Jean Hagen

Jean Hagen

Born: August 3, 1923
Died: August 29, 1977
in Chicago, Illinois, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jean Hagen (born Jean Shirley Verhagen, August 3, 1923 – August 29, 1977) was an American actress best known for her role as Lina Lamont in Singin' in the Rain (1952), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Hagen was also nominated three times for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Margaret Williams (1953–56) on the television series Make Room For Daddy.

Her film debut was as a comical femme fatale in the Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn 1949 classic Adam's Rib, directed by George Cukor. The Asphalt Jungle (1950) provided Hagen with her first starring role alongside Sterling Hayden. Hagen received excellent reviews playing "Doll" Conover, a woman who sticks by criminal Dix's side until the bitter end. She appeared too in the film noir Side Street (1950) playing a gangster's sincere but none-too-bright nightclub-singer girlfriend.

Hagen is best remembered for her comic performance in Singin' in the Rain as the vain and talentless silent movie star Lina Lamont. She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for this memorable performance.

By 1953, she had joined the cast of the television sitcom Make Room for Daddy. For her portrayal as the first wife of Danny Thomas, Hagen received three Emmy Award nominations, but after three seasons, she grew dissatisfied with the role and left the series. Thomas, who also produced the show, reportedly did not appreciate Hagen's departing the successful series, and her character was killed off rather than recast. This was the first TV character to be killed off in a family sitcom. Marjorie Lord was cast a year later as Danny's second wife and played opposite Thomas successfully for the remainder of the series.

In 1957 Hagen co-starred in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents titled "Enough Rope for Two", portraying a woman who accompanies two thieves trying to retrieve stolen money from a desert mine shaft. She then appeared as Elizabeth in the 1960 episode "Once Upon a Knight" on CBS's anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson; and the following year she guest-starred on The Andy Griffith Show in the episode "Andy and the Woman Speeder".

Although she made frequent guest appearances in various television series, Hagen was unable to successfully resume her film career in starring roles. After appearing with Fred MacMurray in the Disney comedy The Shaggy Dog (1959), Hagen for the remainder of her career played supporting roles, such as Marguerite LeHand, personal secretary to Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Sunrise at Campobello (1960), and the friend of Bette Davis in Dead Ringer (1964). In the 1960s, Hagen's health began to decline and she spent many years hospitalized or under medical care. Much later, in 1976, she made a comeback of sorts playing character roles in episodes of the television series Starsky and Hutch and The Streets of San Francisco. She, however, made her final acting appearance the next year in the television movie Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn.

Movies for Jean Hagen...

Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
Title: Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
Character: Self (archive footage)
Released: September 24, 2002
Type: Movie
American Masters Series. Documentary on Gene Kelly that gives insight into his dancing, how he formed a style (first "blue collar dancer") and developed different cinematique techniques, such as brilliantly shot dancing sequences.
bee
Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn
Title: Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn
Character: Landlady
Released: May 16, 1977
Type: Movie
In this sequel to Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway, Alexander's story is told in both the past and the present. Alexander's parents send him away from home for being too sensitive and not helping enough on their farm. He goes to Los Angeles in hopes of going to art school, but when he can't find a job as a minor, he turns to prostitution. After being arrested, he wants to head to Arizona to marry Dawn, but he falls into a lucrative job/relationship with a gay football star.
bee
Title: Starsky & Hutch
Character: Belle Kates
Released: September 10, 1975
Type: TV
Streetwise Detective David Starsky partners up with a more intellectual partner, Kenneth 'Hutch' Hutchinson, to protect citizens and patrol the streets of Bay City.
bee
Title: The Streets of San Francisco
Character: Ms. Unger
Released: September 23, 1972
Type: TV
Two police officers, the older Lt. Stone and the young upstart Inspector Keller, investigate murders and other serious crimes in San Francisco. Stone would become a second father to Keller as he learned the rigors and procedures of detective work.
bee
Title: Make Room for Granddaddy
Released: September 23, 1970
Type: TV
Make Room for Granddaddy is a sequel to the American TV series The Danny Thomas Show (also known as Make Room for Daddy). The series aired for one season on ABC between September 1970 and March 1971.
bee
Dead Ringer
Title: Dead Ringer
Character: Dede Marshall
Released: February 19, 1964
Type: Movie
The working class twin sister of a callous wealthy woman impulsively murders her out of revenge and assumes the identity of the dead woman. But impersonating her dead twin is more complicated and risky than she anticipated.
bee
Panic in Year Zero!
Title: Panic in Year Zero!
Character: Ann Baldwin
Released: July 5, 1962
Type: Movie
While on a fishing trip, Harry Baldwin and his family hear an explosion and realize that Los Angeles has been leveled by a nuclear attack. Looters and killers are everywhere. Escaping to the hills with his family, he sets about the business of surviving in a world where, he knows, the old ideals of humanity will be the first casualties.
bee
Title: Ben Casey
Released: October 2, 1961
Type: TV
Ben Casey is an American medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was known for its opening titles, which consisted of a hand drawing the symbols "♂, ♀, ✳, †, ∞" on a chalkboard, as cast member Sam Jaffe intoned, "Man, woman, birth, death, infinity." Neurosurgeon Joseph Ransohoff was a medical consultant for the show and may have influenced the personality of the title character.
bee
Title: Dr. Kildare
Character: Nurse Mary Ogilvy
Released: September 27, 1961
Type: TV
The story of a young intern in a large metropolitan hospital trying to learn his profession, deal with the problems of his patients, and win the respect of the senior doctor in his specialty, internal medicine.
bee
Title: Stagecoach West
Character: Lilly de Milo
Released: October 4, 1960
Type: TV
Stagecoach West is an American Western drama television series which ran for thirty-eight episodes on the ABC network from October 4, 1960, until June 27, 1961. Characters Luke Perry and Simon Kane operate the Timberland Stage Line from fictitious Outpost, Missouri to San Francisco, California. Simon's 15-year-old son, David "Davey" Kane, joins the two as they face stagecoach robbers, murderers, inclement weather, and human interest stories. Perry and Kane, who are both deputy U.S. marshals, had been on opposite sides of the American Civil War; Kane, a captain in the Union Army, while Perry had fought for the Confederate States of America. The one-hour black-and-white program was offered at 9 p.m. Eastern on Tuesdays opposite NBC's Thriller, hosted by Boris Karloff, and CBS's The Red Skelton Show. Rogers became well-known a dozen years later on M*A*S*H, and Bray later portrayed the forest ranger Corey Stuart on Lassie from 1964–1969, both on CBS. Child actor Richard Eyer had starred in a number of films in the 1950s, including Friendly Persuasion and Desperate Hours. Stagecoach West was produced by Dick Powell's Four Star Television. It is believed that the series was cancelled despite the high quality of its production because of the glut of westerns on television at the time that it aired. The same fate had fallen on CBS's Johnny Ringo, a 1959 one-season spin-off of Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theater.
bee
Title: The Andy Griffith Show
Character: Elizabeth Crowley
Released: October 3, 1960
Type: TV
The Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised on CBS between October 3, 1960 and April 1, 1968. Andy Griffith portrays the widowed sheriff of the fictional small community of Mayberry, North Carolina. His life is complicated by an inept, but well-meaning deputy, Barney Fife, a spinster aunt and housekeeper, Aunt Bee, and a precocious young son, Opie. Local ne'er-do-wells, bumbling pals, and temperamental girlfriends further complicate his life. Andy Griffith stated in a Today Show interview, with respect to the time period of the show: "Well, though we never said it, and though it was shot in the '60s, it had a feeling of the '30s. It was when we were doing it, of a time gone by." The series never placed lower than seventh in the Nielsen ratings and ended its final season at number one. It has been ranked by TV Guide as the 9th-best show in American television history. Though neither Griffith nor the show won awards during its eight-season run, series co-stars Knotts and Bavier accumulated a combined total of six Emmy Awards. The show, a semi-spin-off from an episode of The Danny Thomas Show titled "Danny Meets Andy Griffith", spawned its own spin-off series, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., a sequel series, Mayberry R.F.D., and a reunion telemovie, Return to Mayberry. The show's enduring popularity has generated a good deal of show-related merchandise. Reruns currently air on TV Land, and the complete series is available on DVD. All eight seasons are also now available by streaming video services such as Netflix.
bee
Sunrise at Campobello
Title: Sunrise at Campobello
Character: Missy Le Hand
Released: September 28, 1960
Type: Movie
The story of Franklin Roosevelt's bout with polio at age 40 in 1921 and how his family (and especially wife Eleanor) cope with his illness. From being stricken while vacationing at Campobello to his triumphant nominating speech for Al Smith's presidency in 1924, the story follows the various influences on his life and his determination to recover - based on the award winning Broadway play of the same name.
bee
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Title: The Snows of Kilimanjaro
Character: Rhoda
Released: March 25, 1960
Type: Movie
A writer reflects on his life as he lies dying from an infection after a safari in the shadow of Mount Kilimanjaro, after Earnest Hemingway's short story.
bee
Title: The Detectives
Character: Alice Streger
Released: October 16, 1959
Type: TV
The Detectives is an American crime drama series which ran on ABC during its first two seasons, and on NBC during its third and final season. The series, starring motion picture star Robert Taylor, was produced by Four Star Television.
bee
Title: The DuPont Show with June Allyson
Character: Elizabeth
Released: September 21, 1959
Type: TV
The DuPont Show with June Allyson is an American anthology drama series which aired on CBS from September 21, 1959 to April 3, 1961 with rebroadcasts continuing until June 12, 1961. The series was hosted by actress June Allyson.
bee
The Shaggy Dog
Title: The Shaggy Dog
Character: Freeda Daniels
Released: March 19, 1959
Type: Movie
Through an ancient spell, a boy changes into a sheepdog and back again. It seems to happen at inopportune times and the spell can only be broken by an act of bravery....
bee
Title: Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
Released: October 6, 1958
Type: TV
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse is an American television anthology series produced by Desilu Productions. The show ran on CBS television between 1958 and 1960. Two of its 48 episodes served as pilots for the 1950s television series The Twilight Zone and The Untouchables.
bee
Title: Wagon Train
Character: Maidie Brant
Released: September 18, 1957
Type: TV
The series initially starred veteran movie supporting actor Ward Bond as the wagon master, later replaced upon his death by John McIntire, and Robert Horton as the scout, subsequently replaced by lookalike Robert Fuller a year after Horton had decided to leave the series. The series was inspired by the 1950 film Wagon Master directed by John Ford and starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr. and Ward Bond, and harkens back to the early widescreen wagon train epic The Big Trail starring John Wayne and featuring Bond in his first major screen appearance playing a supporting role. Horton's buckskin outfit as the scout in the first season of the television series resembles Wayne's, who also played the wagon train's scout in the earlier film.
bee
Title: Wagon Train
Character: Sarah Proctor
Released: September 18, 1957
Type: TV
The series initially starred veteran movie supporting actor Ward Bond as the wagon master, later replaced upon his death by John McIntire, and Robert Horton as the scout, subsequently replaced by lookalike Robert Fuller a year after Horton had decided to leave the series. The series was inspired by the 1950 film Wagon Master directed by John Ford and starring Ben Johnson, Harry Carey Jr. and Ward Bond, and harkens back to the early widescreen wagon train epic The Big Trail starring John Wayne and featuring Bond in his first major screen appearance playing a supporting role. Horton's buckskin outfit as the scout in the first season of the television series resembles Wayne's, who also played the wagon train's scout in the earlier film.
bee
Spring Reunion
Title: Spring Reunion
Character: Barna Forrest
Released: March 1, 1957
Type: Movie
A spinster finally finds the right man when she returns to her alma mater after 15 years for a class reunion.
bee
Title: Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Character: Anne Madden
Released: October 5, 1956
Type: TV
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theatre, is an American Western anthology series which ran on CBS from 1956 to 1961.
bee
The Big Knife
Title: The Big Knife
Character: Connie Bliss
Released: October 25, 1955
Type: Movie
Movie star Charlie Castle draws the ire of Hollywood producer Stanley Hoff when he refuses to sign a new seven-year contract. Castle is sick of the low quality of the studio's films and wants to start a new life. While his estranged wife supports him in the decision, Castle's talent agent urges him to reconsider. When Castle continues to be uncooperative, Hoff resorts to blackmail in order to get his way.
bee
Title: Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Character: Madge Griffin
Released: October 2, 1955
Type: TV
A television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.
bee
Title: Climax!
Character: Eleanor Gehrig
Released: October 7, 1954
Type: TV
Climax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS programs of that era to be broadcast in color. Many of the episodes were performed and broadcast live.
bee
Title: The Jimmy Durante Show
Character: Self
Released: October 2, 1954
Type: TV
The Jimmy Durante Show is a 51-episode half-hour comedy/variety television program presented live on NBC from October 2, 1954 to June 23, 1956.
bee
Title: The Danny Thomas Show
Character: Margaret Williams
Released: September 29, 1953
Type: TV
Danny Thomas, an entertainer, tries to balance his home life with the needs of his career, with hilarious results.
bee
Latin Lovers
Title: Latin Lovers
Character: Anne Kellwood
Released: August 12, 1953
Type: Movie
An heiress searches for true love while vacationing in Brazil.
bee
Arena
Title: Arena
Character: Meg Hutchins
Released: June 24, 1953
Type: Movie
Left by his wife, a vain rodeo star picks up a floozy and rides a bad Brahman bull.
bee
Half a Hero
Title: Half a Hero
Character: Martha Dobson
Released: May 11, 1953
Type: Movie
A man moves his family from the big city to the suburbs.
bee
Title: General Electric Theater
Character: Paula Farrel
Released: February 1, 1953
Type: TV
General Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was broadcast on CBS radio and television. The series was sponsored by General Electric's Department of Public Relations.
bee
Title: The Ford Television Theatre
Character: Nona Carson
Released: October 2, 1952
Type: TV
This show started in New York City, with Broadway actors and actresses. It then moved to Hollywood, California, where Hollywood actors and actresses headed the cast.
bee
Shadow in the Sky
Title: Shadow in the Sky
Character: Stella Murphy
Released: July 18, 1952
Type: Movie
Burt, a Marine suffering from Battle Fatigue, is deathly afraid of rain and confined to an asylum, but showing improvement. He wants to live with his sister's family, but they have young children.
bee
Carbine Williams
Title: Carbine Williams
Character: Maggie Williams
Released: May 1, 1952
Type: Movie
David Marshall Williams is sent to a prison farm where he works in the tool shop and eventually develops the precursor of the famous M-1 Carbine automatic rifle used in World War II.
bee
Singin' in the Rain
Title: Singin' in the Rain
Character: Lina Lamont
Released: April 9, 1952
Type: Movie
In 1927 Hollywood, a silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound.
bee
No Questions Asked
Title: No Questions Asked
Character: Joan Brenson
Released: June 15, 1951
Type: Movie
A young lawyer's primrose path to success gets him framed for murder.
bee
Night Into Morning
Title: Night Into Morning
Character: Girl Next Door
Released: June 8, 1951
Type: Movie
Berkeley university professor adjusts (using alcohol) to tragic fire deaths of wife & son.
bee
A Life of Her Own
Title: A Life of Her Own
Character: Maggie Collins
Released: September 1, 1950
Type: Movie
A young woman from Kansas moves to New York City, becomes highly successful at a prestigious modeling agency, and falls in love with a married man.
bee
The Asphalt Jungle
Title: The Asphalt Jungle
Character: Doll Conovan
Released: May 12, 1950
Type: Movie
Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo Emmerich, a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big jewel heist.
bee
Side Street
Title: Side Street
Character: Harriette Sinton
Released: March 23, 1950
Type: Movie
A struggling young father-to-be gives in to temptation and impulsively steals an envelope of money from the office of a corrupt attorney. Instead of a few hundred dollars, it contains $30,000, and when he decides to return the money things go wrong and that is only the beginning of his troubles.
bee
Ambush
Title: Ambush
Character: Martha Conovan
Released: January 13, 1950
Type: Movie
A Westerner searches for a white woman held by the Apaches.
bee
Adam's Rib
Title: Adam's Rib
Character: Beryl Caighn
Released: November 18, 1949
Type: Movie
When a woman attempts to kill her uncaring husband, prosecutor Adam Bonner gets the case. Unfortunately for him his wife Amanda (who happens to be a lawyer too) decides to defend the woman in court. Amanda uses everything she can to win the case and Adam gets mad about it. As a result, their perfect marriage is disturbed by everyday quarrels.