Actors - Gene Tierney

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	Actors - Gene Tierney

Gene Tierney (November 19, 1920 – November 6, 1991) was an American actress. Acclaimed as one of the great beauties of her day, she is probably best-remembered for her performance in the title role of Laura
in 1945.

Early years

She was born Gene Eliza Tierney in Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Howard Sherwood Tierney and Belle Lavina Taylor. Her elder brother was Howard Sherwood "Butch" Tierney, Jr., and her younger sister was Patricia "Pat" Tierney. Her father was a prosperous insurance broker; her mother a former gym teacher.

Gene attended St. Margaret School, Waterbury, Connecticut, and the Unquowa School in Bridgeport. Among her studies, she learned horseback riding. Her first poem, titled Night, was published in the school magazine. Writing verse became an occasional pastime during the rest of her life. She then spent two years in Europe and attended the finishing school Brillantmont in Lausanne, Switzerland, where she learned to speak perfect French.

She returned to the U.S. in 1938 and attended Farmington School. On a trip to the West Coast, she visited Warner Bros. and was told by Anatole Litvak she should become an actress. Her coming out party as a debutante was September 24, but she soon found she was bored with society life and decided to pursue a career in acting. Warners wanted to sign her to a contract, but her parents advised against it because of the low salary offered.

Broadway & modeling

In her first part on Broadway, she carried a bucket of water across the stage in What a Life (1939). That same year, she appeared in the role as Molly O'Day in the Broadway production Mrs. O'Brien Entertains, and also played Peggy Carr in Ring Two.

Tierney also worked as a photographic model in New York. Photos of her appeared in Life, Harper's Bazaar and Collier's Weekly.

Her wealthy father set up a corporation, Belle-Tier, to fund and promote her career. Columbia offered her a six-month contract, which she accepted. She met Howard Hughes, who tried unsuccessfully to seduce her. He subsequently remained a lifelong friend. A cameraman advised her to lose a little weight, saying "a thinner face is more seductive." She then wrote to Harper's Bazaar for a slimming diet, which she followed for the next twenty years.

The studio failed to find her a project, however, so she returned to New York and starred as Patricia Stanley in The Male Animal (1940) on Broadway.

Motion pictures

Tierney was offered the lead in MGM's National Velvet
, but when the production was delayed she signed with 20th Century Fox. Her motion picture debut was in the starring role as Eleanor Stone in Fritz Lang's Western The Return of Frank James
(1940) opposite Henry Fonda. A small role as Barbara Hall in Hudson's Bay followed, released that same year.

1941 was a busy year for the actress, as she starred in the role as Ellie May Lester in John Ford's drama Tobacco Road
, the title role in Belle Starr, as Zia in Sundown, and as Victoria Charteris AKA Poppy Smith in The Shanghai Gesture
. In 1942, she played Eva in Son of Fury, the dual role as Susan Miller and Linda Worthington in Rings on Her Fingers, the role as Kay Saunders in Thunder Birds, and Miss Young in China Girl.

A supporting role in Ernst Lubitsch's classic 1943 comedy Heaven Can Wait
, in which she played the dual role as Martha Strabel and Van Cleve, signaled an upward turn in Tierney's career as her popularity increased.

In 1944, she starred in what became her most famous role as the intended murder victim, Laura Hunt, in Otto Preminger's masterful mystery Laura.

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Actors - Gene Tierney

Early years

Broadway & modeling

Motion pictures

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