Jean Brooks
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- December 23, 1915
- Died
- November 25, 1963
- Birthplace
- Houston, Texas, USA
Fluent in Spanish, Jean Brooks began professionally by singing with Enric Madriguera and Orchestra in New York. She had a small role in the New York City-filmed The Crime of Doctor Crespi (1935) and the second lead in a Broadway play, "Name Your Poison" (1938), with Lenore Ulric, all under her real name of Jeanne Kelly. She was signed by an independent film production company that had gone under by the time she got to Hollywood. She spent several years at Universal as a leading lady in "B" pictures, including several Johnny Mack Brown westerns, but her option was dropped in late 1941. By this time she had married writer (later director) Richard Brooks and, with a certain Broadway hoofer having just signed at MGM, dropped the Kelly and became Jean Brooks. She signed with RKO, where film buffs know her for her three appearances for cult producer Val Lewton, particularly her stunning performance as a haunted devil worshiper in The Seventh Victim (1943). Her clipped delivery and intense, forceful acting style made her a promising bet for stardom, but RKO lost interest in her by mid-'44 and her roles got gradually smaller until she was dropped in 1946. She and Brooks divorced (his later studio biographies omitted her name as one of his ex-wives). For many years she was listed as a "Lost Player" championed in several magazine articles by writer Doug McClelland. She was eventually located in San Francisco, where she had moved after her film career petered out, and was employed as a classified ad solicitor on the "San Francisco Examiner" newspaper. She had married a printer called Leddy. Her death at the Kaiser Hospital in Richmond, California, in 1963 was due to nutritional problems caused by alcoholism, a sad ending for a stylish and talented performer who didn't get the breaks she deserved, both personally and professionally. Date of Death 25 November 1963, Richmond, California (extreme malnutrition & alcoholism)
Filmography
Women in the Night 1948
as Maya
The Bamboo Blonde 1946
as Marsha
The Falcon's Alibi 1946
as Baroness Lena
Two O'Clock Courage 1945
as Barbara Borden
The Falcon in Hollywood 1944
as Roxanna Miles
Youth Runs Wild 1944
as Mary Hauser Coates
A Night of Adventure 1944
as Julie Arden
The Falcon and the Co-Eds 1943
as Vicky Gaines
The Seventh Victim 1943
as Jacqueline Gibson
The Falcon in Danger 1943
as Iris Fairchild
The Leopard Man 1943
as Kiki Walker
The Boss of Big Town 1942
as Iris Moore
Boot Hill Bandits 1942
as May Meadows
Klondike Fury 1942
as Rae Langton
Fighting Bill Fargo 1941
as Linda Tyler (as Jeanne Kelly)
Badlands of Dakota 1941
as Bella Union Girl
Man from Montana 1941
as Linda Thompson
A Dangerous Game 1941
as Anne Bennett (as Jeanne Kelly)
Riders of Death Valley 1941
as Mary Morgan (as Jeanne Kelly)
- Meet the Chump
Meet the Chump 1941
as Madge Reilly (as Jeanne Kelly)
Buck Privates 1941
as Camp Hostess
The Green Hornet Strikes Again! 1940
as Gloria Manning
Junior G-Men 1940
as Waitress (uncredited)
The Devil's Pipeline 1940
as Laura Larson (as Jeanne Kelly)
Son of Roaring Dan 1940
as Eris Brooke (as Jeanne Kelly)
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe 1940
as Olga (uncredited)
The Invisible Man Returns 1940
as Minor Role (uncredited)
Miracle on Main Street 1939
as Nina
The Invisible Killer 1939
as Gloria Cunningham
Frankie and Johnnie 1936
as Cabaret Girl
The Crime of Doctor Crespi 1935
as Nurse Gordon (as Jeanne Kelly)
Tango Bar 1935
as Young Ship's Passenger on Lower Deck (uncredited)
Obeah 1935
Actor
Credits from TMDB.