R.I.P. Jennifer Jones

Jennifer Jones, the actress who was nominated for Academy Awards five times, winning in 1943 for her portrayal of a saintly nun in The Song of Bernadette, has died aged 90. Jones, who in later years was a leader of the Norton Simon Museum, died at her home in Malibu of natural causes, museum spokeswoman Leslie Denk said. Jones was the widow of the museum's founder, wealthy industrialist Norton Simon, and served as chair of the museum's board of directors after his death. Known for her intense performances, she was one of Hollywood's biggest stars of the 1940s and 50s. Among her most memorable roles were the half-breed vixen who vamps rowdy cowboy Gregory Peck in Duel In The Sun, and the Eurasian doctor who falls for Korean War correspondent William Holden in Love Is A Many-Splendoured Thing. Despite her heavily dramatic screen roles, Jones conveyed an aura of shyness, even aloofness offstage. She rarely gave interviews. Early in her career, Jones had become nearly as famous for her high-profile marriages as for her movie work. She met actor Robert Walker when both studied acting in New York, and they married and came to Hollywood, where her stardom ascended more rapidly than his. Jones' boss, David O Selznick, became obsessed with his star and spent much of his time promoting her career. They married four years after she divorced Walker in 1945. Selznick died in 1965, and in 1973 Jones married Simon.

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