Isabel Jewell

Isabel Jewell
from the trailer for The Casino Murder Case (1935).
Born	(1907-07-19)July 19, 1907 Shoshoni, Wyoming, U.S.
Died	April 5, 1972(1972-04-05) (aged 64) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Other names	Isabel Jewel Isobel Jewell
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1932–1972
Spouse(s)	Paul Marion (1941-1943) (divorced) Owen Crump (1936-?) (divorced)[1]

Isabel Jewell (July 19, 1907 – April 5, 1972) was an American actress most active in the 1930s and early 1940s. Some of her most famous films were Ceiling Zero, Marked Woman, A Tale of Two Cities, and Gone With the Wind.

Early life and career

Born in Shoshoni, Fremont County, Wyoming, Jewell was the daughter of "a prominent ... doctor and medical researcher."^[2] She was educated at St. Mary's Academy in Minnesota and at Hamilton College in Kentucky.

After years in theater stock companies, including an 87-week stint in Lincoln, Nebraska, she hit the big time after getting a part on Broadway in Up Pops the Devil (1930). She received glowing critical reviews for Blessed Event (1932) as well.

She was brought to Hollywood by Warner Brothers for the film version of Up Pops the Devil. Jewell gained other supporting roles, appearing in a variety of films in the early 1930s. She played stereotypical gangsters' women in such films as Manhattan Melodrama (1934) and Marked Woman (1937). She was well received playing against type, as the seamstress sentenced to death on the guillotine along with Sydney Carton (Ronald Colman in A Tale of Two Cities (1935). Her most significant role was as the prostitute Gloria Stone in Lost Horizon (1937). Jewell's films included Gone with the Wind (1939) (in the role of "that white trash, Emmy Slattery"), Northwest Passage (1940), High Sierra (1941), and the low-budget The Leopard Man (1943).

In the mid to late 1930s, Jewell was seen at nightclubs with actor William Hopper. (He appeared on the Perry Mason TV series and was the son of gossip columnist Hedda Hopper and stage star DeWolf Hopper).

By the end of the 1940s, her roles had reduced in significance to the degree that her performances were often uncredited, e.g. The Snake Pit. She performed in radio dramas in the 1950s, including This is Your FBI.

In 1972, Jewell appeared opposite Edie Sedgwick in the film Ciao! Manhattan. Her final film was the B movie Sweet Kill (1973), the directorial debut of Curtis Hanson, a future Academy Award winner.

Death

Jewell died in Los Angeles, California, aged 64, from undisclosed causes. Her ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

She was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to motion pictures.

Filmography

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Isabel Jewell.

• Isabel Jewell at the Internet Movie Database
• Isabel Jewell at the Internet Broadway Database