From 1947 to 1955, Jean Peters (1926-2000) appeared in films opposite such Hollywood leading men as Tyrone Power, Marlon Brando, Burt Lancaster, Spencer Tracy, Richard Widmark, and Robert Wagner, as well as international stars including Louis Jourdan and Rossano Brazzi. Despite her talent and status, Peters eschewed the star-studded lifestyle of 1950s Hollywood, turning down roles that were "too sexy" and refusing to socialize with other actors, discuss her private life in the press, or lead the glamorous lifestyle often associated with her peers. She was seen as a mystery to reporters, who constantly tried to discover titbits about her personal life. In 1957, her marriage to Howard Hughes led to her retirement from acting and her further withdrawal from social events in Hollywood. Instead, she shifted her attention to charitable work, arts and crafts, and university studies in psychology and anthropology. Her status as an enigma only grew as she agreed never to speak of her marriage with Hughes. After her divorce, however, Peters attempted to resume her acting career in television but never regained her previous level of stardom. Jean Peters: Hollywood's Mystery Girl grants an in-depth analysis of each of?her nineteen films and is enriched by several high-quality photographs from the author's personal collection.
Michelangelo Capua is author of several biographies of Hollywood film stars, including Jean Simmons, Janet Leigh, Deborah Kerr, and Montgomery Clift. He lives in London.
Introduction Chapter 1: Farm Girl Chapter 2: Catana Chapter 3: Sense and Sensibility Chapter 4: Dallas Pruitt Chapter 5: Lady Pirate Chapter 6: Kazan and Brando Chapter 7: Negulesco's Muse Chapter 8: Femme Noir Chapter 9: No Time for Love Chapter 10: Surprising Girl in Surprise Wedding Chapter 11: Bye-Bye Hollywood Chapter 12: A Brief Comeback Chapter 13: Tranquility Acknowledgments Notes Filmography Selected Bibliography Index
Jean Peters: Hollywood's Mystery Girl promise to reveal her long-neglected story along with an in-depth analysis of each of her 19 films and a glimpse into her 14-year marriage to the enigmatic and ultra-secretive billionaire Howard Hughes. (Retro Magazine) For about a dozen years following the end of the Second World War, Jean Peters was one of Hollywood's brightest young leading ladies appearing opposite legends like Tyrone Power, Burt Lancaster, and Marlon Brando. Michelangelo Capua tells her long-neglected story and gives us an in-depth analysis of her nineteen films. Readers are sure to be delighted by the glimpse he provides into Peters's fourteen-year marriage to the enigmatic and ultra-secretive billionaire Howard Hughes, who kept her nearly captive in the gilded cages of luxurious hotels and heavily guarded mansions." - Robert Dance, author of Ferocious Ambition: Joan Crawford's March to Stardom and The Savvy Sphinx: How Garbo Conquered Hollywood
