Jean Willes


Jean Willes

Biography

Jean Willes made her acting career playing brassy, tough, sexually appealing, and sometimes vulgar characters, taking mostly costarring roles in B-movies, and even more minor ones in bigger films. She was often featured as one of the only female characters in a number of Three Stooges shorts, most notably in "A Snitch in Time" and "Gypped in the Penthouse." In the former, Willes played t...

Biography

Jean Willes made her acting career playing brassy, tough, sexually appealing, and sometimes vulgar characters, taking mostly costarring roles in B-movies, and even more minor ones in bigger films. She was often featured as one of the only female characters in a number of Three Stooges shorts, most notably in "A Snitch in Time" and "Gypped in the Penthouse." In the former, Willes played the attractive owner of a boarding house who teams up with the Stooges to hunt down a robber. In "Gypped in the Penhouse," Willes plays a calculating gold digger who scams all three of the Stooges. In one of her more significant roles, though still a costarring one, in a movie that was an unexpected hit and now a sci-fi cult classic, "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," Willes played Nurse Sally Withers, right-hand assistant to the protagonist, who eventually becomes possessed by the alien pod people. The same year, Willes took another large role in a Western film that, though not particularly distinguished, was one of Clark Gable's last, "The King and Four Queens"; Willes played one of four calculating and sexy widows trying to seduce Gable's character. Willes became quite prevalent in the Western genre, though more so on television after the 1950s. One of her last bigger film parts was in the Rat Pack heist film "Ocean's Eleven," playing the widow of an electrician who was in on the casino robbery.

Filmography

 

Cast (Feature Film)

Bite the Bullet (1975)
The Cheyenne Social Club (1970)
Alice
McHale's Navy (1964)
Margo Monet
Gypsy (1962)
Betty Cratchitt
By Love Possessed (1961)
Junie McCarthy
Gun Street (1961)
Joan Brady
Elmer Gantry (1960)
Prostitute
The Crowded Sky (1960)
Gloria Panawek
Ocean's Eleven (1960)
Grace Bergdorf
The FBI Story (1959)
Anna Sage
These Thousand Hills (1959)
Jen
No Time for Sergeants (1958)
W.A.F. captain
Desire Under the Elms (1958)
Florence Cabot
Hell on Devil's Island (1957)
Suzanne
The Tijuana Story (1957)
Liz March
The Man Who Turned to Stone (1957)
Tracy
Hear Me Good (1957)
Rita Hall
The Lieutenant Wore Skirts (1956)
Joan Sweeney
The Revolt of Mamie Stover (1956)
Gladys
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Sally
Toward the Unknown (1956)
Carmen
The King and Four Queens (1956)
Ruby McDade
Masterson of Kansas (1955)
Dallas Corey
5 Against the House (1955)
Virginia
Count Three and Pray (1955)
Selma
Bowery to Bagdad (1955)
Claire
Bobby Ware Is Missing (1955)
Janet Ware
Run for the Hills (1953)
Prancer Veach
From Here to Eternity (1953)
Annette
Abbott and Costello Go to Mars (1953)
Captain
All Ashore (1953)
Rose
The Glass Web (1953)
Sonia
Son of Paleface (1952)
Penelope
The Sniper (1952)
Young woman
Gobs and Gals (1952)
WAVE
Jungle Jim in the Forbidden Land (1952)
Denise
The First Time (1952)
Fawn
A Yank in Indo-China (1952)
Cleo
The Family Secret (1951)
Cigarette girl
Never Trust a Gambler (1951)
Brunette
Revenue Agent (1951)
Marge King
The Fuller Brush Girl (1950)
Mary
Kill the Umpire (1950)
Pretty girl
A Woman of Distinction (1950)
Pearl
Chinatown at Midnight (1950)
Alice
David Harding, Counterspy (1950)
Nurse
When You're Smiling (1950)
Waitress
Emergency Wedding (1950)
Guest
The Petty Girl (1950)
Girl
The Mating of Millie (1948)
The Winner's Circle (1948)
Jean Trent
Blondie in the Dough (1947)
Miss Marsh
You Came Along (1945)
Showgirl
Salty O'Rourke (1945)
The other girl
Here Come the Waves (1944)
So Proudly We Hail! (1943)
Lieut. Carol Johnson

Cast (Special)

The Bounty Hunter (1957)
Janette York (Guest)

Life Events

Videos

Movie Clip

Masterson Of Kansas (1954) -- (Movie Clip) The Laws Of The White Man More rapid plot progress, George Montgomery as the title-role sheriff of Dodge City confronts Jay Silverheels as neighboring chief Yellow Hawk, reluctant to hand over falsely-accused rancher and “Peacemaker” Merrick (John Maxwell), whose schoolteacher daughter Amy (Nancy Gates) offers support in jail, early in Masterson Of Kansas, 1954.
King And Four Queens, The (1956) -- (Movie Clip) Lady Of The House Drifter Kehoe (Clark Gable) rides to the McDade ranch where Ma (Jo Van Fleet) and four widowed daughters in-law (Barbara Nichols, Jean Willes, Sara Shane and Eleanor Parker, dressing, in that order) are said to be sitting on $100,000 in stolen gold, early in The King And Four Queens, 1956.
From Here To Eternity (1953) -- (Movie Clip) Don't Tell Me The Princess Is Your Style Angelo (Frank Sinatra) beginning his routine at the New Congress Club, annoyed by Judson (Ernest Borgnine) on piano, Prewitt (Montgomery Clift) being shown around by Annette (Jean Willes), until he spies "Lorene" (Donna Reed), in From Here To Eternity, 1953.
Elmer Gantry -- (Movie Clip) Lulu Baines Lulu Baines (Shirley Jones, in her Academy Award winning role) is introduced as her colleagues at the bordello read a newspaper account of the exploits of the title character in Elmer Gantry, 1960, from the Sinclair Lewis novel.
Cheyenne Social Club, The (1970) -- (Movie Clip) Don't Look Like No Saloon Harley (Henry Fonda) tags as John (James Stewart), duded up to claim his dead brother's enterprise, discovers it's a brothel, Jenny (Shirley Jones) introducing the girls (Jackie Joseph, Jackie Russell, Elaine Devry, Sue Ane Langdon, Sharon De Bord), in The Cheyenne Social Club, 1970.

Bibliography