Jean Kent was born on June 29, 1921 in Brixton, London, England, United Kingdom, is Actress, Soundtrack. Vivacious, hazel-eyed, strawberry-haired Jean Kent was a popular star of British films in the 1940's and early 50's. The daughter of variety performers Norman Field and Nina Norre, she was convent-educated. By the age of ten, she accompanied her mother on tour, then spent several years in the chorus line at London's Windmill Theatre in the West End. Having honed her acting skills on the provincial repertory stage, Jean signed with Gainsborough Pictures in 1943. Her first noteworthy performance was in Fanny by Gaslight (1944) for which she received fifth billing. Through sheer determination and hard work, she quickly moved up the ladder to integral roles as willful 'scarlet women' in juicy melodramas. These were often parts other leading actresses refused to play, point in case her gypsy wildcat Rosal in Caravan (1946), considered even by Margaret Lockwood as 'too awful'. Using her training to best advantage, Jean performed some striking dance numbers in the film.She was the femme fatale wartime audiences loved to hate, an early British sex symbol, most effectively paired with the likes of Stewart Granger or James Mason. In one of her best-remembered performances, Jean took sole limelight as the titular star of the cautionary drama Good-Time Girl (1948), as a juvenile delinquent who falls in with spivs and gangsters and ends up in prison. However, within just a few years, Jean's box-office appeal had waned, possibly attributable to having portrayed a woman ten years older than herself in The Browning Version (1951) (though the film itself was a box-office and critical success). Her remaining screen career was thereafter confined to appearances on the small screen, from the much-derided soap opera Crossroads (1964), to playing Queen Elizabeth I in the excellent Sir Francis Drake (1961) or as Daphne Goodlace, potential seductress of both Albert and Harold, in Steptoe and Son (1962).
Jean Kent is a member of Actress
Does Jean Kent Dead or Alive?
As per our current Database, Jean Kent has been died on 30 November 2013(2013-11-30) (aged 92)\nBury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England.
🎂 Jean Kent - Age, Bio, Faces and Birthday
When Jean Kent die, Jean Kent was 92 years old.
Popular As |
Jean Kent |
Occupation |
Actress |
Age |
92 years old |
Zodiac Sign |
Cancer |
Born |
June 29, 1921 ( Brixton, London, England, United Kingdom) |
Birthday |
June 29 |
Town/City |
Brixton, London, England, United Kingdom |
Nationality |
United Kingdom |
🌙 Zodiac
Jean Kent’s zodiac sign is Cancer. According to astrologers, the sign of Cancer belongs to the element of Water, just like Scorpio and Pisces. Guided by emotion and their heart, they could have a hard time blending into the world around them. Being ruled by the Moon, phases of the lunar cycle deepen their internal mysteries and create fleeting emotional patterns that are beyond their control. As children, they don't have enough coping and defensive mechanisms for the outer world, and have to be approached with care and understanding, for that is what they give in return.
🌙 Chinese Zodiac Signs
Jean Kent was born in the Year of the Rooster. Those born under the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Rooster are practical, resourceful, observant, analytical, straightforward, trusting, honest, perfectionists, neat and conservative. Compatible with Ox or Snake.
Biography/Timeline
1931
Born Joan Mildred Summerfield in Brixton, London, the only child of variety performers Norman Field (né Summerfield) and Nina Norre, she started her theatrical career in 1931 as a Dancer.
1943
She signed to Gainsborough Pictures during the Second World War. Kent had small roles in It's That Man Again (1943), Miss London Ltd. (1943) and Warn That Man (1944).
1944
The turning point in her career came when she was given a dramatic part in the Gainsborough melodrama film Fanny by Gaslight (1944). She played a part turned down by Margaret Lockwood – the childhood friend of Phyllis Calvert who becomes the mistress of James Mason. The movie, also starring Stewart Granger, was popular in England and established Kent as Gainsborough's back up to Margaret Lockwood.
1945
Kent played another sexually aggressive girl in Madonna of the Seven Moons (1945) with Calvert and Granger. It was a big hit. Rank borrowed her to support Rex Harrison in The Rake's Progress (1945) then back at Gainsborough she was in Waterloo Road (1945) with John Mills and Granger.
1946
Kent was married to Austrian actor Josef Ramart from 1946 until his death in 1989, aged 70. They met on the set of Caravan. Actor Stewart Granger was the best man at their wedding. They appeared together in the films Caravan and Trottie True. She was the subject of This Is Your Life in 1974 when she was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the Strand Theatre. Kent made her last public appearance in June 2011, when she was honoured by the British Film Institute on her 90th birthday.
1948
Kent was top billed as one of several names in Bond Street (1948) and was the female lead in a thriller 'Sleeping Car to Trieste (1948), playing a spy.
1949
Kent had her best chance yet playing the lead in a musical Trottie True (1949) which became her favorite film. She made a comedy in Italy, Her Favourite Husband (1950) and appeared opposite Dirk Bogarde in The Woman in Question (1950).
1950
Kent's film appearances grew less frequent from the mid 1950s onward. She had support roles in The Prince and the Showgirl (1957) and Bonjour Tristesse (1958) and a good part in the horror film The Haunted Strangler (1959). She was in the comedy Please Turn Over (1959) and the thriller Beyond This Place (1959). She was one of several female stars in Bluebeard's Ten Honeymoons (1960) with George Sanders.
1951
She starred in the melodrama The Reluctant Widow (1951) then had a good role as the wife in The Browning Version (1951).
1952
Kent was in a thriller The Lost Hours (1952) with American actor Mark Stevens and Before I Wake (1954). In 1953 she was in a play Uncertain Joy.
1954
In 1954 she fell ill while touring in a stage production of The Deep Blue Sea in South Africa.
1961
She played Queen Elizabeth I in the historical TV adventure series Sir Francis Drake filmed in 1961–62.
2013
Kent died in the West Suffolk Hospital, Bury St. Edmunds on 30 November 2013, following a fall at her home in Westhorpe. The coroner recorded a narrative verdict that Kent died from accidental injuries and that cardiac disease may have contributed to a fall.
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