Jean Simmons Dies at 80; Actress Whose Talent Exceeded the Parts She Played

[Allhallowsday]

Jean Simmons Dies at 80; Actress Whose Talent Exceeded the Parts She Played  
Jean Simmons, the English actress who made the covers of Time and Life magazines by the time she was 20 and became a major midcentury star alongside strong leading men like Laurence Olivier, Richard Burton and Marlon Brando, often playing their demure helpmates, died on Friday at her home in Santa Monica, Calif. She was 80. 

The cause was lung cancer, according to Judy Page, her agent.

"Simmons is one of the most quietly commanding actresses Hollywood has ever trashed," the critic Pauline Kael wrote when reviewing her performance as the half-genuine, half-fraudulent revivalist preacher who succumbs to Burt Lancaster's con man in "Elmer Gantry" (1960). Indeed, she rarely found roles to match the talent so many colleagues and critics recognized in her, despite a dazzling start to her career... 

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/24/movies/24simmons.html

[Allhallowsday]

Yet no one responds to the great JEAN SIMMONS.  Good night, JEAN, you were better than they afforded. 

[SPazzo]

I heard about it, I just didn't know anyone started a thread.  RIP.

[JaseSF]

R.I.P. Jean Simmons. Honestly I haven't seen a lot of her work aside from "North and South" and SPARTACUS.

[Allhallowsday]

R.I.P. Jean Simmons. Honestly I haven't seen a lot of her work aside from "North and South" and SPARTACUS.

No DAVID LEAN's GREAT EXPECTATIONS or GUYS AND DOLLS or ELMER GANTRY or YOUNG BESS or THE ROBE or the original BLUE LAGOON...?  If not, you've missed some good ones (though SPARTACUS is certainly the first flick I'd think of.)  JEAN SIMMONS made many more flix but the few I name are the standout parts... she's too often in forgettable movies where she's the only worthwhile thing in them.    

(I purposely don't mention my own favorite BLACK NARCISSUS...)

[JaseSF]

Well I do have GUYS AND DOLLS on DVD. I found it in a bargain bin so I picked it up sight unseen as it looked interesting and seemed loaded with extras.

[Leah]

R.I.P.