Jean Hagen
| Jean Hagen | |
|---|---|
Hagen in 1955
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| Born |
Jean Shirley Verhagen August 3, 1923 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | August 29, 1977 (aged 54) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Cause of death | esophageal cancer |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1945–1977 |
| Spouse(s) | Tom Seidel (m. 1947–1965; divorced) 2 children |
| Children | Christine Patricia (b. 1950) Aric Phillip (1952-2012) |
Jean Hagen (August 3, 1923 – August 29, 1977) was an American actress best known for her role as Lina Lamont in Singin' in the Rain (1952), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Hagen was also nominated three times for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Margaret Williams on the television series Make Room For Daddy.
Jean Shirley Verhagen was born on August 3, 1923 in Chicago, to Christian Verhagen, a Dutch immigrant, and his Chicago-born wife, Marie. The family moved to Elkhart, Indiana, when she was 12 and she subsequently graduated from Elkhart High School. She studied drama at Northwestern University, where she was a roommate of actress Patricia Neal. She graduated from Northwestern in 1945. She also worked as a theater usherette.
Hagen began her show business career in radio in the 1940s, performing in Light of the World, Hollywood Story, and other programs. Using her maiden name (Jean Verhagen), she played Betty Webster on Those Websters.
Hagen first appeared on Broadway in Swan Song. She also acted in Another Part of the Forest, Ghosts, Born Yesterday, and The Traitor.
Her film debut was as a comical femme fatale in the Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn classic, Adam's Rib, directed by the iconic George Cukor in 1949. The Asphalt Jungle (1950) provided Hagen with her first starring role alongside Sterling Hayden. Hagen received excellent reviews playing "Doll" Conover, a woman who sticks by criminal Dix's side until the bitter end. She appeared in the film noir Side Street (1950) playing a gangster's sincere, but none-too-bright, nightclub-singer girlfriend.
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