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Jean Peters

Jean Peters

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Also Known As: Elizabeth Jean Peters Died: October 13, 2000
Born: October 15, 1926 Cause of Death: leukemia
Birth Place: Canton, Ohio, USA Profession: actor

Biography CLOSE THE FULL BIOGRAPHY

This buxom brunette landed in Hollywood after winning the Miss Ohio State popularity contest. Raised on a farm in rural Ohio by her widowed mother, Jean Peters made her feature film debut opposite Tyrone Power as his sultry lover in Henry King's superb swashbuckler "Captain From Castile" (1947). Although she was only in films for less than a decade, Peters lent her presence to several well-made productions, mostly at 20th Century Fox. She received above the title billing for her turn as female pirate in the somewhat silly "Anne of the Indies" (1951). The actress fared better opposite Marlon Brando in Elia Kazan's "Viva Zapata!" (1952) and had one of her best roles as a grifter's moll caught up in international intrigue in Samuel Fuller's exceptional noir "Pickup on South Street" (1953). Peters also acquitted herself well as a business executive romanced by Rossano Brazzi in Jean Negulesco's splashy "Three Coins in the Fountain" (1954). After delivering a well-received turn as the tubercular wife of Richard Todd's clergyman who eventually becomes the chaplain of the US Senate in "A Man Called Peter", she disappeared from the screen.In 1957, Peters secretly married film producer and businessman Howard...

This buxom brunette landed in Hollywood after winning the Miss Ohio State popularity contest. Raised on a farm in rural Ohio by her widowed mother, Jean Peters made her feature film debut opposite Tyrone Power as his sultry lover in Henry King's superb swashbuckler "Captain From Castile" (1947). Although she was only in films for less than a decade, Peters lent her presence to several well-made productions, mostly at 20th Century Fox. She received above the title billing for her turn as female pirate in the somewhat silly "Anne of the Indies" (1951). The actress fared better opposite Marlon Brando in Elia Kazan's "Viva Zapata!" (1952) and had one of her best roles as a grifter's moll caught up in international intrigue in Samuel Fuller's exceptional noir "Pickup on South Street" (1953). Peters also acquitted herself well as a business executive romanced by Rossano Brazzi in Jean Negulesco's splashy "Three Coins in the Fountain" (1954). After delivering a well-received turn as the tubercular wife of Richard Todd's clergyman who eventually becomes the chaplain of the US Senate in "A Man Called Peter", she disappeared from the screen.

In 1957, Peters secretly married film producer and businessman Howard Hughes. She has steadfastly refused to comment on her life with Hughes beyond stating that she attended UCLA as a psychology major. Peters returned to acting after nearly 20 years as the star of a 1973 public television production of Sherwood Anderson's "Winesburg, Ohio". The still attractive actress won good notices, but has only made two subsequent small screen appearances, in the NBC miniseries "Arthur Hailey's 'The Moneychangers'" (1976) and the Biblical epic "Peter and Paul" (CBS, 1981). The latter was produced by her third husband, Stanley Hough.

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Filmographyclose complete filmography

CAST: (feature film)

1.
 A Man Called Peter (1955) Catherine Marshall
2.
 Apache (1954) Nalinle
3.
 Three Coins in the Fountain (1954) Anita Hutchins
4.
 Broken Lance (1954) Barbara
5.
 A Blueprint for Murder (1953) Lynn Cameron
6.
 Niagara (1953) Polly Cutler
7.
 Vicki (1953) Vicki Lynn
8.
 Pickup on South Street (1953) Candy
9.
 Lure of the Wilderness (1952) Laurie Harper
10.
 Viva Zapata! (1952) Josefa [Zapata]
VIEW THE FULL FILMOGRAPHY

Milestones close milestones

:
Raised on a farm in Ohio
1946:
Won the Miss Ohio State popularity contest and received a trip to Hollywood
1947:
Feature acting debut, "Captain From Castile", opposite Tyrone Power
1951:
Received top billing in "Anne of the Indies"
1952:
Cast opposite Marlon Brando in Elia Kazan's "Viva Zapata!"
1953:
Co-starred in Samuel Fuller's "Pickup on South Street"
1955:
Won critical acclaim for her performance in "A Man Called Peter", in what was to be her final film
1957:
Secretly married Howard Hughes
1971:
Revealed divorce from Hughes
1973:
Returned to acting in the public television production of Sherwood Anderson's "Winesburg, Ohio"
1976:
Made rare network TV appearance in the NBC miniseries "Arthur Hailey's 'The Moneychangers'"
1981:
Acted in the CBS TV-movie "Peter and Paul", produced by her husband Stan Hough
1984:
Made guest appearance on "Murder, She Wrote" (CBS)
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Education

University of Michigan: Ann Arbor , Michigan -
Ohio State University: Columbus , Ohio -
University of California at Los Angeles: Los Angeles , California -

Notes

"My life with Howard Hughes was and shall remain a matter on which I will have no comment." --Jean Peters to Newsweek, December 18, 1972.

Companions close complete companion listing

husband:
Stuart W Cramer III. Oilman. Married on May 29, 1954; divorced on December 9, 1955.
husband:
Howard Hughes. Businessman, film producer. First met in 1946; married on May 13, 1957; divorced in 1971; died in 1976.
husband:
Stanley Hough. Executive, producer. Married from August 1971 until his death in 1990; first met when he was an assistant director on "Captain From Castile".

Family close complete family listing

sister:
Shirley Peters Cook. Born c. 1933; survived her.

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