British-born actress Jean Simmons (1929-2010) was a celebrated star for several decades, and on both sides of the Atlantic, she always won much praise for her nuanced performances and versatility on screen. In other words, she was a great leading lady and a very accomplished actress, much like contemporaries such as Jane Greer, Leslie Caron, Janet Leigh, or Esther Williams.

Unlike those four actresses, I never met Ms. Simmons in person for an interview, unfortunately, although I was able to get in touch with her. About twenty years ago, I had sent her a letter with a request for a one-on-one interview when I was in Los Angeles a few weeks later. She kindly responded by calling me on the phone—to this day, I still can’t believe it: Jean Simmons calling me out of the blue—telling me that she would be out of town by the time I’d be in Los Angeles.

Since I visited Los Angeles once a year back then, I asked her if I could call her again when I’d come back the following year, and she said, ‘Why don’t you do that. I’m sure we can work it out.’ So over the years—whenever I was preparing my upcoming visits to Los Angeles to do interviews—I called her. She wasn’t always at home or available, but whenever she could, she’d take the time to talk to me and see if our paths could cross. And when she was at home, she was always very down-to-earth and very approachable. She never acted like a big movie star, nor did she ever pretend to be too busy or preoccupied. None of that. What a great lady she was.

Unfortunately, since our schedules never matched, our paths never crossed. Looking back now, I will never forgive myself for not accepting her offer to do a lengthy phone interview instead; to me, one-on-one conversations were essential in those days when I traveled back and forth. Boy, did I prove myself wrong. But during our phone calls, we did talk a little bit about her work in films, both in England and in Hollywood, and a number of her quotes that I had written down are included in this hommage to her astounding work and enduring legacy.

Although Ms. Simmons was a British-born American actress—she didn’t become an American citizen until 1956—to me, she was always a Hollywood star. That’s how I got to know her when I grew up, watching her films on television, and that’s how I will always remember her. Much to my surprise, it wasn’t until 2022 that a book on her life and work was published (“Jean Simmons: Her Life and Career” by Michelangelo Capua). Apart from her being one of the best and most talented, it also makes her one of the most underrated actresses of her generation.

Ms. Simmons was born in London in 1929, the same year as Audrey Hepburn, Grace Kelly, Jane Powell, and the now 95-year-old Vera Miles. Her father, Charles Simmons, was a physical education teacher and a bronze medalist in gymnastics at the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, Sweden; her mother, Winifred, was a homemaker. When World War II broke out, the Simmons family was evacuated to Somerset, but they eventually returned to London, where she attended the Aida Foster School of Dance. Initially, she had ambitions to become a ballet dancer, but she quickly found herself gravitating towards acting.

Her film career began at age 14 when she was spotted by director Val Guest who offered her a small role in “Give Us the Moon” (1944). She quickly followed up with a few other small parts, and her talent and looks gained attention in the British film industry. She was noticed and associated with the song “Let Him Go, Let Him Tarry,” which she sang in Anthony Asquith’s wartime air-force drama “The Way to the Stars” (1945, a.k.a. “Johnny in the Clouds”), and her appearance as a harpist in “Caesar and Cleopatra” (1945), with Vivien Leigh and Claude Rains playing the leading roles, resulted into a seven-year contract with the Rank Organization, a British entertainment conglomerate founded in 1937 by industrialist J. Arthur Rank.

In 1946, Ms. Simmons had her breakthrough role at age 17, playing a young Estella in David Lean’s adaptation of Charles Dickens’ “Great Expectations,” where she captivated audiences with her portrayal of the haughty young woman loved by Pip, played by Anthony Wager. This film established her as a promising young actress, and as she continued her rise in British cinema and was top-billed for the first time in “Uncle Silas” (1947), she earned widespread acclaim—and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress—for her role as a blonde Ophelia in Laurence Olivier’s “Hamlet” (Claire Trevor won the Oscar for her role in John Huston’s “Key Largo”).

“Hamlet” was a visually and emotionally intense adaptation of Shakespeare’s play, and demanded a complex, emotionally resonant Ophelia. Ms. Simmons delivered a performance that blended fragility with emotional depth, and her portrayal earned her a reputation as one of the most talented young actresses of her time.

By the late 1940s, Simmons had become a leading lady in British cinema, and appeared in a variety of films, including Michael Powell’s and Emeric Pressburger’s “Black Narcissus” (1947), one of the most breathtaking color films ever made at the time about nuns trying to establish a mission in a remote Himalayan mountaintop outpost, and “The Blue Lagoon” (1949), where she played a shipwrecked girl navigating adolescence on a deserted island (the film was remade by Randal Kleiser in 1980). She celebrated her 18th birthday on the Fiji Islands when she made that film. ‘I had never been out of England before, I had never been in an airplane. So making that film was really something,’ she told me on the phone. In 1950, Ms. Simmons was voted the fourth most popular star in Great Britain; her work during this period positioned her for an international career. She soon caught the attention of Hollywood and relocated to the West Coast that year.

Her transition to Hollywood was facilitated by a contract with RKO Pictures, a studio then owned by the eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes. He was captivated by her beauty and essentially bought her contract from the Rank Organization. Hughes expected to control her career with a long-term contract, but she resisted his overtures and demands, maintaining a firm sense of her personal integrity and professional boundaries. As a result, he refused to lend her to Paramount, where William Wyler wanted to cast her as the female lead of Princess Ann for the romantic comedy “Roman Holiday” opposite Gregory Peck; the role made Audrey Hepburn a star and won her an Oscar for Best Actress. In 1952, a court case set her free from her contract with Hughes—it was settled out of court—and she could ultimately work for other major studios and directors.

In Hollywood, she starred in a variety of films that helped solidify her place as an international star. Her role in “Androcles and the Lion” (1952) with Victor Mature and Robert Newton was a significant step forward, as was her portrayal of the tragic beauty Diana in “The Robe” (1953), opposite Richard Burton (she replaced Jean Peters who became pregnant). “The Robe” was the first film released in CinemaScope—a widescreen process popular from 1953-1967. Upon its release, the film was number one at the U.S. box office for nine straight weeks. It further established Ms. Simmons as a Hollywood leading lady, capable of balancing intensity and charm in roles that required emotional range.

“The Robe” (1953, trailer)

The 1950s and 1960s were her golden years in Hollywood, with several memorable films and screen roles. “Angel Face” (1952), for one, was a remarkable film, probably director Otto Preminger’s best film since “Laura” (1945). It was an engrossing film noir and her first of two films with Robert Mitchum. ‘Robert was a really good friend and he was a lot of fun to work with,’ she said. In George Sidney’s splashy costumer “Young Bess” (1953), she played Queen Elizabeth I from her childhood until her accession to the throne of England in 1558 at age 25; Charles Laughton reprised his role of Henry VIII—the Queen’s father—a character that earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor with “The Private Lives of Henry VIII” (1933).

In George Cukor’s “The Actress” (1953), she portrayed playwright, screenwriter and Academy Award-winning actress Ruth Gordon (1896-1985) as a teenager in early 20th-century Massachusetts, with Spencer Tracy as her father. ‘That’s one of my favorite films I have made; we had the luxury of rehearsing on the set. Spencer Tracy and I became great buddies. He was the big one for me, and director George Cukor could play my role much better than I could [laughs]. Spencer gave me the best advice anyone ever gave me, ‘Know your lines, kid, and get on with it.’ That’s what he did and that’s what I did. I named my daughter after him,’ she said.

“The Actress” (1953, trailer)

After she had appeared as Désirée Clary, the one-time fiancé of Napoleon Bonaparte in “Désirée” (1954) with Marlon Brando as Napoleon, she played one of her most memorable performances in Joseph L. Mankiewicz’s “Guys and Dolls” (1955), co-starring with Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra. The film, shot entirely at the Samuel Goldwyn Studios, projected a very stage-bound look, with even most exteriors filmed on soundstages, and was a musical adaptation of the Broadway hit (1950-1953).

Ms. Simmons was cast as Sister Sarah Brown after Grace Kelly had turned it down; she played a prim Salvation Army sergeant who finds herself falling for Brando’s character, Sky Masterson. Although she had no previous singing experience, she took on the challenge and delivered a performance that earned her a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical. Ms. Simmons said, ‘We weren’t supposed to do our own singing, but Samuel Goldwyn came on the set one day, and he thought we’d better do our own singing. ‘Maybe it won’t sound so good, but it’s you.’ And Marlon Brando had a great time making that film.’

“Guys and Dolls” (1955, song “Bells Ringing”)

Other highlights in her career during the 1950s include two Robert Wise films, “This Could Be the Night” (1957) with Ms. Simmons’ character working as a secretary for a gangster, played by Paul Douglas, and “Until They Sail” (also 1957), a courtroom story about four New Zealand sisters—played by Joan Fontaine, Jean Simmons, Piper Laurie and Sandra Dee in her film debut—and their relationships with U.S. Marines during World War II.

She didn’t work with William Wyler and Gregory Peck when they made “Roman Holiday,” but eventually she did with “The Big Country” (1958), an epic ranch-war Western with a fabulous all-star cast that also included Carroll Baker, Charlton Heston and Oscar winner Burl Ives (for Best Actor in a Supporting Role). ‘“The Big Country” was a wonderful film to make, and working with Gregory Peck, it doesn’t get any better than that. The only problem was that William Wyler and Gregory Peck were having disagreements; they were literally not speaking at times,’ Ms. Simmons said.

Another landmark role for Ms. Simmons came in the epic historical drama “Spartacus” (1960), directed by Stanley Kubrick, with Kirk Douglas in the title role, and Ms. Simmons as his wife Varinia, a Roman slave girl and a fictional character. Her role required a combination of vulnerability and resilience, and she delivered a moving performance that resonated with audiences. ‘“Spartacus” was not really Stanley Kubrick’s kind of picture, but I think it was the best of its kind,’ she said. She also starred in “Elmer Gantry” (1960) with Gantry, a hard-drinking and fast-talking con man (played by Burt Lancaster in an Oscar-winning performance) and a female evangelist, Sister Sharon Falconer (role for Ms. Simmons), selling religion to small-town America. This role further showcased her range, earning her critical acclaim and a Golden Globe nomination—her third out of five—with Greer Garson winning for her role as Eleanor Roosevelt in “Sunrise at Campobello.”

As the 1960s reflected the changing landscape of the film industry, Ms. Simmons shifted between major Hollywood productions and independent films; her roles became less frequent, but she remained active, taking on parts in both films and television that allowed her to explore different genres. She also took on a leading role in “The Happy Ending” (1969), directed by Richard Brooks. The film dealt with issues of marital discontent, and earned Simmons an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress; Maggie Smith won for “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.”

In the 1980s and beyond, Ms. Simmons increasingly turned to television, a medium becoming more prestigious and artistically significant. She earned an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special for her work in the highly successful miniseries “The Thorn Birds” (1983), at the time in the U.S. the second most widely watched television miniseries in history, behind “Roots” in 1976. “The Thorn Birds” focused primo on the lives of the Cleary family from the 1920s until the 1960s, who were brought from New Zealand to the Australian outback—all filmed in the U.S. though—to help run the ranch of their aunt Mary Carson (played by Barbara Stanwyck, originally offered to Audrey Hepburn), and secundo the forbidden love between Meggie Cleary (Rachel Ward) and the family’s priest, Father Ralph de Briscassart (Richard Chamberlain). Ms. Simmons played the family’s matriarch, Fee Cleary; after she had read the book and heard they would do the miniseries, she called the producer and told him, ‘I have to play that part’—something she never did before. A year later, she got a call, ‘Okay kid, you’re on.’

In “North and South” (1985) and its sequel “North and South, Book II” (1986), she portrayed Clarissa Main; the first season reunited her with Robert Mitchum, one of her former co-stars from her early days in Hollywood. Her performances in those miniseries brought Ms. Simmons a new generation of fans and proved her enduring versatility and dedication to her craft. Her final film was “Shadows in the Sun” (2009), shot in England.

Her personal life was marked by a mixture of glamor and hardship. She married actor Stewart Granger in 1950 and they moved to Hollywood that same year; they appeared together in “Caesar and Cleopatra” (1945), “Adam and Evelyne” (1949), “Young Bess” (1953), and “Footsteps in the Fog” (1955). His autobiography, “Sparks Fly Upward,” was published in 1981. Their daughter is film editor Tracy Granger (b. 1956). They divorced in 1960, and later that year, she married screenwriter and director Richard Brooks; their daughter Kate Brooks (1961-2024) worked as a production assistant and a producer. Their union lasted until 1977; together, they made “Elmer Gantry” and “The Happy Ending.”

Jean Simmons passed away at her Santa Monica home on January 22, 2010, at age 80. According to her obituary in the Los Angeles Times, she had lung cancer.

She left behind a legacy of films that continue to captivate audiences. She was known for her quiet resilience and dignified presence on and off-screen. She kept her personal life private, avoiding the spotlight and eschewing the Hollywood party circuit.

Her legacy is built not only on her stunning beauty but also on the subtlety and intelligence of her performances, which allowed her to bring depth to her characters who might otherwise have been sidelined or typecast. Her career represents a bridge between British and American cinema, and she easily adapted to different styles and genres while remaining true to her artistic integrity. Her journey from London’s theater school to Hollywood stardom—again, she was a star—embodies the remarkable potential of a dedicated actress, and she remains one of the golden era’s most cherished figures.

FILMS

GIVE US THE MOON (1944) DIR Val Guest PROD Edward Black SCR Val Guest (novel “The Elephant Is White” [1939] by S.J. Simon, Caryl Brahms) CAM Phil Grindrod ED R.E. Dearing CAST Margaret Lockwood, Vic Oliver, Peter Graves, Roland Culver, Max Bacon, Jean Simmons (Heidi), Eliot Makeham, Iris Lang, George Relph

MR. EMMANUEL (1944) DIR Harold French PROD William Sistrom SCR Louis Golding, Gordon Wellesley (novel “Mr. Emmanuel” [1938] by Louis Golding) CAM Otto Heller ED Alan Jaggs CAST Felix Aylmer, Greta Gynt, Walter Rilla, Ursula Jeans, Elspeth March, Friedrich Richter, Charles Goldner, Jean Simmons (Ursula Cooper)

KISS THE BRIDE GOODBYE (1945) DIR – PROD Paul L. Stein SCR Jack Wittingham CAM Geoffrey Faithfull ED Ted Richards MUS Percival Mackey CAST Patricia Medina, Jimmy Hanley, Frederick Leister, Marie Lohr, Claud Allister, Ellen Pollock, Wylie Watson, Claud Allister, Jean Simmons (Molly Dodd)

THE WAY TO THE STARS, a.k.a. JOHNNY IN THE CLOUDS (1945) DIR Anthony Asquith PROD Anatole de Grunwald SCR Terence Rattigan (story by Terence Rattigan, Anatole de Grunwald, Richard Sherman; poems by John Pudney) CAM Derick Williams ED Fergus McDonell MUS Nicholas Brodszky CAST Michael Redgrave, John Mills, Rosamund John, Stanley Holloway, Renée Ashershon, Felix Aylmer, Trevor Howard, Jean Simmons (Singer)

MEET SEXTON BLAKE (1945) DIR – SCR John Harlow PROD Louis H. Jackson CAM Geoffrey Faithfull ED Vi Burdon MUS Percival Mackey CAST David Farrar, John Varley, Magda Kun, Gordon McLeod, Manning Whiley, Kathleen Harrison, Cyril Smith, Jean Simmons (Eva Watkins)

CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA (1945) DIR – PROD Gabriel Pascal SCR George Bernard Shaw (also play “Caesar and Cleopatra” [1901]) CAM Jack Cardiff, Robert Krasker, Jack Hildyard ED Frederick Wilson MUS Georges Auric CAST Vivien Leigh, Claude Rains, Stewart Granger, Flora Robson, Francis L. Sullivan, Michael Rennie, Stanley Holloway, Jean Simmons (Harpist [uncredited])

GREAT EXPECTATIONS (1946) DIR David Lean PROD Ronald Neame SCR (adaptation by Ronald Neame, David Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan, Kay Walsh, Cecil McGivern; novel “Great Expectations” [1861] by Charles Dickens) CAM Guy Green ED Jack Harris MUS Walter Goehr CAST John Mills, Anthony Wager, Valerie Hobson, Jean Simmons (Young Estella), Bernard Miles, Francis L. Sullivan, Finlay Currie, Alec Guinness

BLACK NARCISSUS (1947) DIR – PROD Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger SCR Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger (novel by Rumer Godden) CAM Jack Cardiff ED Reginald Mills MUS Brian Easdale CAST Deborah Kerr, Jean Simmons (Kanchi), Sabu, David Farrar, Flora Robson, Esmond Knight, May Hallatt, Eddie Whaley Jr.

THE WOMAN IN THE HALL (1947) DIR Jack Lee PROD Ian Dalrymple SCR G.B. Stern, Jack Lee, Ian Dalrymple (novel by G.B. Stern) CAM H.E. Fowle, C.M. Pennington-Richards ED John Krisch MUS Temple Abady CAST Ursula Jeans, Jean Simmons (Joy Blake), Cecil Parker, Joan Miller, Jill Raymond, Edward Underdown, Nigel Buchanan, Ruth Dunning, Russell Waters, Susan Hampshire

HUNGRY HILL (1947) DIR Brian Desmond Hurst PROD William Sistrom SCR Daphne du Maurier, Terence Young (novel “Hungry Hill” [1943] by Daphne du Maurier) CAM Desmond Dickinson ED Alan Gaggs MUS John Greenwood CAST Margaret Lockwood, Dennis Price, Cecil Parker, Dermot Walsh, Michael Denison, Jean Simmons (Lady Broderick), Dan O’Herlihy, Julia Lockwood

UNCLE SILAS, U.S. title THE INHERITANCE (1947) DIR Charles Frank PROD Laurence Irving, Josef Somlo SCR Ben Travers (novel “Uncle Silas” [1864] by J. Sheridan Le Fanu) CAM Robert Krasker ED Ralph Kemplen MUS Alan Rawsthorne CAST Jean Simmons (Carolyn Ruthin), Katina Paxinou, Derrick de Marney, Derek Bond, Sophie Stewart, Esmond Knight, Reginald Tate, Manning Whiley

HAMLET (1948) DIR – PROD Laurence Olivier SCR Laurence Olivier (play “Hamlet” [between 1599-1601] by William Shakespeare) CAM Desmond Dickinson ED Helga Cranston MUS William Walton CAST Laurence Olivier, Eileen Herlie, Basil Sydney, Felix Aylmer, Jean Simmons (Ophelia), Stanley Holloway, Peter Cushing, John Gielgud, Patrick Macnee

THE BLUE LAGOON (1949) DIR Frank Launder PROD Frank Launder, Sidney Gilliat SCR Frank Launder, John Bains, Michael Hogan (novel “The Blue Lagoon” [1908] by Henry De Vere Stackpool) CAM Geoffrey Unsworth ED Thelma Connell MUS Clifton Parker CAST Jean Simmons (Emmeline Foster), Donald Houston, Susan Stranks, Peter Jones, Noel Purcell, James Hayter

ADAM AND EVELYNE (1949) DIR – PROD Harold French SCR Lesley Storm, Nicholas Phipps, George Barraud (story by Noel Langley) CAM Guy Green ED John D. Guthridge MUS Mischa Spoliansky CAST Stewart Granger, Jean Simmons (Evelyne Wallace), Edwin Styles, Raymond Young, Helen Cherry, Beatrice Varley

SO LONG AT THE FAIR, a.k.a. THE BLACK CURSE (1950) DIR Antony Darborough, Terence Fisher PROD Betty E. Box SCR Anthony Thorne, Hugh Mills (novel “So Long At the Fair” [1947] by Anthony Thorne) CAM Reginald H. Wyer ED Gordon Hales MUS Benjamin Frankel CAST Jean Simmons (Vicky Barton), Dirk Bogarde, David Tomlinson, Marcel Poncin, Cathleen Nesbitt, Honor Blackman, Felix Aylmer

CAGE OF GOLD (1950) DIR Basil Dearden PROD Michael Balcon SCR Jack Whittington, Jack Whittingham (story by Jack Whittingham, Paul L. Stein) CAM Douglas Slocombe ED Peter Tanner CAST Jean Simmons (Judith), David Farrar, James Donald, Herbert Lom, Madeleine LeBeau, Maria Mauban, Bernard Lee, Gregoire Aslan

TRIO (1950) DIR Harold French (segment “Sanatorium”), Ken Annakin PROD Antony Darborough SCR W. Somerset Maugham, R. C. Sherriff, Noel Langley (stories by W. Somerset Maugham) CAM Geoffrey Unsworth, Reginald H. Wyer ED Alfred Roome MUS John Greenwood CAST (segment “Sanatorium”) Jean Simmons (Evie Bishop), Michael Rennie, Roland Culver, Raymond Huntley, Betty Ann Davies, André Morel, John Laurie, Finlay Currie

THE CLOUDED YELLOW (1951) DIR Ralph Thomas PROD Betty E. Box SCR Janet Green (also story) CAM Geoffrey Unsworth ED Gordon Hales MUS Benjamin Frankel CAST Trevor Howard, Jean Simmons (Sophie Malraux), Sonia Dresdel, Maxwell Reed, Kenneth More, Barry Jones, André Morrell, Geoffrey Keen

ANGEL FACE (1952) DIR – PROD Otto Preminger SCR Frank Nugent, Oscar Millard (story by Chester Erskine) CAM Harry Stradling Sr. ED Frederic Knudtson MUS Dimitri Tiomkin CAST Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons (Diane Tremayne), Mona Freeman, Herbert Marshall, Leon Ames, Barbara O’Neil, Kenneth Tobey, Raymond Greenleaf, Jim Backus, Getrude Astor

ANDROCLES AND THE LION (1952) DIR Chester Erskine PROD Gabriel Pascal SCR Chester Erskine, Ken Englund (play “Androcles and the Lion” [1912] by George Bernard Shaw) CAM Harry Stradling Sr. ED Roland Gross MUS Friedrich Hollaender CAST Jean Simmons (Lavinia), Victor Mature, Alan Young, Robert Newton, Maurice Evans, Elsa Lanchester, Reginald Gardiner, Gene Lockhart, Jim Backus, Woody Strode

AFFAIR WITH A STRANGER (1953) DIR Roy Rowland PROD Robert Sparks SCR Richard Flournoy (also story) CAM Harry J. Wild ED George Amy MUS Roy Webb CAST Jean Simmons (Carolyn Parker), Victor Mature, Mary Jo Tarola, Monica Lewis, Jane Darwell, Dabs Greer, Wally Vernon, Nicholas Joy, Olive Carey

YOUNG BESS (1953) DIR George Sidney PROD Sidney Franklin SCR Jan Lustig, Arthur Wimperis (novel “Young Bess” [1944] by Margaret Irwin) CAM Charles Rosher ED Ralph E. Winters MUS Miklós Rózsa CAST Jean Simmons (Young Bess [Queen Elizabeth I]), Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, Charles Laughton, Kay Walsh, Guy Rolfe, Cecil Kellaway, Leo G. Carroll, Alan Napier, John Sheffield

THE ROBE (1953) DIR Henry Koster PROD Frank Ross SCR Phillip Dunne, Albert Maltz, Gina Kaus (novel “The Robe” [1942] by Lloyd C. Douglas) CAM Leon Shamroy ED Barbara McLean MUS Alfred Newman CAST Richard Burton, Jean Simmons (Diana), Victor Mature, Michael Rennie, Jay Robinson, Dean Jagger, Richard Boone, Cameron Mitchell

THE ACTRESS (1953) DIR George Cukor PROD Lawrence Weingarten SCR Ruth Gordon (also autobiographical play “Years Ago” [1947]) CAM Harold Rosson ED George Boemler CAST Spencer Tracy, Jean Simmons (Ruth Gordon Jones), Teresa Wright, Anthony Perkins, Ian Wolfe, Kay Williams, Mary Wickes, Norma Jean Nilsson, Dawn Bender

SHE COULDN’T SAY NO (1954) DIR Lloyd Bacon PROD Robert Sparks SCR D.D. Beauchamp, William Bowers, Richard Flournoy (story by D.D. Beauchamp) CAM Harry J. Wild ED George Amy MUS Roy Webb CAST Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons (Corby Lane), Arthur Hunnicutt, Edgar Bergen, Wallace Ford, Raymond Walburn, Jimmy Hunt

THE EGYPTIAN (1954) DIR Michael Curtiz PROD Darryl F. Zanuck SCR Philip Dunne, Casey Robinson (novel “The Egyptian” [1945] by Mika Waltari) CAM Leon Shamroy ED Barbara McLean MUS Bernard Herrmann, Alfred Newman CAST Jean Simmons (Merit), Victor Mature, Gene Tierney, Michael Wilding, Bella Darvi, Peter Ustinov, Edmund Purdom, John Carradine, Tommy Rettig

DÉSIRÉE (1954) DIR Michael Curtiz PROD Julian Blaustein SCR Daniel Taradash (book “Désirée” [1952] by Annemarie Selinko) CAM Milton R. Krasner ED William Reynolds MUS Alex North CAST Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons (Désirée Clary), Merle Oberon, Michael Rennie, Cameron Mitchell, Elizabeth Sellars, Cathleen Nesbitt, Carolyn Jones

GUYS AND DOLLS (1955) DIR Joseph L. Manckiewicz PROD Samuel Goldwyn SCR Joseph L. Mankiewicz (short stories “The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown” [1933] and “Blood Pressure” by Damon Runyon; Broadway musical “Guys and Dolls” [1950] by Jo Swerling, Abe Burrows) CAM Harry Stradling Sr. ED Daniel Mandell MUS Frank Loesser CAST Marlon Brando, Jean Simmons (Sarah Brown), Frank Sinatra, Vivian Blaine, Robert Keith, Stubby Kaye, Regis Toomey

FOOTSTEPS IN THE FOG (1955) DIR Arthur Lubin PROD M. J. Frankovich, Maxwell Setton SCR Lenore Coffee, Dorothy Reid (adaptation by Arthur Pierson; short story “The Interruption” by J.J. Jacobs) CAM Christopher Challis ED Alan Osbiston MUS Benjamin Frankel CAST Stewart Granger, Jean Simmons (Lily Watkins), Bill Travers, Finlay Currie, Ronald Squire, Belinda Lee

HILDA CRANE (1956) DIR Philip Dunne PROD Herbert B. Swope, Jr. SCR Philip Dunne (play “Hilda Crane” [1950] by Samuel Raphaelson) CAM Joseph MacDonald ED David Bretherton MUS David Raksin CAST Jean Simmons (Hilda Crane Burns), Guy Madison, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Judith Evelyn, Evelyn Varden, Peggy Knudsen, Gregg Palmer

UNTIL THEY SAIL (1957) DIR Robert Wise PROD Charles Schnee SCR Robert Anderson (story by James A. Michener) CAM Joseph Guttenberg ED Harold F. Kress MUS David Raksin CAST Jean Simmons (Barbara Leslie Forbes), Joan Fontaine, Paul Newman, Piper Laurie, Charles Drake, Sandra Dee, Wally Cassell, Alan Napier, Mickey Shaughnessy

THIS COULD BE THE NIGHT (1957) DIR Robert Wise PROD Joe Pasternak SCR Isobel Lennart (short stories by Cordelia Baird Gross) CAM Russell Harlan ED George Boemler MUS Robert Van Eps, George Stoll CAST Jean Simmons (Anne Leeds), Paul Douglas, Anthony Franciosa, Julie Wilson, Neile Adams, Joan Blondell, J. Carrol Naish, ZaSu Pitts

THE BIG COUNTRY (1958) DIR William Wyler PROD William Wyler, Gregory Peck SCR Robert Wilder, Sy Bartlett, James R. Webb (adaptation by Robert Wyler, Jessamyn West; serialized magazine novel “Ambush at Blanco Canyon” [1958] by Donald Hamilton) CAM Franz Planer ED John Faure, Robert Belcher MUS Jerome Moross CAST Gregory Peck, Jean Simmons (Julie Maragon), Carroll Baker, Charlton Heston, Burl Ives, Charles Bickford, Chuck Connors, Alfonso Bedoya

HOME BEFORE DARK (1958) DIR – PROD Mervyn LeRoy SCR Eileen Bassing, Robert Bassing (novel “Home Before Dark” [1957] by Eileen Bassing) CAM Joseph F. Biroc ED Philip W. Anderson MUS  CAST Jean Simmons (Charlotte Brown), Rhonda Fleming, Efrem Zimbalist, Dan O’Herlihy, Mabel Albertson, Stephen Dunne, Joan Weldon

THIS EARTH OF MINE (1959) DIR Henry King PROD Claude Heilman, Casey Robinson SCR Casey Robinson (novel “The Cup and the Sword” [1942] by Alice Tisdale Hobart) CAM Russell Metty, Winton C. Hoch ED Ted J. Kent MUS Hugo Friedhofer CAST Rock Hudson, Jean Simmons (Elizabeth Rambeau), Dorothy McGuire, Claude Rains, Kent Smith, Anna Lee, Ken Scott

ELMER GANTRY (1960) DIR Richard Brooks PROD Bernard Smith SCR Richard Brooks (novel “Elmer Gantry” [1927] by Sinclair Brooks) CAM John Alton ED Marjorie Fowler MUS André Previn CAST Burt Lancaster, Jean Simmons (Sister Sharon Falconer), Arthur Kennedy, Dean Jagger, Shirley Jones, Patti Page, Edward Andrews, John McIntire, Hugh Marlowe

SPARTACUS (1960) DIR Stanley Kubrick PROD Edward Lewis [1991 restoration: James C. Katz] SCR Dalton Trumbo (novel “Spartacus” [1951] by Howard Fast) CAM Russell Metty ED Irving Lerner, Robert Lawrence MUS Alex North CAST Kirk Douglas, Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons (Varinia), Charles Laughton, Peter Ustinov, John Gavin, Nina Foch, John Ireland, Herbert Lom, Charles MacGraw, Harold J. Stone, Woody Strode, Tony Curtis

THE GRASS IS GREENER (1960) DIR – PROD Stanley Donen SCR Hugh Williams, Margaret Williams (play “The Grass Is Greener” [1956] by Hugo Williams, Margaret Williams) CAM Christopher Challis ED Jim Clark MUS Noël Coward CAST Cary Grant, Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons (Hattie Durant), Moray Watson, Joan Benham

ALL THE WAY HOME (1963) DIR Alex Segal PROD David Susskind SCR Philip H. Reisman, Jr. (novel “A Death in the Family” [1957] by James Agee; play “All the Way Home” [1960] by Tad Mosel) CAM Boris Kaufman ED Lora Hays MUS Bernard Green CAST Jean Simmons (Mary Follet), Robert Preston, Pat Hungle, Aline MacMahon, Thomas Chalmers, John Cullum, Helen Caruw

LIFE AT THE TOP (1965) DIR Ted Kotcheff PROD James Woolf SCR Mordecai Richler (novel “Life at the Top” [1962] by John Braine) CAM Oswald Morris ED Derek York MUS Richard Addinsell CAST Laurence Harvey, Jean Simmons (Susan Lampton), Honor Blackman, Michael Craig, Donald Wolfit, Robert Morley, Margaret Johnston

MISTER BUDDWING (1965) DIR Delbert Mann PROD Delbert Mann, Douglas Laurence SCR Dale Wasserman (novel “Mister Buddwing” [1964] by Evan Hunter) CAM Ellsworth Fredericks ED Fredric Steinkamp MUS Kenyon Hopkins CAST James Garner, Jean Simmons (The Blonde), Suzanne Pleshette, Angela Lansbury, Katharine Ross, Jack Gilford, Raymond St. Jacques

DIVORCE AMERICAN STYLE (1967) DIR Bud Yorkin PROD Norman Lear SCR Norman Lear (story by Robert Kaufman) CAM Conrad L. Hall ED Ferris Webster MUS Dave Grusin CAST Dick Van Dyke, Debbie Reynolds, Jason Robards, Jean Simmons (Nancy Downes), Van Johnson, Joe Flynn, Shelley Berman, Martin Gabel, Lee Grant, Tom Bosley, Eileen Brennan

ROUGH NIGHT IN JERICHO (1967) DIR Arnold Laven PROD Martin Rackin SCR Marvin H. Albert, Sydney Boehm (novel “The Man in Black” [1965] by Marvin H. Albert) CAM Russell Metty ED Ted J. Kent MUS Don Costa CAST Dean Martin, George Peppard, Jean Simmons (Molly Lang), John McIntire, Slim Pickens, Don Galloway, Brad Weston, Army Archerd

THE HAPPY ENDING (1969) DIR – PROD – SCR Richard Brooks CAM Conrad L. Hall ED George Grenville MUS Michel Legrand CAST Jean Simmons (Mary Wilson), John Forsythe, Shirley Jones, Lloyd Bridges, Teresa Wright, Dick Shawn, Nanette Fabray, Bobby Darin, Tina Louise, Kathy Fields, Karen Steele, Gail Hensley

SAY HELLO TO YESTERDAY (1971) DIR Alvin Rakoff PROD Josef Shaftel SCR Alvin Rakoff, Peter King (original story by Alvin Rakoff, Ray Mathew) CAM Geoffrey Unsworth ED Ralph Sheldon MUS Riz Ortolani CAST Jean Simmons (Woman), Leonard Whiting, Evelyn Laye, John Lee, Jack Woolgar, Constance Chapman

MR. SYCAMORE (1975) DIR – PROD Pancho Kohner SCR Pancho Kohner, Ketti Frings (story by Robert Ayre; play “Mr. Sycamore” [1942] by Ketti Frings) CAM John Arthur Morrill ED George Van Noy, Andrew Herbert MUS Maurice Jarre CAST Jason Robards, Sandy Dennis, Jean Simmons (Estelle Benbow), Robert Easton, Mark Miller, Brenda Smith, Jerome Thor

DOMINIQUE, a.k.a. DOMINIQUE IS DEAD (1979) DIR Michael Anderson PROD Milton Subotsky, Andrew Donnally SCR Edward Abraham, Andrew Abraham (short story “What Beckoning Ghost” [1948] by Harold Lawlor) CAM Ted Moore ED Richard Best MUS David Whitaker CAST Cliff Robertson, Jean Simmons (Dominique Ballard), Jenny Agutter, Simon Ward, Ron Moody, Judy Geeson, Michael Jayston, Flora Robson, David Tomlinson, Jack Warner

YELLOW PAGES (1985) DIR – SCR James Kenelm Clarke PROD John D. Schofield, Jefferson Colegate-Stone CAM John Coquillon ED Florent Retz, Eric Boyd-Perkins MUS Alan Hawkshaw CAST Chris Lemmon, Jean Simmons (Maxine de la Hunt), Lea Thompson, Viveca Lindfors, Mills Watson, Jewel Shepard, Nancy Cartwright, Joe Michael Terry

THE DAWNING (1989) DIR Robert Knights PROD Sarah Lawson SCR Moira Williams, Bernard MacLaverty (novel “The Old Jest” [1979] by Jennifer Johnston) CAM Adrian Biddle ED Max Lemon MUS Simon May CAST Anthony Hopkins, Rebecca Pidgeon, Jean Simmons (Aunt Mary), Trevor Howard, Tara MacGowran, Hugh Grant, Ronnie Masterson

HOW TO MAKE AN AMERICAN QUILT (1995) DIR Jocelyn Moorhouse PROD Midge Sanford, Sarah Pillsbury SCR Jane Anderson (novel “How to Make an American Quilt” [1991] by Whitney Otto) CAM Janusz Kaminski ED Jill Bilcock MUS Thomas Newman CAST Winona Ryder, Anne Bancroft, Ellen Burstyn, Kate Nelligan, Alfre Woodard, Jean Simmons (Em Reed), Rip Torn, Melinda Dillon, Jared Leto

HAURO NO UGOKU SHIRO, a.k.a. HOWL’S MOVING CASTLE (2004, animated) DIR Hayao Miyazaki PROD Rick Dempsey, Ned Lott, Toshio Suzuki. Scr Hayao Miyazaki (novel “Howl’s Moving Castle” [1986] by Daiana Win Jônzu, a.k.a. Diana Wynne Jones) CAM Atsushi Okui ED Takeshi Seyama MUS Joe Hisaishi CAST (voices English-language version) Lauren Bacall, Billy Crystal, Blythe Danner, Jean Simmons (Old Sophie), Emily Mortimer

THRU THE MOEBIUS STRIP (2004, animated) DIR Frank Foster PROD Frank Foster, S.D. Katz, David Kirschner, Anthony Neoh SCR Jim Cox, Paul Gertz (original story by Jean ‘Moebius’ Giraud) ED Bob Bender, Lois Freeman-Fox MUS Olivier Lliboutry, Nathan Lanier CAST (voice only) Michael Dorn, Mark Hamill, Chris Marquette, Kellie Martin, Jean Simmons (Shepway), Jonathan Taylor Thomas

SHADOWS IN THE SUN (2009) DIR David Rocksavage PROD Nick O’Hagan SCR David Rocksavage, Margaret Glover CAM Milton Kam ED Pérez Eduardo Vidal MUS Richard Chester CAST Jean Simmons (Hannah), James Wilby, Jamie Dornan, Ophelia Lovibond, Toby Marlow, Patrick Godfrey, Sandra Voe, Clemency Burton-Hill

TV MOVIES

SOLDIER IN LOVE (1967) DIR George Schaefer CAST Claire Bloom, Keith Mitchell, Roy Poole, Basil Rathbone, Jean Simmons (Sarah Curchill)

HEIDI (1969) DIR Delbert Mann CAST Maximilian Schell, Jean Simmons (Fräulein Rottenmeier), Jennifer Edwards, Michael Redgrave, Walter Slezak, Peter Van Eyck

THE EASTER PROMISE (1975) DIR Paul Bogart CAST Jason Robards, Lisa Lucas, Mildred Natwick, Jean Simmons (Constance Payne), Frannie Michel

THE BEGGARMAN THIEF (1979) Dir Lawrence Doheny CAST Jean Simmons (Gretchen Jordache Burke), Glenn Ford, Lynn Redgrave, Tovah Feldshuh, Andrew Stevens, Bo Hopkins, Jean-Pierre Aumont, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Anne Francis, Anne Jeffries

JACQUELINE SUSANN’S VALLEY OF THE DOLLS (1981) DIR Walter Grauman CAST Catherine Hicks, Lisa Hartman, Veronica Hamel, David Birney, Jean Simmons (Helen Lawson), James Coburn, Britt Ekland, Camilla Sparv

GOLDEN GATE (1981) DIR Paul Wendkos CAST Perry King, Jean Simmons (Jane Kingsley), Richard Kiley, Robyn Douglas, Mary Crosby, John Saxon, Melanie Griffith

A SMALL KILLING (1981) DIR Steven Hilliard Stern CAST Edward Asner, Jean Simmons (Margaret Lawrence), Andrew Pine, Mary Jackson, Silvia Sydney, Anne Ramsey

DECEMBER FLOWER (1984) DIR Bryan Frears CAST Mona Washbourne, Jean Simmons (Etta), Bryan Forbes, June Ritchie, Richard Werner

MIDAS VALLEY (1985) DIR Gus Trikonis CAST Jean Simmons (Molly Hammond), Robert Stack, Catherine May Stewart, France Nuyen, George Grizzard

PERRY MASON: THE CASE OF THE LOST LOVE (1987) DIR Ron Satlof CAST Raymond Burr, Barbara Hale, Jean Simmons (Laura Kilgallen), David Ogden Stiers

INHERIT THE WIND (1988) DIR David Greene. CAST Kirk Douglas, Jason Robards, Darren McGavin, John Harkins, Megan Follows, Jean Simmons (Lucy Brady)

A FRIENDSHIP IN VIENNA (1988) DIR Arthur Allan Seidelman CAST Jane Alexander, Edward Asner, Natasha Bell, Helen Bourne, Jean Simmons (narration, voice only)

LAKER GIRLS (1990) DIR Bruce Seth Gree CAST Tina Yothers, Paris Vaughn, Shari Shattuck, Paul Johansson, Alexandra Paul, Jean Simmons (Connie Harrison)

PEOPLE LIKE US (1990) DIR William Hale CAST Connie Sellecca, Jean Simmons (Peach Prindible Bailey), Beatrice Straight, Paul Williams

SENSIBILITY AND SENSE (1990) DIR David Hugh Jones CAST Lili Taylor, Tom Aldredge, Trini Alvarado, Jeffrey DeMunn, Jean Simmons, Eric Stoltz

DARK SHADOWS (1990) DIR Dan Curtis CAST Ben Cross, Barbara Blackburn, Joanna Going, Roy Thinnis, Jean Simmons (Elizabeth Collins Stoddard), Lysette Anthony

MISS MARPLE: THEY DO IT WITH MIRRORS (1991) DIR Norman Stone CAST Joan Hickson, Jean Simmons (Carrie-Louise Serrocold), Joss Ackland, Faith Brook, Gillian Barge

ONE MORE MOUNTAIN (1994) DIR Dick Lowry CAST Meredith Baxter, Chris Cooper, Larry Drake, Robert Duncan McNeill, Laurie O’Brien, Jean Simmons (Sarah Keyes)

DAISIES IN DECEMBER (1995) DIR Mark Haber CAST Joss Ackland, Jean Simmons (Katherine Palmer), Pippa Guard, Judith Barker, Barbara Lott, Muriel Pavlov

HER OWN RULES (1998) DIR Bobby Roth CAST Melissa Gilbert, Jeremy Sheffield, Lorraine Pilkington, Ginny Holder, Jean Simmons (Katherine Stratten)

FINAL PHANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN (2001) Dir Hironobu Sakaguchi, Moto Sakakibara. CAST: Ming-Na, Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, Donald Sutherland, Jean Simmons (Council Member # 2, voice only)

WINTER SOLTSICE (2003) DIR Martyn Friend CAST Jan Niklas, Geraldine Chaplin, Sinéad Cusack, Emma Streets, Sophie Schütt, Peter Ustinov, Jean Simmons (Lucinda Rhives)

TV MINISERIES

THE DAIN CURSE (1978) DIR E.M. Swackhamer CAST James Coburn, Hector Elizondo, Jason Miller, Jean Simmons (Aaronia Haldorn), Paul Stewart, Beatrice Straight

THE THORN BIRDS (1983) DIR Daryl Duke CAST Richard Chamberlain, Rachel Ward, Barbara Stanwyck, Christopher Plummer, Jean Simmons (Fiona ‘Fee’ Claney), Richard Kiley, Ken Howard, Piper Laurie, Earl Holliman, Mare Winningham, Bryan Brown

NORTH AND SOUTH (1985) DIR Richard T. Heffron CAST Kirstie Alley, David Carradine, Lesley-Anne Down, Patrick Swayze, Hol Holbrook, Gene Kelly, Robert Mitchum, Jean Simmons (Clarissa Main), Elizabeth Taylor, Forest Whitaker, Ron O’Neal

NORTH AND SOUTH, BOOK II (1986) DIR Kevin Connor CAST Kirstie Alley, David Carradine, Mary Crosby, Lesley-Anne Down, Patrick Swayze, Lloyd Bridges, Olivia de Havilland, Linda Evans, Hal Holbrook, Lee Horsley, Wayne Newton, Jean Simmons (Clarissa Main), James Stewart, Clu Gulager, Robert Englund

GREAT EXPECTATIONS (1989) DIR Kevin Connor CAST Jean Simmons (Miss Havisham), John Rhys-Davies, Ray McAnally, Anthony Calf, Adam Blackwood, Anthony Hopkins