Jean Porter

One of MGMs more vivacious secondary stars during the 40s petite and lovely Jean Porter was born in Texas in 1922 but left the state at a young age to pursue her dream as an actress Following some vaudeville experience she made her uncredited film debut in 1939 age 14 and slowly graduated to sweetnatured ingénues in light wholesome B fare Most were sentimental trifles such as Andy Hardys Blonde Trouble 1944 and Easy to Wed 1946 or western action with such obvious titles as Heart of the Rio Grande 1942 and Home in Wyomin 1942 Despite her promise and talent none of her approximately 30 films managed to set her apart and top stardom remained elusive Jeans finest screen roles perhaps came with The Youngest Profession 1943 and Till the End of Time 1946 where she met future husband director Edward Dmytryk They married in 1948 and had three children Richard Victoria and Rebecca the latter becoming a wildlife rescuer and rehabilitator Not long into their marriage Dmytryk was branded a Communist as one of the Hollywood Ten he was admittedly once a member of The American Communist Party and the next decade or so would be a dark period of time for them Unable to work the blacklisted director moved his family to England where he found some employment In 1951 however Dmytryk decided to return to the States and was jailed for six months before giving testimony and being granted a reprieve As a result he was allowed to return to directing Jeans last film would be The Left Hand of God 1955 starring Humphrey Bogart and Gene Tierney which was directed by her husband Throughout their ordeal Jean and Edward remained a loyal couple and in later years wrote a book together called On Screen Acting in 1984 Happily married until his death at age 90 of heart and kidney failure in 1999 Jean continued to be a regular attendee of filmrelated events and a byline contributor for Classic Images a popular magazine for classic film fans in which she reminisced about Old Hollywood She died in 2018 at the age of 95