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IMDbPro

Gene Tierney(1920-1991)

  • Actress
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Gene Tierney publicity photo for "Laura" 1944 Fox / **I.V.
Trailer for Advise & Consent
Play trailer4:45
Advise & Consent (1962)
15 Videos
99+ Photos
With prominent cheekbones, luminous skin and the most crystalline green eyes of her day, Gene Tierney's striking good looks helped propel her to stardom. Her best known role is the enigmatic murder victim in Laura (1944). She was also Oscar-nominated for Leave Her to Heaven (1945). Her acting performances were few in the 1950s as she battled a troubled emotional life that included hospitalization and shock treatment for depression.

Gene Eliza Tierney was born on November 19, 1920 in Brooklyn, New York, to well-to-do parents, Belle Lavinia (Taylor) and Howard Sherwood Tierney. Her father was a successful insurance broker and her mother was a former teacher. Her childhood was lavish indeed. She also lived, at times, with her equally successful grandparents in Connecticut and New York. She was educated in the finest schools on the East Coast and at a finishing school in Switzerland.

After two years in Europe, Gene returned to the US where she completed her education. By 1938 she was performing on Broadway in What a Life! and understudied for the Primrose Path (1938) at the same time. Her wealthy father set up a corporation that was only to promote her theatrical pursuits. Her first role consisted of carrying a bucket of water across the stage, prompting one critic to announce that "Miss Tierney is, without a doubt, the most beautiful water carrier I have ever seen!" Her subsequent roles Mrs O'Brian Entertains (1939) and RingTwo (1939) were meatier and received praise from the tough New York critics. Critic Richard Watts wrote "I see no reason why Miss Tierney should not have a long and interesting theatrical career, that is if the cinema does not kidnap her away."

After being spotted by the legendary Darryl F. Zanuck during a stage performance of the hit show The Male Animal (1940), Gene was signed to a contract with 20th Century-Fox. Her first role as Barbara Hall in Hudson's Bay (1940) would be the send-off vehicle for her career. Later that year she appeared in The Return of Frank James (1940). The next year would prove to be a very busy one for Gene, as she appeared in The Shanghai Gesture (1941), Sundown (1941), Tobacco Road (1941) and Belle Starr (1941). She tried her hand at screwball comedy in Rings on Her Fingers (1942), which was a great success. Her performances in each of these productions were masterful. In 1945 she was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Ellen Brent in Leave Her to Heaven (1945). Though she didn't win, it solidified her position in Hollywood society. She followed up with another great performance as Isabel Bradley in the hit The Razor's Edge (1946).

In 1944, she played what is probably her best-known role (and, most critics agree, her most outstanding performance) in Otto Preminger's Laura (1944), in which she played murder victim named Laura Hunt. In 1947 Gene played Lucy Muir in the acclaimed The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947). By this time Gene was the hottest player around, and the 1950s saw no letup as she appeared in a number of good films, among them Night and the City (1950), The Mating Season (1951), Close to My Heart (1951), Plymouth Adventure (1952), Personal Affair (1953) and The Left Hand of God (1955). The latter was to be her last performance for seven years. The pressures of a failed marriage to Oleg Cassini, the birth of a daughter with learning disabilities in 1943, and several unhappy love affairs resulted in Gene being hospitalized for depression. When she returned to the the screen in Advise & Consent (1962), her acting was as good as ever but there was no longer a big demand for her services.

Her last feature film was The Pleasure Seekers (1964), and her final appearance in the film industry was in a TV miniseries, Scruples (1980). Gene died of emphysema in Houston, Texas, on November 6, 1991, just two weeks shy of her 71st birthday.
BornNovember 19, 1920
DiedNovember 6, 1991(70)
BornNovember 19, 1920
DiedNovember 6, 1991(70)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Nominated for 1 Oscar
    • 7 wins & 1 nomination total

Photos1041

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Known for

Laura (1944)
Laura
7.9
  • Laura Hunt
  • 1944
Gene Tierney, Jeanne Crain, and Cornel Wilde in Leave Her to Heaven (1945)
Leave Her to Heaven
7.6
  • Ellen Berent Harland
  • 1945
Gene Tierney, Don Ameche, Charles Coburn, Laird Cregar, and Marjorie Main in Heaven Can Wait (1943)
Heaven Can Wait
7.3
  • Martha Strabel Van Cleve
  • 1943
Dragonwyck (1946)
Dragonwyck
6.9
  • Miranda Wells
  • 1946

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actress



  • Scruples (1980)
    Scruples
    6.5
    TV Mini Series
    • Harriet Toppingham
    • 1980
  • Ray Milland and Don Murray in Daughter of the Mind (1969)
    Daughter of the Mind
    6.2
    TV Movie
    • Lenore Constable
    • 1969
  • The F.B.I. (1965)
    The F.B.I.
    7.4
    TV Series
    • Faye Simpson
    • 1969
  • Ann-Margret, Carol Lynley, and Pamela Tiffin in The Pleasure Seekers (1964)
    The Pleasure Seekers
    5.6
    • Jane Barton
    • 1964
  • Four Nights of the Full Moon
    5.3
    • 1963
  • Dean Martin and Yvette Mimieux in Toys in the Attic (1963)
    Toys in the Attic
    6.7
    • Albertine Prine
    • 1963
  • Advise & Consent (1962)
    Advise & Consent
    7.7
    • Dolly Harrison
    • 1962
  • Ronald Reagan in General Electric Theater (1953)
    General Electric Theater
    6.7
    TV Series
    • Ellen Galloway
    • 1960
  • Humphrey Bogart and Gene Tierney in The Left Hand of God (1955)
    The Left Hand of God
    6.4
    • Anne 'Scotty' Scott
    • 1955
  • Black Widow (1954)
    Black Widow
    6.7
    • Iris Denver
    • 1954
  • The Egyptian (1954)
    The Egyptian
    6.5
    • Baketamon
    • 1954
  • Personal Affair (1953)
    Personal Affair
    6.5
    • Kay Barlow
    • 1953
  • Clark Gable, Gene Tierney, and Richard Haydn in Never Let Me Go (1953)
    Never Let Me Go
    6.2
    • Marya Lamarkina
    • 1953
  • Gene Tierney, Spencer Tracy, Van Johnson, Dawn Addams, and Leo Genn in Plymouth Adventure (1952)
    Plymouth Adventure
    6.2
    • Dorothy Bradford
    • 1952
  • Way of a Gaucho (1952)
    Way of a Gaucho
    6.4
    • Teresa Chavez
    • 1952

Soundtrack



  • Humphrey Bogart and Gene Tierney in The Left Hand of God (1955)
    The Left Hand of God
    6.4
    • performer: "A LOAF OF BREAD"
    • 1955
  • Gene Tierney, John Lund, and Thelma Ritter in The Mating Season (1951)
    The Mating Season
    7.4
    • performer: "Je n'en Connais pas la Fin" (uncredited)
    • 1951
  • Gene Tierney, Richard Widmark, Francis L. Sullivan, and Googie Withers in Night and the City (1950)
    Night and the City
    7.8
    • performer: "Here's to Champagne" (uncredited)
    • 1950
  • Tyrone Power and Gene Tierney in That Wonderful Urge (1948)
    That Wonderful Urge
    6.5
    • performer: "Don't Fence Me In"
    • 1948
  • Dragonwyck (1946)
    Dragonwyck
    6.9
    • performer: "I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls" (uncredited)
    • 1946
  • Henry Fonda and Gene Tierney in Rings on Her Fingers (1942)
    Rings on Her Fingers
    6.6
    • performer: "Put On Your Old Grey Bonnet" (uncredited)
    • 1942

Videos15

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Trailer 2:32
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Official Trailer
Trailer 2:19
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Trailer 2:16
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Trailer 2:35
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Personal details

Edit
  • Height
    • 5′ 5½″ (1.66 m)
  • Born
    • November 19, 1920
    • Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
  • Died
    • November 6, 1991
    • Houston, Texas, USA(emphysema)
  • Spouses
      William Howard LeeJuly 11, 1960 - February 17, 1981 (his death)
  • Parents
      Belle Lavinia
  • Other works
    Print ads: Westmore Hollywood Cosmetics' Tru-Glow Liquid makeup.
  • Publicity listings
    • 5 Print Biographies
    • 6 Articles
    • 6 Pictorials
    • 11 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Her first daughter was born intellectually disabled because Gene had contracted rubella (aka German measles) during her only appearance at the Hollywood Canteen. This served as the uncredited inspiration for the plot of the 1962 Agatha Christie novel and later movie The Mirror Crack'd (1980).
  • Quotes
    Jealousy is, I think, the worst of all faults because it makes a victim of both parties.
  • Nickname
    • The Get Girl
  • Salary
    • The Return of Frank James
      (1940)
      $350 / week

FAQ

Powered by Alexa
  • When did Gene Tierney die?
    November 6, 1991
  • How did Gene Tierney die?
    Emphysema
  • How old was Gene Tierney when she died?
    70 years old
  • Where did Gene Tierney die?
    Houston, Texas, USA
  • When was Gene Tierney born?
    November 19, 1920

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