement in Shanghai , her first film noir.

In 1942 Gene Tierney was seen in several films: In Adventure in the South Seas she played as Eve the film partner of Tyrone Power . In the screwball comedy The Big Game , she was seen in a double role. In the war film Thunder Birds , Tierney took on the female lead, as well as in the drama China Girl on the side of George Montgomery .

Tierney reached a high point of her popularity in 1943 with the lead role as Martha Strabel in the Ernst Lubitsch film A Heavenly Sinner . She finally played her most famous role in 1944 as the alleged murder victim in Otto Preminger's Laura . In 1945 Tierney starred in the war drama A Bell for Adano, set in Italy . For her role as femme fatale in the 1945 film noir Mortal Sin , the actress was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress at the 1946 Academy Awards. Mortal Sin became one of 20th Century Fox's box office hits, building Gene Tierney's status as a Hollywood star.

In 1946 Tierney starred as Miranda Wells in the drama White Oleander on the side of Vincent Price and Walter Huston . She had previously worked with Price on Laura and Mortal Sin . White Oleander was the directorial debut of Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who previously appeared mainly as a screenwriter . In the same year Tierney also played (also for the repeated time) the partner of Tyrone Power in the drama Auf Messers Schneide , based on the novel of the same name by William Somerset Maugham .

In 1947, Gene Tierney played the main role of Lucy Muir in A Ghost on Free Feet , a romantically structured ghost comedy with Rex Harrison as the eponymous ghost. It was her only film appearance that year. In 1948 Tierney starred again on the side of Tyrone Power, this time in the comedy That Certain Something . In 1950 the actress worked again with the Laura director Otto Preminger and appeared as the leading actress in the film noir Whirlpool . In the same year, another film noir by Otto Preminger with Tierney in the female lead was released with Faustrecht der Großstadt . she shot her third film noir in 1950 with The Rat from Soho alongside Richard Widmark . Director Jules Dassin was specially instructed by Darryl F. Zanuck to write a role for Tierney in this London film.

In 1951, Gene Tierney was loaned from her film studio to Paramount Pictures and immediately took on the lead role of Maggie Carleton McNulty in Mitchell Leisen's farce SOS - Two Mothers In Law . With the drama An der Riviera , also released in 1951 , she also made a serious film for Paramount.

After her return to 20th Century Fox in 1952, the actress directed the western King of the Gauchos , which however also became her last film for the studio until 1955. Then she stood in front of the camera in the drama Schiff ohne Heimat together with Spencer Tracy for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer . Another film for MGM followed in 1953, It began in Moscow . The drama starring Clark Gable as a newspaper reporter was shot in England. Tierney remained after the shooting in Europe and worked in the British drama Your first disappointment of United Artists with. In 1954 she returned to the United States for The Spider .

In 1955 Tierney had one of her last successes with The Left Hand of God on the side of Humphrey Bogart . Her health problems brought her career to a standstill. Concentration disorders led to her exclusion from the film Mogambo in 1955 , and Tierney's role was taken on by Grace Kelly . For five years she was no longer seen as an actress. In 1960 Tierney played a role in an episode of the General Electric Theater .

Two years later, with the help of Otto Preminger, Gene Tierney made a comeback in the drama Storm Over Washington . However, after a supporting role in the comedy Three Girls in Madrid , the actress temporarily withdrew from the film business. After a five-year hiatus, she starred in the 1964 television horror thriller Daughter of the Mind . In the same year Tierney was also a guest actress in an episode of the crime series FBI , before she did not accept any further roles for eleven years.

Gene Tierney's last appearance as an actress was in 1980 in three episodes of the miniseries Scruples . Then she finally ended her film career.

Work and influence

Gene Tierney was primarily marketed for her looks and was considered one of the most beautiful actresses in Hollywood of the 1940s and early 1950s. She described Darryl F. Zanuck as "the most beautiful girl in movie history".

Gene Tierney's play has received mixed reception from contemporary critics, including her best-known role in Laura . Only in the years and decades after the premiere did this image improve and Laura developed into a classic.

Film director Martin Scorsese counts Gene Tierney among his favorite actresses. In a column published in 2015 for Turner Classic Movies , he noted the strong connection between Tierney and the respective director, including in the film noir Mortal Sin . Her beauty works like “a mask” in her films.

Agatha Christie's 1962 novel Mord im Spiegel (The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side) from the Miss Marple series is said to have been inspired by Tierney's life and in particular the birth of her mentally disabled child. Though Tierney didn't make this public until her autobiography in 1979, the tabloids had reported the incident years earlier, which would have motivated Christie to write the book. Agatha Christie's manager, however, denied this claim, claiming no connection between the book's plot and Gene Tierney was known.

Filmography

Theatrography

Gene Tierney's appearances at Broadway theaters are listed. The respective location of the performance in brackets.

  • February to March 1939: Mrs. O'Brien Entertains ( Lyceum Theater )
  • November 1939: Ring Two (Henry Miller's Theater)
  • January to August 1940: The Male Animal (Cort Theater)

literature

Web links

Commons : Gene Tierney  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michelle Vogel: Gene Tierney: A Biography . McFarland, Jefferson 2010, ISBN 978-0-7864-5832-5 , p. 3.
  2. ↑ Michelle Vogel: Gene Tierney: A Biography . McFarland, Jefferson 2010, ISBN 978-0-7864-5832-5 , p. 13.
  3. ↑ Victoria Amador: Olivia de Havilland: Lady Triumphant . University Press of Kentucky , Lexington 2019, ISBN 978-0-8131-7728-1 , p. 163.
  4. ↑ David Burgess: Dragonwyck (1946). In: Toronto Film Society. November 23, 2014, accessed August 15, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Biography . Gene Tierney The Official Web Site. Archived from the original on February 7, 2012. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
  6. ↑ Michelle Vogel: Gene Tierney: A Biography . McFarland, Jefferson 2010, ISBN 978-0-7864-5832-5 , p. 85.
  7. ↑ Michelle Vogel: Gene Tierney: A Biography . McFarland, Jefferson 2010, ISBN 978-0-7864-5832-5 , p. 161.
  8. ^ Gene Tierney. In: Variety . November 10, 1991, accessed August 13, 2019 .
  9. ↑ Donald Greyfield: Gene Tierney. In: Find a Grave . January 1, 2001, accessed December 15, 2018 .
  10. ^ Gene Tierney. In: Hollywood Walk of Fame. Retrieved August 17, 2019 .
  11. ^ Antoinette Daria Cassini. In: Find a Grave . March 3, 2013, accessed August 15, 2019 .
  12. ^ David C. Henderson: Christina "Tina" Cassini Belmont. In: Find a Grave . April 14, 2015, accessed on August 15, 2019 .
  13. ^ Gene Tierney . in: Who: The Magazine about People . Volume 1, Issues 1-8, Gerard publishing Company, Menlo Park 1941, p. 57.
  14. ↑ Life Magazine . New York February 19, 1940, p. 35.
  15. ^ Gen Doy: Claude Cahun: A Sensual Politics of Photography . IBTauris, London 2007, ISBN 978-0-85771-143-4 , p. 77.
  16. ^ David Walsh : Jules Dassin, victim of the anti-communist witch-hunt, dies at 96. In: World Socialist Web Site. April 3, 2008, accessed December 15, 2018 .
  17. ↑ Barbara Stepko: Gene Tierney's Unfortunate Life was the inspiration for an Agatha Christie Novel. In: The Vintage News. November 27, 2018, accessed December 16, 2018 .
  18. ↑ Richard Severo: Gene Tierney, 70, Star of 'Laura' And 'Leave Her to Heaven,' Dies. In: The New York Times . November 8, 1991, accessed December 16, 2018 .
  19. ↑ Ryan Lattanzio: Read Martin Scorsese's Column on His Favorite Hollywood Leading Ladies. In: IndieWire. July 30, 2015, accessed December 18, 2018 .
  20. ↑ Mark Aldridge: Agatha Christie on Screen . Springer Science + Business Media , New York 2016, ISBN 978-1-137-37292-5 , p. 146.
  21. ^ Gene Tierney. In: Internet Broadway Database . Retrieved August 15, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Tierney, Gene
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tierney, Gene Eliza
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH November 19, 1920
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York
DATE OF DEATH November 6, 1991
Place of death Houston , Texas