Trivia

After she reportedly tried to commit suicide and was hospitalized, and was temporarily in a coma after being found at the foot of a 400-foot cliff in Malibu, she got strongly involved in mental health issues.

Daughter Mary Jennifer Selznick, who was prone to emotional breakdowns and had difficulty accepting her father's death back in 1965, plunged to her death from the 22nd floor of a hotel in West Los Angeles in 1976 while Jennifer was back in Tulsa, Oklahoma, visiting her dying father. An autopsy showed traces of morphine, barbiturates, and alcohol in her system. The death was ruled a suicide.

She donated $1 million to establish the Jennifer Jones Simon Foundation for Mental Health and Education (1980).

On November 9, 1967, after hearing of the death of her close friend and co-star from The Song of Bernadette (1943) and Duel in the Sun (1946), Charles Bickford, she checked into a Malibu, California, motel and took an overdose of sleeping pills. She was found unconscious on the beach in Malibu. She was taken to the hospital, and remained in a coma for several days before waking and then recovering.

Celebrated her 25th birthday on the day that she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in The Song of Bernadette (1943).

Her first Oscar nomination for The Song of Bernadette (1943) marks her first of four consecutive nominations, a feat she shares with Thelma Ritter (1950-1953), Marlon Brando (1951-1954) Elizabeth Taylor (1957-1960) and Al Pacino (1972-1975). Pacino and Brando's four consecutive nominations are the record for male actors. The female record is five in a row by Bette Davis (1938-1942) and Greer Garson (1941-1945).

While filming a scene in Ruby Gentry (1952) in which she had to slap co-star Charlton Heston, both Heston and director King Vidor urged her not to fake the slap but to really let fly. She did, and ended up breaking her hand when it connected with Heston's jaw.

Was the daughter of the owners and stars of Isley Stock Company, a tent show that toured the Midwest. Became interested in acting while young and appeared in her parents' shows.

She co-starred with Joseph Cotten in four movies: Since You Went Away (1944), Love Letters (1945), Duel in the Sun (1946) and Portrait of Jennie (1948). Cotten also narrated Gone to Earth (1950), in which Jones played the lead.

Her daughter with David O. Selznick, Mary Jennifer Selznick, committed suicide on May 11, 1976, only two days after Mother's Day.

Served as Matron of Honor at the wedding of Lauren Bacall to Jason Robards in Mexico on July 4, 1961.

Has seven grandchildren, all by her son Robert Walker Jr., the only one of Jones' three children to survive his mother.

Fascinated by Eastern philosophy, it was Jennifer who persuaded husband Norton Simon to take his first trip to India. Simon became captivated by the art of regions he had hardly considered and later became a major force in the Indian and Southeast Asian art market.

She was a member of Kappa Alpha Theta sorority. She was initiated into the Tau chapter (Northwestern) (1937).

She met her third husband Norton Simon when he tried to buy the portrait of Jones used in her film Portrait of Jennie (1948). Her romance with the multimillionaire philanthropist and art collector started at a party hosted by fellow collector Walter Annenberg.

Outlived all three of her husbands, and two of her children.

She was a breast cancer survivor. The late actress Susan Strasberg, a fellow breast cancer victim who died of the disease in 1999, was married, at one time, to actor Christopher Jones and named their daughter Jennifer Robin Jones, in the actress's honor.

Gave birth to her third child at age 35, daughter Mary Jennifer Selznick on August 12, 1954. Child's father was her second husband, David O. Selznick.

Gave birth to her second child at age 22, son Michael Ross Walker (aka Michael Walker) on March 13, 1941. Child's father was her first [later ex] husband, Robert Walker.

Is one of 15 actresses who have received an Oscar nomination for their performance as a nun. The others, in chronological order, are: Gladys Cooper for The Song of Bernadette (1943); Ingrid Bergman for The Bells of St. Mary's (1945); Loretta Young and Celeste Holm for Come to the Stable (1949); Deborah Kerr for Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison (1957); Audrey Hepburn for The Nun's Story (1959); Lilia Skala for Lilies of the Field (1963); Julie Andrews and Peggy Wood for The Sound of Music (1965); Anne Bancroft and Meg Tilly for Agnes of God (1985), Susan Sarandon for Dead Man Walking (1995); Meryl Streep and Amy Adams for Doubt (2008).

Following her death, she was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, in the Great Mausoleum, Sanctuary of Trust. She is interred in the Selznick room, along with her late second husband David O. Selznick and their daughter, although there is no marker for either.

She bought the rights to Larry McMurtry's novel, "Terms of Endearment", with the intention of starring in the film but director James Brooks told her that she was too old for the lead role (1981). The role eventually went to Shirley MacLaine who won an Academy Award.

Jennifer Jones passed away on December 17, 2009, three months away from what would have been her 91st birthday on March 2, 2010.

Once had an interest in returning to the screen to play convicted murderess Jean Harris but abandoned the project when Ellen Burstyn appeared in a successful televised movie.

Gave birth to her first child at age 21, son Robert Hudson Walker (aka Robert Walker Jr.) on April 15, 1940. Child's father was her first [later ex] husband, Robert Walker.

She was considered for the lead role in The Country Girl (1954) but had to bow out after she became pregnant. The role eventually went to Grace Kelly, who won an Academy Award.

Was named chairperson of the Norton Simon Museum when Simon became incapacitated by Guillain-Barre syndrome. She was given emeritus status in 2003.

She was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6249 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California, on February 8, 1960.

She resided in California, where she contributed to various charities (mostly mental health organizations) and presided over the Norton Simon Museum's Board of Directors (her late husband's prestigious art museum in Pasadena). (October 2001)

Was represented by the John Robert Powers Agency when she was a fashion model in the 1930s.

Daughter of Phillip Ross (November 26, 1892 - May 27, 1976) and Flora Mae (née Suber) Isley (March 26, 1886 - May 29, 1969). Her father was born in Kansas City, Missouri and her mother was born in Sacramento, California. Both died in Dallas, Texas.

Like fellow five-time nominees Audrey Hepburn and Anne Bancroft, she won the Best Actress Oscar on her first nomination but did not win on subsequent acting nominations.

Attended Northwestern University before focusing on acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, where she met her first husband, Robert Walker.

Suffered a stillbirth on December 16, 1950, at six months pregnant.

Returned to work seven months after giving birth to her daughter Mary to begin filming Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955).

Was the 22nd actress to receive an Academy Award; she won the Best Actress Oscar for The Song of Bernadette (1943) at The 16th Academy Awards on March 2, 1944.

She was honored as Turner Classic Movies Star of the Month in September 2017.

Negating still-persistent stories that she loathed Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955) co-star William Holden, Jones suggested to her husband David O. Selznick that Holden might be an ideal choice to play Dick Diver in Tender Is the Night (1962). (Quoted in "Memo from David O. Selznick.") By the time the film was made in 1962, Jason Robards was cast in that role.

She married art collector/industrialist Norton Simon on a yacht off the coast of England.

Starred in four Oscar Best Picture nominees: The Song of Bernadette (1943), Since You Went Away (1944), Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955) and The Towering Inferno (1974).

During WWII, she made a short film encouraging people to buy War Bonds.

Stepmother of L. Jeffrey Selznick and Daniel Selznick.

Attended and graduated from Monte Cassino, a girls' school and junior college in Tulsa, Oklahoma (1936).

In 1957, she appeared back-to-back in two ill-advised remakes: The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1957) and A Farewell to Arms (1957). (The latter was her husband David O. Selznick's last film.) It would be five years before Jones returned to the screen in (Tender Is the Night (1962)).

Was good friends with Peggy Knudsen.

Alumna of the AADA (American Academy of Dramatic Arts), Class of 1939.

In Italy, almost all her films were dubbed by Lydia Simoneschi except Beat the Devil (1953), where she was dubbed by Rosetta Calavetta.

Maternal granddaughter of George (May 6, 1855 - December 26, 1906) and Lulu (née Talbot) Suber (August 12, 1859 - November 20, 1904). Both died in Sacramento, California.