Jane Greer
| Jane Greer | |
|---|---|
Photo taken 1947
|
|
| Born |
Bettejane Greer September 9, 1924 Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Died | August 24, 2001 (aged 76) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Westwood Memorial Park |
| Occupation | Film, television actress |
| Years active | 1945–1996 |
| Spouse(s) |
Rudy Vallee (1943–1944) Edward Lasker (1947–1963; divorced); 3 children |
| Partner(s) | Frank London (1963–2001; his death) |
| Children |
Lawrence Lasker Alex Lasker Steven Lasker (b. 1954) |
Jane Greer (born Bettejane Greer; September 9, 1924 – August 24, 2001) was an American film and television actress who was perhaps best known for her role as femme fatale Kathie Moffat in the 1947 film noir Out of the Past.
The five-foot five Greer began life as Bettejane Greer in Washington, D.C., the daughter of Charles Durell McClellan Greer, Jr., and his wife, Bettie. In 1940, at age 15, Greer suffered from a facial palsy, which paralyzed the left side of her face. She recovered, but it has been speculated that the condition contributed to her "patented look" and "a calm, quizzical gaze and an enigmatic expression that would later lead RKO to promote her as 'the woman with the Mona Lisa smile'." She claimed that the facial exercises used to overcome the paralysis taught her how to convey human emotion.
On December 4, 1945, Greer had her name legally changed to Jane Greer by a court in Los Angeles. She said of her previous name: "Mine is a sissy name. It's too bo-peepish, ingenueish, for the type of role I've been playing. It's like Mary Lou or Mary Ann."
A beauty-contest winner and professional model from her teens, Greer began her show business career as a big band singer. She sang in Washington, D.C., with the orchestra of Enrique Madriguera. She "sang phonetically in Spanish" with the group.
Howard Hughes spotted Greer modeling in the June 8, 1942, issue of Life magazine and sent her to Hollywood to become an actress. Hughes lent out the actress to RKO to star in many films, (another source says Greer's then-husband, Rudy Vallee, "helped her get out of her contract with Hughes and secure another pact with RKO Studios) including Dick Tracy (1945), Out of the Past (1947), They Won't Believe Me (1947), and the comedy/suspense film The Big Steal (1949), alongside Out of the Past co-star Robert Mitchum. Hughes refused to let her work for a time; when she finally began film acting again, she appeared in You're in the Navy Now (1951), The Prisoner of Zenda (1952), Run for the Sun (1956), and Man of a Thousand Faces (1957). In 1984, she was cast in Against All Odds, a remake of Out of the Past, as the mother of the character she had played in 1947.
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