|
Actress Jane Wyman was nominated for Best Actress Oscar three times, and eventually won in 1948 for her role as "Belinda McDonald," a deaf mute who is raped by a bully in a Nova Scotia fishing village in Johnny Belinda.
Born Sarah Jane Mayfield on January 4, 1914, in Saint Joseph, MO, she later took the name Sarah Jane Fulks, after the neighbor family who unofficially "adopted" her. In 1930, she changed her name to Jane Durrell, and began a career in radio. Six years later, she moved to Hollywood, landing bit parts in the films My Man Godfrey and Cain and Mabel. She received her first starring role just three years later, in Torchy Plays With Dynamite. She received much acclaim for her performance in the film The Lost Weekend, and was nominated for Best Actress for The Yearling in 1946. Among her other films are Stage Fright, Here Comes the Groom, The Glass Menagerie, The Blue Veil (Best Actress nomination), Magnificent Obsession (Best Actress nomination), All that Heaven Allows, and Miracle in the Rain.
In the 1950's, Wyman hosted a TV anthology series called Jane Wyman Theatre, and she returned to the small screen in the 1980's as the star of the prime-time soap opera, Falcon Crest.
In 1938, she had co-starred with Ronald Reagan, in the movie, Brother Rat. Married in 1940, they were divorced eight years later. They had two children, Maureen and Michael. Maureen died of cancer in 2001.
Wyman has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, one for motion pictures and one for television. She holds the record for the longest screen kiss, with Regis Toomey in You're in the Army Now (1941), at 3 minutes and 5 seconds.
Jane Wyman died on September 10, 2007.
Last updated: December 03, 2007.
© 1999-present by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.
