Gene Tierney’s classic beauty and acting talent made her the perfect leading lady.
The well-to-do, Brooklyn-born actress began her career on Broadway, carrying a bucket of water across the stage in the 1938 play What a Life!. Tierney’s good looks were quickly noticed by a critic for Variety magazine, who said, “Miss Tierney is certainly the most beautiful water carrier I’ve ever seen!”
The following year, Tierney landed the role of Molly O’Day in the Broadway play Mrs. O’Brien Entertains, and Columbia Pictures signed her to a six-month contract. However, Columbia proved ineffective at advancing Tierney’s career, so she returned to Broadway, where she was eventually discovered by the head of 20th Century Fox.
After signing with Fox, Tierney made her motion picture debut in 1940 with a supporting role in The Return of Frank James, playing opposite Hollywood heavyweight Henry Fonda. Over the next several years, she paid her dues with supporting roles in several films before landing the titular role (and her most famous) in the film noir Laura (1944).
Tierney was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award for playing a femme fatale in Leave Her to Heaven (1945), Fox’s most successful release of the 1940s.
Tierney continued her successful movie career throughout the 1950s before taking a leave of absence due to mental health issues. Though she made a comeback in the 1960s, she retired suddenly in 1969, moving to Houston, Texas with oil baron (and ex-husband of previous Vintage Vixen Hedy Lamarr) Howard Lee, where she passed away in 1991.
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