Jane Wyman
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Jane Wyman (born January 4, 1914 - although some reliable sources also give her DOB as January 5 1917) is an American actress.
Born Sarah Jane Mayfield in Saint Joseph, Missouri, she later took the name Sarah Jane Fulks in honor of the neighbor family who "unofficially adopted" her after her parents divorced. In 1928, she and her mother moved to Southern California, where her mother, Le Jerne Pichelle, tried to start her own acting career. When that was unsuccessful, she turned to her daughter as a surrogate, but neither was able to move Hollywood. The two moved back to Missouri, where Sarah Jane attended college, but in 1930 she began a radio singing career, calling herself Jane Durrell.
In 1936, she was back in Hollywood, obtaining bit parts in My Man Godfrey and Cain and Mabel. In 1939 she received her first starring role, in Torchy Plays With Dynamite. In the previous year, she had co-starred with Ronald Reagan in Brother Rat. The two were married in 1940, but divorced in 1948. They had three children; Maureen Reagan (1941-2001), Michael Reagan (born March 18, 1945) and Christine (born and died 1947). Michael was adopted during their marriage.
Wyman finally gained critical notice in the film noir The Lost Weekend. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1946 for The Yearling, and finally won the Oscar in 1948 for her role as the deaf-mute rape victim in Johnny Belinda. She was the first Oscar winner to earn the award without speaking one line of dialogue.
The Oscar win gave her the ability to choose meatier roles, although she still showed a liking for musical comedy. She worked with such directors as Alfred Hitchcock on Stage Fright, with Frank Capra on Here Comes the Groom and with Michael Curtiz on The Story of Will Rogers. She starred in The Glass Menagerie, Just for You, Let's Do It Again, The Blue Veil (another Oscar nomination), So Big, Magnificent Obsession (Oscar nomination), Lucy Gallant, All That Heaven Allows and Miracle in the Rain.
In the 1950s, she hosted a television anthology series, Jane Wyman Theater. She gained fans of a new generation in the 1980s when she starred as the diabolical vintner Angela Channing in the nighttime soap opera Falcon Crest.
Academy Awards and Nominations
- 1955 - Nominated Best Actress in a Leading Role - Magnificent Obsession
- 1952 - Nominated Best Actress in a Leading Role - The Blue Veil
- 1949 - Won Best Actress in a Leading Role - Johnny Belinda
- 1947 - Nominated Best Actress in a Leading Role - The Yearling
Wyman has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame; one for motion pictures at 6607 Hollywood Blvd. and one for television at 1620 Vine Street.
Filmography
- The Kid from Spain (1932)
- Elmer, the Great (1933)
- All the King's Horses (1934)
- College Rhythm (1934)
- King of Burlesque (1935)
- Rumba (1935)
- George White's 1935 Scandals (1935)
- Stolen Harmony (1935)
- Anything Goes (1936)
- The Sunday Round-Up (1936) (short subject)
- Bengal Tiger (1936) (role unconfirmed)
- My Man Godfrey (1936)
- Stage Struck (1936)
- Cain and Mabel (1936)
- Here Comes Carter (1936)
- Polo Joe (1936)
- Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936)
- Smart Blonde (1937)
- Ready, Willing and Able (1937)
- The King and the Chorus Girl (1937)
- Slim (1937)
- The Singing Marine (1937)
- Public Weddign (1937)
- Little Pioneer (1937) (short subject)
- Mr. Dodd Takes the Air (1937)
- Over the Goal (1937)
- The Spy Ring (1938)
- He Couldn't Say No (1938)
- Fools for Scandal (1938)
- Wide Open Faces (1938)
- The Crowd Roars (1938)
- Brother Rat (1938)
- Tail Spin (1939)
- The Kid from Kokomo (1939)
- Torchy Plays with Dynamite (1939)
- Kid Nightingale (1939)
- Private Detective (1939)
- Brother Rat and a Baby (1940)
- An Angel in Texas (1940)
- Flight Angels (1940)
- My Love Came Back (1940)
- Gambling on the High Seas (1940)
- Tugboat Annie Sails Again (1940)
- Honeymoon for Three (1941)
- Bad Men of Missouri (1941)
- You're in the Army Now (1941)
- The Body Disappears (1941)
- Shoot Yourself Some Golf (1942) (short subject)
- Larceny, Inc. (1942)
- My Favorite Spy (1942)
- Footlight Serenade (1942)
- Princess O'Rourke (1943)
- Make Your Own Bed (1944)
- The Doughgirls (1944)
- Crime by Night (1944)
- Hollywood Canteen (1944)
- The Lost Weekend (1945)
- One More Tomorrow (1946)
- Night and Day (1946)
- The Yearling (1946)
- Cheyenne (1947)
- Magic Town (1947)
- Johnny Belinda (1948)
- A Kiss in the Dark (1949)
- It's a Great Feeling (1949) (Cameo)
- The Lady Takes a Sailor (1949)
- Stage Fright (1950)
- The Glass Menagerie (1950)
- Three Guys Named Mike (1951)
- The Screen Director (1951) (short subject)
- Screen Snapshots: Hollywood Awards (1951) (short subject)
- Here Comes the Groom (1951)
- The Blue Veil (1951)
- Starlift (1951) (Cameo)
- The Story of Will Rogers (1952)
- Just for You (1952)
- Let's Do It Again (1953)
- So Big (1953)
- Magnificent Obsession (1954)
- Hollywood Mothers and Fathers (1955) (short subject)
- Lucy Gallant (1955)
- All That Heaven Allows (1955)
- Miracle in the Rain (1956)
- Holiday for Lovers (1959)
- Pollyanna (1960)
- Bon Voyage! (1962)
- How to Commit Marriage (1969)
- Wild Bill: Hollywood Maverick (1996) (documentary)
- Off the Menu: The Last Days of Chasen's (1997) (documentary)