Isabel Jewell (July 19, 1907 – April 5, 1972) was an American actress, who rose to prominence in the 1930s and early 1940s. Some of her more famous films were Ceiling Zero, Marked Woman, A Tale of Two Cities, and Gone with the Wind.

Isabel Jewell
Jewell in 1933 by Clarence Sinclair Bull
Born(1907-07-19)July 19, 1907
Shoshoni, Wyoming, U.S.
DiedApril 5, 1972(1972-04-05) (aged 64)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other namesIsabel Jewel
Isobel Jewell
OccupationActress
Years active1932–1972
Spouses
  • Lovell "Cowboy" Underwood (m. 1927; div. 19??)
(m. 1939; div. 1941)
(m. 1941; div. 1944)

Early life

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Born in Shoshoni, Wyoming[1] on July 19, 1907,[1] Jewell was the daughter of Emory Lee Jewell and Livia A. Willoughby Jewell.[1] Her father was "a prominent...doctor and medical researcher."[2] She was educated at St. Mary's Academy in Minnesota and at Hamilton College in Kentucky.[1]

Career

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After years in theatre stock companies, including an 87-week stint in Lincoln, Nebraska, she got a part on Broadway in Up Pops the Devil (1930).[3] She received glowing critical reviews for Blessed Event (1932) as well.[4]

Jewell's film debut came in Blessed Event (1932).[1] She had been brought to Hollywood by Warner Brothers for the film version of Up Pops the Devil. Jewell gained other supporting roles, appearing in a variety of films in the early 1930s. She played stereotypical gangsters' women in such films as Manhattan Melodrama (1934) and Marked Woman (1937). She was well-received playing against type as the seamstress sentenced to death on the guillotine with Sydney Carton (Ronald Colman in A Tale of Two Cities (1935). Her most significant role was Sally Bates in She Had to Choose. Jewell's films included Gone with the Wind (1939) (in the role of "that white trash, Emmy Slattery"), Northwest Passage (1940), High Sierra (1941), and the low-budget The Leopard Man (1943).

By the end of the 1940s, her roles had reduced in significance to the degree that her performances often were uncredited, e.g. The Snake Pit. She performed in radio dramas in the 1950s, including This Is Your FBI.

In February 1965, she played Madame Ahr, a member of a bank-robbing circus troupe, in an episode of Gunsmoke entitled "Circus Trick."

In 1972, Jewell appeared opposite Edie Sedgwick in the film Ciao! Manhattan. Her final film was the B movie Sweet Kill (1973), the directorial debut of Curtis Hanson.

Personal life

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Jewell was a Democrat who supported Adlai Stevenson's campaign during the 1952 presidential election.[5] She was also a practicing Episcopalian.[6]

Jewell's first marriage (which "was not generally known during Jewell's lifetime...[nor] mentioned in the press during her heyday in American films") occurred when she wed Lovell "Cowboy" Underwood when she was 19.[1] In the mid to late 1930s, Jewell was seen at nightclubs with actor William Hopper.[7] In 1936, she was engaged to actor Owen Crump,[8] marrying in 1939 and divorcing in 1941.[9][unreliable source?] In 1941, Jewell married actor Paul Marion, who was then a private in the United States Army. They separated in 1943,[1] and were divorced on May 12, 1944.[10]

Death and legacy

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Jewell died in Los Angeles, California on April 5, 1972, aged 64, from suicide after taking an overdose of barbiturates.[1][11] Her ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.[11]

In 1960, Jewell was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to motion pictures. The star is located at 1560 Vine Street.[12][13]

Filmography

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Complete filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1931 The Week End Mystery Miss Keith Short
1932 Blessed Event Dorothy Lane Uncredited
1933 The Crime of the Century Bridge Player Uncredited
1933 Bondage Beulah
1933 Beauty for Sale Hortense Credited as Isobel Jewell
1933 Bombshell Lily, Junior's Girl Friend Credited as Isobel Jewell
1933 Day of Reckoning Kate Lovett
1933 Design for Living Plunkett's Stenographer
1933 Advice to the Lovelorn Rose
1933 The Women in His Life Catherine 'Cathy' Watson
1933 Counsellor at Law Bessie Green
1934 Men in White Scenes cut
1934 Let's Be Ritzy Betty
1934 Manhattan Melodrama Annabelle
1934 Here Comes the Groom Angy
1934 She Had to Choose Sally Bates
1934 Evelyn Prentice Judith Wilson
1935 Shadow of Doubt Inez 'Johnny' Johnson - singer
1935 I've Been Around Sally Van Loan
1935 Times Square Lady 'Babe' Sweeney
1935 The Casino Murder Case Amelia Llewellyn
1935 Mad Love Marianne Scenes cut
1935 A Tale of Two Cities Seamstress
1936 Ceiling Zero Lou Clarke
1936 Dancing Feet Mabel Henry
1936 The Leathernecks Have Landed Brooklyn
1936 Big Brown Eyes Bessie Blair
1936 Small Town Girl Emily 'Em' Brannan
1936 36 Hours to Kill Jeanie Benson
1936 The Man Who Lived Twice Peggy Russell
1936 Valiant Is the Word for Carrie Lilli Eipper
1936 Go West, Young Man Gladys
1936 Career Woman Gracie Clay
1937 Lost Horizon Gloria Stone
1937 Marked Woman Emmy Lou Eagan
1937 Love on Toast Belle Huntley
1938 Swing It, Sailor! Myrtle Montrose
1938 The Crowd Roars Mrs. Martin
1939 They Asked for It Molly Herkimer
1939 Missing Daughters Peggy
1939 Gone with the Wind Emmy Slattery
1940 'Oh Johnny, How You Can Love Gertie
1940 'Northwest Passage' (Book I -- Rogers' Rangers) Jennie Coit
1940 Irene Jane McGee
1940 Babies for Sale Edith Drake
1940 Scatterbrain Esther Harrington
1940 Marked Men Linda Harkness
1940 Little Men Stella
1941 High Sierra Blonde
1941 For Beauty's Sake Amy Devore
1943 The Leopard Man Maria
1943 The Seventh Victim Frances Fallon
1943 Danger! Women at Work Marie
1943 The Falcon and the Co-eds Mary Phoebus
1944 The Merry Monahans Rose Monahan
1945 Steppin' in Society Jenny the Juke
1945 Sensation Hunters Mae
1946 Badman's Territory Belle Starr
1947 Born to Kill Laury Palmer
1947 The Bishop's Wife Hysterical mother
1948 Michael O'Halloran Mrs. Laura Nelson
1948 The Snake Pit Ward 33 Inmate Uncredited
1948 Unfaithfully Yours First Telephone Operator Uncredited
1948 Belle Starr's Daughter Belle Starr
1949 The Story of Molly X Mrs. Mack—Prison Laundry Matron Uncredited
1953 Man in the Attic Katy
1954 Drum Beat Lily White
1957 Bernardine Mrs. McDuff
1972 Sweet Kill Mrs. Cole
1972 Ciao! Manhattan Mummy
Partial television credits
Year Series Role Episode
1952 The Adventures of Kit Carson Mary Barker "The Trap"
1952 The Unexpected Sister "One for the Money"
1952 Mr. & Mrs. North Anne Noble "The Nobles"
1952 Fireside Theatre "The Boxer and the Stranger"
1953 Fireside Theatre "The Twelfth Juror"
1955 Treasury Men in Action "The Case of the Lady in Hiding"
1956 Dr. Christian Mae "Insurance Policy"
1957 Climax! Actress " Murder Has a Deadline"
1961 The Aquanauts Miss Port "The Defective Tank Adventure"
1961 Lock Up "Planter's Death"
1962 The Untouchables Sophie "The Night They Shot Santa Claus"
1964 Kraft Suspense Theatre Mrs. Lyons "The Gun"
1965 Gunsmoke Mme. Ahr "Circus Trick"

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Nissen, Axel (2016). Accustomed to Her Face: Thirty-Five Character Actresses of Golden Age Hollywood. McFarland. pp. 96–104. ISBN 9781476626062. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  2. ^ "Isabel Jewell, film star, dead at 62". Redlands Daily Facts. California, Redlands. United Press International. April 6, 1972. p. 12. Retrieved October 23, 2016 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Isabel Jewell succumbs at 62". Evening Herald. Pennsylvania, Shenandoah. United Press International. April 6, 1972. p. 16. Retrieved April 7, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.  
  4. ^ Twomey, Alfred E.; McClure, Arthur F. (1969). "Isabel Jewell". The Versatiles : Supporting Character Players in the Cinema 1930-1955 (hardcover) (First ed.). Cranbury, NJ: A. S. Barnes. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-498-06792-1.
  5. ^ Motion Picture and Television Magazine, November 1952, page 33, Ideal Publishers
  6. ^ Morning News, January 10, 1948, Who Was Who in America (Vol. 2)
  7. ^ Newspapers, Bettelou Peterson, Knight-Ridder (22 February 1987). "-- What happened to Dennis Hopper who..." chicagotribune.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  8. ^ Nissen, Axel (2016-08-26). Accustomed to Her Face: Thirty-Five Character Actresses of Golden Age Hollywood. McFarland. pp. 101, 245–246. ISBN 978-0-7864-9732-4.
  9. ^ "Classic Hollywood Beauties". Archived from the original on 2014-02-27. Retrieved 2014-11-28.
  10. ^ "Divorces". Billboard. May 27, 1944. p. 32. Retrieved 7 April 2017.
  11. ^ a b Wilson, Scott (16 September 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. ISBN 9781476625997 – via Google Books.
  12. ^ "Isabel Jewell - Hollywood Walk of Fame". www.walkoffame.com. 25 October 2019.
  13. ^ "Isabel Jewell - Hollywood Star Walk - Los Angeles Times". projects.latimes.com.
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