10 Things You May Not Know About Jeanne Crain

Jeanne Crain (1925 - 2003) was one of the most popular movie stars during the 1940s. She received more fan mail during World War II than any other star, except Betty Grable. A teenage beauty queen, she signed a long-term contract with Twentieth Century-Fox in 1943. Crain worked there exclusively until she was released from her contract in 1953. She was a favorite of studio head Darryl F. Zanuck until her constantly being pregnant kept her from starring in movies he chose for her.

1. She was born in Bartsow, California on May 25, 1925.

Jeanne Crain with Darryl Zanuck and his children Richard and Darrylin

2. While still in high school she auditioned for Orson Welles for a part in The Magnificent Ambersons (1942). She didn’t get the part, Anne Baxter did.

3. She had a bit part (unbilled) in The Gang’s All Here (1943) starring Alice Faye and Carmen Miranda.

4. Home in Indiana (1944) was the film that introduced Crain to American filmgoers.

5. She appeared in several musicals, but always had her voice dubbed. Vocalist Louanne Hogan most frequently dubbed for Crain.

6. She and her husband, Paul Brinkman, had seven children plus a pet lion.

Crain with her pet lion

7. She was an excellent figure skater and got to show off her skills in the movie Margie (1946).

8. Bette Davis’s character in The Star (1952) describes and points out Crain’s house on Roxbury Drive in Beverly Hills while riding in a car.

9. She was on the cover of Life Magazine twice: in 1946 for Margie and in 1949 for Pinky, for which she was nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award.

10. Crain lost out on playing Eve Harrington in All About Eve (1950) because she was pregnant. Anne Baxter got the role and the rest, as they say, is history.