Born: 31 January 1929, Crouch Hill, London, England
Died: 22 January 2010, Santa Monica, California, USA
Mr Emmanuel (1944) as Sally Cooper (Credited as Jean Simmonds)
Jean in one of her earliest roles, with Felix Aylmer.
Angel Face (1952) as Diane Tremayne Jessup
She Couldn't Say No (aka Beautiful but Dangerous) (1954) as Corby Lane
I've got a DVD with Mr Emmanuel on it, aware that this lady had a brief appearance in the film as a teenage kid for a Jewish community scene. She was in the company of several children mainly during this short sequence and was uncertain whether the occasionally visible tomboyish girl was her or not. Now I know for sure thanks to the displayed stills. I greatly appreciated the showing of these rarities.
ReplyDeleteJean Simmons still features highly in the memories of film buffs who enjoy watching revivals from the past. Determined exploration of her filmography can uncover many gems, particularly from her pre-Hollywood years (try and track down the disgracefully neglected 1949 Blue Lagoon for example, a touching romantic drama of innocence largely filmed on location in Fiji in colour). Simmons is in my view a nowadays much undervalued film actress who with her introverted but instinctive camera-sense could knock spots off many of her better remembered contemporaries.