Biography for
Jane Greer (I) More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

9 September 1924, Washington, District of Columbia, USA

Date of Death

24 August 2001, Los Angeles, California, USA (cancer)

Birth Name

Bettejane Greer

Height

5' 5" (1.65 m)

Mini Biography

As a baby, she was winning beauty contests; as a teenager, with good looks and an attractive contralto voice, she was singing with big bands (most notably Enric Madriguera's orchestra in Latin Club Del Rio in Washington, D.C.. She met Rudy Vallee, her first husband, on the radio where she also enjoyed a brief stint as a singer. At age 15, an attack of palsy left her face partially paralyzed. She claimed that it was through facial exercises to overcome the paralysis that she learned the efficacy of facial expression in conveying human emotion, a skill she was renowned for using in her acting.

IMDb Mini Biography By: jack johnson

Spouse

Edward Lasker	(20 August 1947 - 16 November 1963) (divorced) 3 children
Rudy Vallee	(2 December 1943 - 27 July 1944) (divorced)

Trivia

Companion until his death of Frank London (1963 - 31 January 2001)

Mother, with Edward Lasker, of Alex Lasker, Steven Lasker and Lawrence Lasker.

Twin brother, Don.

Howard Hughes became attracted to Greer and brought her to Hollywood after he saw her in newsreels, and in Life magazine, modeling army uniforms for women. Deciding that Bettejane was too "ingenuish", she shortened her name to Jane for her billing in the film, Dick Tracy (1945).

Quickly married crooner Rudy Vallee after fleeing a possessed Howard Hughes, who discovered her on a WWII poster and kept her virtually a prisoner during her first few months. An enraged Hughes pressured her and ruined the marriage. She returned to Hughes and her contract.

She is of Scottish royal descent. Born in Washington, D.C. to Charles Dean McLean Greer, Jr. Her grandfather, Charles, Sr., according to the Biographical Directory of the Tennessee General Assembly was a representative of Shelby County, TN in the state House from 1899-1901 and in the state Senate 1901-1903 as speaker. Greer street in Memphis, TN is named after Charles Sr.

Cousin of actor Kevin Scott Greer.

Mother's name was Bettie.

Was on the cover of Life magazine on June 8, 1942 and June 2, 1947. It was this 1942 issue of Life that caught the eye of Howard Hughes and started her Hollywood career.

Lived in a mansion at 136 South Carmelina Avenue in Brentwood.

Her third son, Steven "Steve" Lasker, was born May 8, 1954.

Her favorite sport was golf and she was one of many film stars who had a membership with the famed Hollywood Golf Club.

Jane Greer contracted a tropical virus during the location shooting of the film "Run for the Sun" (1956), which eventually required her to have a heart operation.

She was a lifelong conservative Republican and fervent anti-communist.

Personal Quotes

I'd always wanted to be an actress, and suddenly I knew that learning to control my facial muscles was one of the best assets I could have as a performer. Emotions often must be portrayed from an inner feeling, of course, but I had a double advantage because I was learning to direct my as-yet expressionless feelings, as well as gaining an ability to express emotion by a very conscious manipulation of my muscles.

Howard Hughes was obsessed with me. But at first it seemed as if he were offering me a superb career opportunity.

I love making movies, but I was ready to rationalize being only a mother if my career never got back on track.