Jane Greer
Encyclopedia
Jane Greer was a film and television actress who was perhaps best known for her role as femme fatale
Kathie Moffat in the 1947 film noir
Out of the Past
.
, which paralyzed the left side of her face. She recovered, but it is speculated that the condition contributed to her "patented look" and "a calm, quizzical gaze and an enigmatic expression that would later lead RKO to promote her as 'the woman with the Mona Lisa smile'." She claimed that the facial exercises used to overcome the paralysis taught her how to convey human emotion
. A beauty-contest winner and professional model from her teens, Greer began her show business career as a big band singer.
Howard Hughes
spotted Greer modeling on the cover of Life magazine of June 8, 1942 and sent her to Hollywood to become an actress. She married Rudy Vallee
, her senior by 22 years, in 1943. Hughes lent out the actress to RKO to star in many films, including Dick Tracy
(1945), Out of the Past
(1947), They Won't Believe Me
(1947), and the comedy/suspense film The Big Steal
(1949), alongside Out of the Past co-star Robert Mitchum
. Hughes refused to let her work for a time; when she finally began film acting again, she appeared in You're in the Navy Now
(1951), The Prisoner of Zenda
(1952), Run for the Sun
(1956), and The Man of a Thousand Faces
(1957). In 1984, she was cast in Against All Odds, a remake of Out of the Past, as the mother of the character she had played in 1947.
Noteworthy roles in television included guest appearances on episodes of numerous shows over the decades, such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents
, Bonanza
, Quincy, M.E.
, Murder, She Wrote
, and a 1975 gig with Peter Falk
and Robert Vaughn
in an episode of Columbo titled Troubled Waters. She even got to make fun of Out of the Past in a parody with Robert Mitchum on TV's Saturday Night Live
in 1987. Greer joined the casts of Falcon Crest
in 1984, and Twin Peaks
in 1990, in recurring roles.
in 1943, but they divorced the following year. She remarried in 1947, to Edward Lasker
(1912–1997), a Los Angeles lawyer
and businessman, with whom she had three children. Her son Lawrence Lasker
is a movie producer who has co-produced several films, including WarGames
(1983) and Sneakers
(1992).
Edward Lasker had been an owner/breeder of thoroughbred
racehorses
since 1929, and Greer also became an owner of race horses under her own name. Among her graded stakes race
wins were the 1966 Withers
and Jim Dandy Stakes
and the 1967 Fall Highweight Handicap
with the colt Indulto.
Greer died of cancer at the age of 76 in 2001 and was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
in Los Angeles
.
Femme fatale
A femme fatale is a mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetype of literature and art...
Kathie Moffat in the 1947 film noir
Film noir
Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...
Out of the Past
Out of the Past
Out of the Past is a 1947 film noir directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas. The film was adapted by Daniel Mainwaring , with uncredited revisions by Frank Fenton and James M...
.
Career
The five-foot five Greer began life as Bettejane Greer in Washington, D.C. In 1940, aged 15, Greer suffered from a facial palsyBell's palsy
Bell's palsy is a form of facial paralysis resulting from a dysfunction of the cranial nerve VII that results in the inability to control facial muscles on the affected side. Several conditions can cause facial paralysis, e.g., brain tumor, stroke, and Lyme disease. However, if no specific cause...
, which paralyzed the left side of her face. She recovered, but it is speculated that the condition contributed to her "patented look" and "a calm, quizzical gaze and an enigmatic expression that would later lead RKO to promote her as 'the woman with the Mona Lisa smile'." She claimed that the facial exercises used to overcome the paralysis taught her how to convey human emotion
Emotion
Emotion is a complex psychophysiological experience of an individual's state of mind as interacting with biochemical and environmental influences. In humans, emotion fundamentally involves "physiological arousal, expressive behaviors, and conscious experience." Emotion is associated with mood,...
. A beauty-contest winner and professional model from her teens, Greer began her show business career as a big band singer.
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes, Jr. was an American business magnate, investor, aviator, engineer, film producer, director, and philanthropist. He was one of the wealthiest people in the world...
spotted Greer modeling on the cover of Life magazine of June 8, 1942 and sent her to Hollywood to become an actress. She married Rudy Vallee
Rudy Vallée
Rudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
, her senior by 22 years, in 1943. Hughes lent out the actress to RKO to star in many films, including Dick Tracy
Dick Tracy (1945 film)
Dick Tracy is a 1945 film based on the Dick Tracy comic strip created by Chester Gould. It is the first feature film adaptation of the comic strip, and the first part of a quadrilogy...
(1945), Out of the Past
Out of the Past
Out of the Past is a 1947 film noir directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas. The film was adapted by Daniel Mainwaring , with uncredited revisions by Frank Fenton and James M...
(1947), They Won't Believe Me
They Won't Believe Me
They Won't Believe Me is a 1947 drama film starring Susan Hayward. The black-and-white film noir was directed by Irving Pichel. The film was produced by Alfred Hitchcock's longtime assistant and collaborator, Joan Harrison.-Plot:...
(1947), and the comedy/suspense film The Big Steal
The Big Steal
The Big Steal is a 1949 black-and-white film noir/comedy reteaming Out of the Past stars Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer. The film was directed by Don Siegel, based on the short story "The Road to Carmichael's" by Richard Wormser.-Plot:...
(1949), alongside Out of the Past co-star Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
. Hughes refused to let her work for a time; when she finally began film acting again, she appeared in You're in the Navy Now
You're in the Navy Now
You're in the Navy Now is a Hollywood film released in 1951 by Twentieth Century Fox about the United States Navy in the first months of World War II. Its initial release was titled USS Teakettle...
(1951), The Prisoner of Zenda
The Prisoner of Zenda (1952 film)
The Prisoner of Zenda is a 1952 film version of the classic novel of the same name by Anthony Hope and a remake of the famous 1937 film version. This version was made by Loew's and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Pandro S...
(1952), Run for the Sun
Run for the Sun
Run for the Sun is a 1956 film released by United Artists, the third film to officially be based on Richard Connell's classic suspense story, "The Most Dangerous Game", after RKO's The Most Dangerous Game , which starred Joel McCrea and Fay Wray, and their remake, A Game of Death, which was...
(1956), and The Man of a Thousand Faces
Man of a Thousand Faces
Man of a Thousand Faces is a film detailing the life of silent movie actor Lon Chaney, in which the title role is played by James Cagney.Directed by Joseph Pevney, the film's cast included Dorothy Malone, Jane Greer and Jim Backus...
(1957). In 1984, she was cast in Against All Odds, a remake of Out of the Past, as the mother of the character she had played in 1947.
Noteworthy roles in television included guest appearances on episodes of numerous shows over the decades, such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock. The series featured dramas, thrillers, and mysteries. By the premiere of the show on October 2, 1955, Hitchcock had been directing films for over three decades...
, Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, Quincy, M.E.
Quincy, M.E.
Quincy, M.E., also called Quincy, is a United States television series from Universal Studios that aired from October 3, 1976, to September 5, 1983, on NBC...
, Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
, and a 1975 gig with Peter Falk
Peter Falk
Peter Michael Falk was an American actor, best known for his role as Lieutenant Columbo in the television series Columbo...
and Robert Vaughn
Robert Vaughn
Robert Francis Vaughn, , is an American actor noted for stage, film and television work. His best known roles include the suave spy Napoleon Solo in the 1960s television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E., wealthy detective Harry Rule in the 1970s television series The Protectors, Albert Stroller in...
in an episode of Columbo titled Troubled Waters. She even got to make fun of Out of the Past in a parody with Robert Mitchum on TV's Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
in 1987. Greer joined the casts of Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990. A total of 227 episodes were produced....
in 1984, and Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
in 1990, in recurring roles.
Private life
Jane Greer married Rudy ValleeRudy Vallée
Rudy Vallée was an American singer, actor, bandleader, and entertainer.-Early life:Born Hubert Prior Vallée in Island Pond, Vermont, the son of Charles Alphonse and Catherine Lynch Vallée...
in 1943, but they divorced the following year. She remarried in 1947, to Edward Lasker
Edward Lasker (businessman)
Edward Lasker was an American businessman and Thoroughbred racehorse owner.He was one of the three children of Flora Warner and her husband, Albert Davis Lasker , the owner of Lord & Thomas, a highly successful Chicago advertising agency, who was also the owner of the Chicago Cubs Major League...
(1912–1997), a Los Angeles lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...
and businessman, with whom she had three children. Her son Lawrence Lasker
Lawrence Lasker
Lawrence C. Lasker is a screenwriter and producer who entered American film in 1983 as writer of the movie WarGames. He is the son of actress Jane Greer and producer Edward Lasker...
is a movie producer who has co-produced several films, including WarGames
WarGames
WarGames is a 1983 American Cold War suspense/science-fiction film written by Lawrence Lasker and Walter F. Parkes and directed by John Badham. The film stars Matthew Broderick and Ally Sheedy....
(1983) and Sneakers
Sneakers (film)
Sneakers is a 1992 caper film directed by Phil Alden Robinson, written by Robinson, Walter F. Parkes, and Lawrence Lasker and starring Robert Redford, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley, Mary McDonnell, River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier and David Strathairn...
(1992).
Edward Lasker had been an owner/breeder of thoroughbred
Thoroughbred
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word thoroughbred is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed...
racehorses
Horse racing
Horse racing is an equestrian sport that has a long history. Archaeological records indicate that horse racing occurred in ancient Babylon, Syria, and Egypt. Both chariot and mounted horse racing were events in the ancient Greek Olympics by 648 BC...
since 1929, and Greer also became an owner of race horses under her own name. Among her graded stakes race
Graded stakes race
A graded stakes race is a term applied since 1973 by the American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association to thoroughbred horse races in the United States and Canada to describe races that derive their name from the stake, or entry fee, owners must pay...
wins were the 1966 Withers
Withers Stakes
The Withers Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-olds willing to compete one mile on the dirt. Held at Aqueduct Racetrack every year at the end of April , it is a Grade III event, and offers a purse of $150,000...
and Jim Dandy Stakes
Jim Dandy Stakes
The Jim Dandy Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race. The Grade II race has been held annually since 1964 at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. The race is open to horses age three, willing to race one and one-eighth miles on the dirt. It carries a purse of $500,000. Prior...
and the 1967 Fall Highweight Handicap
Fall Highweight Handicap
The Fall Highweight Handicap is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually near the end of November at Aqueduct Racetrack in Queens, New York. Currently run at a distance of 6 furlongs , it is open to horses three years of age and older. The race is a real test for speed and strength in that...
with the colt Indulto.
Greer died of cancer at the age of 76 in 2001 and was interred in the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery
The Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery is a cemetery in the Westwood Village area of Los Angeles, California. It is located at 1218 Glendon Avenue in Westwood....
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
.
Filmography
- Pan-Americana (1945) (uncredited)
- Two O'Clock Courage (1945) (as Bettejane Greer)
- George White's Scandals (1945) (as Bettejane Greer)
- Dick TracyDick Tracy (1945 film)Dick Tracy is a 1945 film based on the Dick Tracy comic strip created by Chester Gould. It is the first feature film adaptation of the comic strip, and the first part of a quadrilogy...
(1945) - The Falcon's Alibi (1946)
- Sunset Pass (1946)
- Bamboo Blonde (1946)
- Sinbad the SailorSinbad the Sailor (1947 film)Sinbad the Sailor is a 1947 Technicolor fantasy film starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Maureen O'Hara, Anthony Quinn, and Walter Slezak. It tells the tale of the "eighth" voyage of Sinbad, wherein he discovers the lost treasure of Alexander the Great....
(1947) - They Won't Believe MeThey Won't Believe MeThey Won't Believe Me is a 1947 drama film starring Susan Hayward. The black-and-white film noir was directed by Irving Pichel. The film was produced by Alfred Hitchcock's longtime assistant and collaborator, Joan Harrison.-Plot:...
(1947) - Out of the PastOut of the PastOut of the Past is a 1947 film noir directed by Jacques Tourneur and starring Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, and Kirk Douglas. The film was adapted by Daniel Mainwaring , with uncredited revisions by Frank Fenton and James M...
(1947) - Station WestStation WestStation West is a black-and-white 1948 film based on a Western novel by Luke Short. The film, considered film noir as well as a Western, was directed by Sidney Lanfield, who was known for directing comedies such as The Lemon Drop Kid. Station Wests cinematographer was Harry J. Wild...
(1948) - The Big StealThe Big StealThe Big Steal is a 1949 black-and-white film noir/comedy reteaming Out of the Past stars Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer. The film was directed by Don Siegel, based on the short story "The Road to Carmichael's" by Richard Wormser.-Plot:...
(1949) - The Company She Keeps (1951)
- You're in the Navy NowYou're in the Navy NowYou're in the Navy Now is a Hollywood film released in 1951 by Twentieth Century Fox about the United States Navy in the first months of World War II. Its initial release was titled USS Teakettle...
(1951) - Down Among the Sheltering Palms (1952)
- You for MeYou for MeYou for Me is an American MGM comedy film, starring Jane Greer, Peter Lawford and Gig Young, directed by Don Weis. It was produced by Henry Berman, with music by Bronislau Kaper.-Plot:...
(1952) - The Prisoner of ZendaThe Prisoner of Zenda (1952 film)The Prisoner of Zenda is a 1952 film version of the classic novel of the same name by Anthony Hope and a remake of the famous 1937 film version. This version was made by Loew's and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Pandro S...
(1952) - Desperate Search (1952)
- The Clown (1953)
- Run for the SunRun for the SunRun for the Sun is a 1956 film released by United Artists, the third film to officially be based on Richard Connell's classic suspense story, "The Most Dangerous Game", after RKO's The Most Dangerous Game , which starred Joel McCrea and Fay Wray, and their remake, A Game of Death, which was...
(1956) - Man of a Thousand FacesMan of a Thousand FacesMan of a Thousand Faces is a film detailing the life of silent movie actor Lon Chaney, in which the title role is played by James Cagney.Directed by Joseph Pevney, the film's cast included Dorothy Malone, Jane Greer and Jim Backus...
(1957) - Where Love Has GoneWhere Love Has Gone (film)Where Love Has Gone is a 1964 drama film made by Embassy Pictures , Joseph E. Levine Productions and Paramount Pictures. It was directed by Edward Dmytryk and produced by Joseph E. Levine from a screenplay by John Michael Hayes based on the novel of the same name by Harold Robbins...
(1964) - Billie (1965)
- The OutfitThe Outfit (1973 film)The Outfit is a 1973 film directed by John Flynn. It stars Robert Duvall, Karen Black, Joe Don Baker and Robert Ryan. The film is an adaptation of the book of the same name by Richard Stark and features a character modeled on Parker, who was introduced in The Hunter.- Plot :Released from prison In...
(1973) - Columbo: Troubled Waters (1975) (TV)
- The Shadow RidersThe Shadow Riders (film)The Shadow Riders is a 1982 television film western that first aired in the United States on September 28, 1982. It is based on the novel of the same name by Louis L'Amour, and is directed by Andrew V. McLaglen. The movie reunites actors Tom Selleck, Sam Elliot, and Jeff Osterhage, who also starred...
(1982) (TV) - Against All Odds (1984)
- Just Between FriendsJust Between FriendsJust Between Friends is a 1986 drama film about two women whose friendship is tested by tragedy. The film was written, produced and directed by Allan Burns, and it stars Mary Tyler Moore, Ted Danson, and Christine Lahti.-Plot summary:...
(1986) - Immediate Family (1989)
- Perfect Mate (1996)