Actress Jennifer Jones's affair with the renowned producer David O. Selznick attracted a great deal of attention and launched her career. He signed her to a long-term contract, changed her name, and prepared her for stardom. Her first screen lead was in Song of Bernadette (1943), a film whose popularity earned her an Academy Award. She was nominated for Oscars as best supporting actress in Since You Went Away (1944), Love Letters (1945) and Love Is a Many Splendored Thing (1955). While Jones played a wide variety of characters, including the innocent and placid as well as the tempestuous and sensuous, she was not considered a formidable actress. But she undoubtedly captured a mood Americans longed for because, ultimately, she became one of the most popular melodramatic actresses of the 1940s.

Further Reading:

Epstein, Edward Z. Portrait of Jennifer: A Biography of Jennifer Jones. New York, Simon & Schuster, 1995.