The Strange and Sad Ending of Jean Simmons

The Strange and Sad Ending of Jean Simmons.
London-born Jean Simmons came to the world in January 1929 and began acting at the age of 14. She became a British star two years later with her portrayal of the unflattering Estella in the year's version of Great Expectations. 1946 by director David Lean. Simmons is underrated, too often overlooked, and deserves more recognition and trophies than she's ever received in her lifetime. In terms of the number of quality films she's made, her place should be higher in the Hollywood charts.

[@Kimllg88]

Criminally underrated actress and great beauty.

[@Anna-Jade]

Jean Simmons was a true English rose. She is buried in Highgate Cemetery in London, which is fitting, because Jean was a Londoner born and bred. I never thought that she looked like Audrey Hepburn. I think that she was a cross between Vivien Leigh and Elizabeth Taylor. I recently watched the film Black Narcissus, in which Jean plays the part of a beautiful Indian girl. She was 18 when she appeared in this film and as soon as she is on the screen, you simply can not drag your eyes away from her. Her beauty is almost ethereal. It is said that the reason she never made it really big in Hollywood is because she refused the sexual advances of Howard Hughes.

[@debrahouston2884]

Agree -- a cross b/t Vivien Leigh + Liz Taylor.

[@stevewhitaker1705]

One of the most beautiful woman in films

[@janejohnstone5795]

Nice voice.....well spoken..

[@travelinben1966]

Loved her.R.I.P. Jean.👏👏👏👏

[@janejohnstone5795]

Beautiful....lady...good actress....

[@nadeemmohammed6652]

Rest in peace her craft in acting was splendid one of the Greats

[@janejohnstone5795]

Beautiful....face....especially her eyes...

[@debrahouston2884]

Spartacus -- one of my all-time favorites!

[@rossmansell5877]

Was a Junior on newspaer and went to her 21st birthday party when she visited the Empire cinema Cardiff.

[@geoffreynhill2833]

WOW!

[@M.JeanRaymondFERRON]

FOREVER MY LOVE !!!!!

[@claudiodistefano7602]

Una vera signora , meravigliosa attrice e donna affascinante...

[@janejohnstone5795]

She ....acted....in many good movies.. She lived in California...worked all the time...talented....

[@brainbaskerville3341]

my mother look like jean simmons when she was young fine other jean simmons casting directors to blame

[@couldbegood]

You showed a picture of Cary Grant when you said Stewart Granger!

[@geoffreynhill2833]

By God she was lovely! ❤

[@geoffreynhill2833]

PS: Did the narrator understand a word of his script? It doesn't sound like it. 😖

[@caponsacchi]

What accounts for the neglect of Jean Simmons compared to her "screen twin," Audrey Hepburn? Both were cinematic beauties, Audrey perhaps more "boyish" or "androgynous" than the elegant, more domesticated, Jean. But look at their Wikipedia entries: Audrey's has the length, quality, and careful attention to detail usually lavished upon the most beloved stars. Jean's entry barely shows up--it's brief, impersonal, written in mechanical and clumsy "auto-prose." So what gives? Was Jean too "British"?

[@moonriverdiver]

I agree its an interesting anomaly. Her range and depth surpassed Hepburn eg in the dark noir Angel Face. Hardly 'British' in Guys and Dolls. Howard Hughes did have a chauvinistic grudge.

[@Loveoldies50]

She was a wonderful actress! Definitely one of the best!

[@marietta1335]

Audrey Hepburn had that delicate, waif-like look that arouses in men their protective instinct. Jean Simmons played more substantial characters that appeal to men who feel themselves her equal. It's a pity Jean never really played a proper romantic lead with her husband, Stewart Granger, i.e., in Adam and Evelyne, she was his ward; in Young Bess, he was her caretaker; in Footsteps in the Fog, he was the master and she, a housekeeper. Jean's most memorable roles were with Robert Mitchum (She Could Not Say No), Dirk Bogarde (Too Long at the Fair), Richard Burton (The Robe), Burt Lancaster (Elmer Gentry); Rock Hudson (This Earth is Mine), Gregory Peck (The Wide Country) and Kirk Douglas (Spartacus.) But her very best roles, bar none, were with Marlon Brando in Desiree and Guys and Dolls. In G&D alone, she shows a wide range of talent in just one movie - as a stern no-nonsense missionary and a hormone-raging vamp who tries to seduce Marlon Brando - who engages in a bantering courtship with him, sings and dances, even gets into a barfight. I don't think Audrey Hepburn could equal that. So why does Jean Simmons not have as long a write-up as Audrey Hepburn in Wikipedia? Well, remember, Wikipedia is written and maintained by volunteers. Perhaps there were more male Wikipedia volunteers who feel protective of Audrey than substantially equal to Jean. It takes a great actor like Marlon Brando to appreciate Jean Simmon's talent (he says so in his autobiography), and not every Wiki volunteer is as distinguished as Brando.

[@bethelle9099]

Maybe there is a little bit of truth to her being too British. She had a coolness to her, well portrayed in the Thorn Birds. She was sweet in some of her earlier films and definitely a good actress but you just can't compare her to Audrey. I wouldn't compare Audrey to anyone. She was sweet, beguiling, innocent, captivating, unique and a darn good mannequin for the wardrobe that was cast upon her. Even if Jean had the same movie roles as Audrey ,well, they wouldn't have been the same. Imagine Jean as Eliza Doolittle. Not the same portrayal at all. Jean was wonderful in Spartacus. And no one could have done a better job than Audrey in Roman Holiday!

[@сиднипрескотт-щ3л]

I love both of them. They are like twins. But I wouldn't call Audrey boyish, she was the epitome of femininity

[@verairemonger1260]

Made an obe?? Isn't AI and voice software wonderful. You mean, I think, an O.B.E.

[@geoffreynhill2833]

Crap narrator as so often. 👎🤔

[@dancarrison9354]

In my opinion, Jean Simmons had only one rival, in terms of beauty: Janet Blair. Yes, there were a number of actresses who were hailed as the most beautiful women in the world but Jean Simmons and Janet Blair were the "prettiest." And I've always thought "pretty" superior to "beautiful"---and more long-lasting.