Jean Simmons

Jean Simmons
Jean Simmons in a 1955 studio publicity shot
Born	Jean Merilyn Simmons (1929-01-31)31 January 1929 Lower Holloway, London, England, UK
Died	22 January 2010(2010-01-22) (aged 80) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Lung cancer
Nationality	British-American
Alma mater	Aida Foster School of Dance
Occupation	Actress, singer
Years active	1944–2009
Spouse(s)	Stewart Granger (1950–60; divorced); 1 child Richard Brooks (1960–80; divorced); 1 child
Children	Tracy Granger (b.1956) Kate Brooks (b. 1961)
Parent(s)	Charles Simmons Winifred Loveland Simmons

Jean Merilyn Simmons, OBE (31 January 1929 – 22 January 2010) was an English-born American actress and singer. One of J. Arthur Rank's "well-spoken young starlets", she appeared predominantly in films, beginning with those made in Great Britain during and after the Second World War, followed mainly by Hollywood films from 1950 onwards.

Simmons was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Hamlet (1948), and won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for Guys and Dolls (1955). Other notable film appearances included Young Bess (1953), The Robe (1953), Elmer Gantry (1960), Spartacus (1960), and the 1969 film The Happy Ending, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also won an Emmy Award for the 1983 miniseries The Thorn Birds.

Simmons was born in Lower Holloway, London, to Charles Simmons, a bronze medallist in gymnastics at the 1912 Summer Olympics and his wife, Winifred (née Loveland) Simmons. Jean was the youngest of four children with siblings Lorna, Harold and Edna. She began acting at the age of 14. During the Second World War, the Simmons family was evacuated to Winscombe, Somerset. Her father, a physical education teacher, taught briefly at Sidcot School, and some time during this period Simmons followed her eldest sister onto the village stage and sang songs such as "Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow Wow". Returning to London and just enrolled at the Aida Foster School of Dance, Simmons was spotted by the director Val Guest, who cast her in the Margaret Lockwood vehicle Give Us the Moon.