Jennifer Jones

Her leading men during this period included Charles Boyer, Joseph Cotten, Gregory Peck, John Garfield, Charlton Heston, Laurence Olivier, Montgomery Clift, Humphrey Bogart, William Holden, Robert Stack, John Gielgud, Rock Hudson, and Jason Robards. The portrait of Jones for the film Portrait of Jennie was painted by Robert Brackman. She inspired the character Dolores González in Raymond Chandler's novel "The Little Sister" (1949). Her last big-screen appearance came in the spectacular disaster film The Towering Inferno (1974), in which she danced with Fred Astaire before a fire threatened partygoers in a new San Francisco skyscraper who were celebrating its official opening as tallest building in the world. Her exit from the picture was also the most sympathetic when, after helping to assist two children to escape the disaster, her character fell 110 stories to her death from a scenic elevator on the outside of the building which was derailed following an explosion. Her touching performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Scenes from early on in the movie showed paintings lent to the production from the Norton Simon art gallery. Simon was her husband at the time the movie was produced.

Jones's first marriage produced two sons, Robert Walker, Jr. (born April 15, 1940; the only one of Jones's children who would not predecease her), and Michael Walkerhttp://www.robertwalkertribute.com/michaelrwalker.htm (March 13, 1941 – December 27, 2007). Both later became actors. Read Less