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Jennifer Jones (born March 2 , 1919 ) is an Academy Award -winning American Actress . EARLY LIFE Jones was born Phylis Lee Isley in Tulsa , Oklahoma to Phil Isley and Flora Mae Suber, who toured the Midwest in a traveling tent show they owned and operated. Jones attended Monte Cassino Junior College in Tulsa and Northwestern University before transferring to the Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York in 1938. There she met and fell in love with fellow acting student Robert Walker and they were married on January 2 1939 when Jones was 19 years old. They returned to Tulsa for a 13 week radio program arranged by her father, and then headed for Hollywood. Phylis landed two small roles, first in a John Wayne western titled ''New Frontier'' (1939) and later a serial, ''Dick Tracy’s G-Men'' (1939) but when she and her husband failed a screen test for Paramount Pictures , they decided to return to New York. CAREER While Walker found steady work in radio programs Phylis worked part-time work modeling hats for the Powers Agency and looked for possible acting jobs. When she learned of auditions for the lead role of ''Claudia'' in Rose Franken ’s hit play of the same name, she presented herself to David O. Selznick ’s New York office, but fled in tears after what she thought was a bad reading. Selznick, however, overheard her audition and was impressed enough to have his secretary call her back. Following an interview in which they began having an affair, she was signed to a seven year contract. She was carefully groomed for stardom and given her new name - Jennifer Jones. Director King Vidor was impressed by her screen test as Bernadette Soubirous for '' The Song Of Bernadette '' and she won the coveted role over hundreds of applicants. Jones was presented with the Best Actress Academy Award (1943) on her 25th birthday in 1944. She had found a new best friend in Hollywood, the swedish actress Ingrid Bergman. In 1943 they were each nominated as Best Actess (Jones as St. Bernadette, Ingrid Bergam for "For Whom The Bell Tolls" Jennifer Jones won, and she walked over to her best friend to apologize, yet Ingrid set a new standard for classiness by saying" oh, your Bernadette was better than my Elsa" Selznick was a suffocating and dominating lover who became obsessed with grooming and molding Jennifer's career. It is suggested that Selznick's domination lead to her many suicide attempts and an increasing nervousness. During her tenure with Selznick, Jones was cast in multiple inapproriate roles in his effort to get her a second Oscar. for the film Portrait Of Jennie to represent the painting by Eben Adams (played by Joseph Cotten ). ]] Over the next two decades, she appeared in a wide range of roles judiciously selected by Selznick. Her dark beauty and sensitive nature appealed to audiences and she projected a variable range. Her initial saintly image, as shown in her first starring role, was a stark contrast three years later when she was cast as a provocative half-breed in Selznick’s controversial '' Duel In The Sun '' (1946). Other notable films included '' Since You Went Away '' (1944), ''Cluny Brown'' (1946), '' Portrait Of Jennie '' (1948), ''Madame Bovary'' (1949), ''Ruby Gentry'' (1952), '' Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing '' and ''Good Morning Miss Dove'' (1955). The Portrait of her for the film Portrait of Jennie was painted by Robert Brackman . PRIVATE LIFE Jones's first marriage to Robert Walker produced two sons, Robert Walker Jr. born April 15 1940 , and Michael Walker, born March 13 1941 . Both of them became actors. The couple divorced in 1944. Jones married Selznick on July 13 1949 , staying with him until his death on June 22 1965 . Following Selznick's death, she semi-retired from acting and appeared in only a few films. Her last appearance was a strong supporting role in '' The Towering Inferno '' (1974). Her only child with Selznick, Mary Jennifer Selznick, born August 12 1954 , committed suicide in 1976. This led to Jones' interest in mental health issues. She married multi-millionaire industrialist, art collector and philanthropist Norton Simon on May 29 1971 , and remained married to him until his death on June 1 1993 . She is currently on the board of directors of the Norton Simon Museum in Los Angeles. Jennifer Jones is a Breast Cancer survivor. The late actress Susan Strasberg , who died of breast cancer, was married to a fellow actor surnamed Jones, and named her only child, a daughter, '''Jennifer Jane Jones''', after the esteemed older actress. There has been rumor of Jennifer Jones returning to film work for the first time in 32 years, in a film called The Last New Yorker . Although this has not been confirmed, many of Jones' fans have been speculating if it is true or not on internet message boards. FILMOGRAPHY
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