
Jane Greer
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Female
Birthday
1924-09-09
Day of Death
2001-08-24 (76 years old)
Place of Birth
Washington, D.C., USA
Jane Greer
Biography
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.
A beauty-contest winner and professional model from her teens, Greer began her show-business career as a big-band singer. She sang in Washington, DC, with the orchestra of Enric Madriguera. She "sang phonetically in Spanish" with the group.
Howard Hughes spotted Greer modeling in the June 8, 1942 issue of Life, and sent her to Hollywood to become an actress. Hughes lent her to RKO to star in many films (another source says Greer's husband, Rudy Vallee, "helped her get out of her contract with Hughes and secure another pact with RKO Studios") including Dick Tracy, Out of the Past, They Won't Believe Me, and the comedy/suspense film The Big Steal, with Out of the Past co-star Robert Mitchum. Hughes refused to let her work for a time; when she finally began film acting, she appeared in You're in the Navy Now, The Prisoner of Zenda, Run for the Sun, and Man of a Thousand Faces. 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. In 1952, Greer obtained a release from her contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. She said, "When there is a good role at MGM, the producers want Lana or Ava. There is no chance for another actress to develop into important stardom at the studio".
Greer's 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 until her retirement in 1996.
Greer was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1634 Vine Street for her contributions to the motion picture industry. The star was dedicated on February 8, 1960. Greer died of cancer on August 24, 2001, at the age of 76, in Bel Air, Los Angeles. Her body was interred at Los Angeles' Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Jane Greer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Acting
(2006)
(1998)
(1991)
(1989)
Immediate Family
as Michael's Mother
(1986)
Just Between Friends
as Ruth Chadwick
(1984)
Against All Odds
as Mrs. Wyler
(1982)
The Shadow Riders
as Ma Traven
(1979)
(1973)
The Outfit
as Alma
(1965)
Billie
as Agnes Carol
(1964)
Where Love Has Gone
as Marian Spicer
(1958)
No Time at All
as Karen
(1957)
Man of a Thousand Faces
as Hazel Bennet Chaney
(1956)
Run for the Sun
as Katherine 'Katie' Connors
(1953)
The Clown
as Paula Henderson
(1953)
Down Among the Sheltering Palms
as Diana Forrester
(1952)
The Prisoner of Zenda
as Antoinette de Mauban
(1952)
You for Me
as Katie McDermad
(1952)
Desperate Search
as Julie Heldon
(1951)
The Company She Keeps
as Diane Stuart aka Mildred Lynch
(1951)
You're in the Navy Now
as Ellie C. Harkness
(1949)
The Big Steal
as Joan 'Chiquita' Graham
(1948)
Station West
as Charlie
(1947)
Out of the Past
as Kathie Moffat
(1947)
Sinbad the Sailor
as Pirouze
(1947)
They Won't Believe Me
as Janice Bell
(1946)
The Falcon's Alibi
as Lola Carpenter
(1946)
The Bamboo Blonde
as Eileen Sawyer
(1946)
Sunset Pass
as Lolite Baxter
(1945)
Dick Tracy
as Judith Owens
(1945)
Two O'Clock Courage
as Helen Carter (as Bettejane Greer)
(1945)
George White's Scandals
as Billie Randall
(1945)
Pan-Americana
as Miss Downing (uncredited)