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Jean (Kelly) Brooks (1915-1963) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree

  • ️Thu Dec 21 2023

Biography

Notables Project

Jean (Kelly) Brooks is Notable.

Jean Brooks was a Hollywood actress, active in the 1940s and appeared in more than 30 films during this time. During her contract with RKO Studios, she starred in perhaps her most significant and memorable films, including The Leopard Man, as nightclub singer Kiki Walker; the doomed heroine in The Seventh Victim; and also in five of the studio's popular Falcon series with Tom Conway, including The Falcon and the Co-Eds.[1]

Jean, originally named Ruby Mathilda Kelly, was born 23 December 1915 in Houston, Texas, the daughter of Horace A. Kelly and Genevieve Robina Lang. Her father was a real estate broker and a native of San Jose, Costa Rica.[2]

She was married to the screenwriter and film director Richard Brooks 1 June 1941 in Los Angeles, California.[3]

In May 1942, RKO launched a media campaign for her, focusing on her fluency in Spanish and the potential Latin American movie market. For instance:[4]

"Spanish Speaking Actress Gets Big Break in Movies ... Jean Brooks Cashes in on Good Neighbor Policy With South America"

"Hollywood. May 8 (1942)--You've heard a lot recently about Pan-American good will. But you probably haven't heard how it's making Jean Brooks a person of importance. Jean is a pretty actress. She has soft red hair and big blue eyes and a smile that goes enigmatic ever so often. What distinguishes Jean, however, is the fluent way she handles the Spanish language. She should. Although born in Houston, Tex., she's spent much of her 25 years in Costa Rica, where her family goes back five generations."

[....] It's here that people like Jean come in. She soon will start work on Columbia's "Gypsy Cavalier," with Gilbert Roland. It will be unique in that each scene will be filmed twice--in English and Spanish. A similar deal is pending at RKO, where she will be paired with Arturo de Cordoha, who is to the Pampas what Clark Gable is to the home folks."

[...] But what pleases her is that she still receives fan letters from the other side of the equator. That proves the films are still running in the hinterlands. "And that," she goes into that enigmatic smile, "proves that they still love me. I hope."

"Her later life and career were marred by struggles with alcoholism, and a series of drunken public appearances resulted in Brooks ending her contract with RKO. In 1948, she made her final film appearance in Women in the Night (1948) before abandoning her career as an actress and relocating to San Francisco, California. She died in 1963 of complications resulting from her alcoholism."[5]

After her divorce from Richard Brooks in 1944, Jean married another two times. Her second husband was William Douglas Lansford, whom she married 19 March 1946 in Hollywood.[6] They were married for about ten years. William was a Marine Corps veteran who ended up in the Army while they were married, and they moved around a lot for his work. They were divorced in 1956. Her third husband was Thomas Leddy, an editor for the San Francisco Examiner, whom she married in 1956 in San Francisco. They were married until her death.[7]

She passed away 25 November1963 in Contra Costa, California from complications resulting from Laennec's Cirrosis. She was only 47 years old.[8] Her remains were buried at sea the following year.[9]

There is a nice biography for Jean online at Film Alert 101, which can be found here. The biography focuses on her film career.

There's another good biography for Jean on IMDb, along with photos, which can be found here. This biography also includes a comprehensive filmography and a video.

The trailer for the 7th Victim is on Youtube, and can be found here. And here's a clip from the movie, which is quite frightening, found on YouTube.

Sources

  1. ↑ Jean Brooks on Wikipedia.
  2. ↑ Texas, Birth Certificates, 1903-1932, Birth date 23 December 1915; female; Houston, Texas; father HA Kelly; mother: Genevieve Robina Lang.
  3. ↑ "California, County Marriages, 1850-1952," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8VV-1VT : 8 December 2017), Richard Brooks and Jeanne Kelly, 01 Jun 1941; citing Los Angeles, California, United States, county courthouses, California; FHL microfilm 2,114,551.
  4. ↑ Times Picauyne, Saturday, May 9, 1942, New Orleans, LA, page 12.
  5. ↑ Jean Brooks on Wikipedia.
  6. ↑ California Marriage Records.
  7. ↑ Jean Brooks on Wikipedia.
  8. ↑ "California Death Index, 1940-1997," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VPK2-4R7 : 26 November 2014), Jean Leddy, 25 Nov 1963; Department of Public Health Services, Sacramento.
  9. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/81903447/jean-brooks : accessed 08 April 2022), memorial page for Jean Brooks (23 Dec 1915–25 Nov 1963), Find A Grave: Memorial #81903447 Maintained by Find a Grave Cremated, who reports a Upon her death, she was cremated and her ashes scattered into the Pacific Ocean..