Gene Tierney: A Beautifully Troubled Soul

After a rather long weekend, I decided my Monday morning should warrant it be a quiet one.
So I poured myself a cup of coffee, headed to the sofa and keyed 169 into the remote and there on TCM was the movie Laura.
Laura is a murder mystery directed by one of my favorite directors Otto Preminger, a definite must see for the cinematography alone.
While watching this mesmerizing drama, the elegant star of the show caught my eye for her exquisiteness and sheer talent and that is when I knew she would be my Thursday post.
The elegant star was Gene Tierney.
Gene Eliza Tierney was born in Brooklyn, New York on November 20th, 1920 the second child of wealthy insurance broker Howard Sherwood Tierney and his wife Belle Lavina Taylor.
Gene attended several prominent learning institutions such as St. Margaret's School in Waterbury, Connecticut, the Unquowa School in Fairfield, Connecticut followed by two years in Europe where she attended Brillantmont finishing school in Lausanne, Switzerland where she learned to speak fluent French and upon her return to the U.S. in 1938, attended Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut.
While her father sent the family on a trip to the west coast, his wife asked her best friend to look after her husband, she certainly did-the twosome had an affair and later married following a divorce from their respective spouses.
While visiting California the rest of the family visited Warner Bros. studios where the director Anatole Litvak saw the lovely 17-year-old and told her she could become an actress.
Warner Bros. wanted to sign Gene immediately but her parents advised against it at that time, instead advising their daughter to wait for a more lucrative salary.
Following her introduction into proper society as a debutante, Gene became bored with the upper crust and decided to pursue a career in acting.
With her parent's permission she was enrolled in a Greenwich Village acting studio with Benno Schneider and began appearing on Broadway in What a Life! (1938), The Primrose Path, Mrs. O'Brien Entertains and Ring Two both in 1939.
Her father created a corporation Belle-Tier, to promote and fund her acting career and in 1939 Columbia Pictures signed her to a six month contract but failed to find her a project and she returned to Broadway in 1940's The Male Animal, which was a huge hit and opened the door for her as a fashion model as well, where she appeared in Life Magazine, Harper's Bazaar and Vogue.
As the curtain went up one evening at the theatre, a rumor spread that the head of 20th Century-Fox, Daryl F. Zanuck was in the audience. During her performance he told his assistant to write down Gene's name and later that evening at the Stork Club he witnessed a young lady on the dance floor and said to his assistant, "Forget the girl from the play-see if you can sign that one!"
It was Tierney, although Zanuck wasn't easily convinced the actress and dancer were one in the same.
However Tierney was later quoted as saying, "I always had different looks, a quality that proved useful in my career."
I completely concur, the lady was a virtual chameleon onscreen.
Tierney signed with 20th Century-Fox and debuted in the Fritz Lang western The Return of Frank James in 1940 opposite Henry Fonda.
Most eager to hone her acting skills she stayed onset well after her scenes wrapped in order to observe the other more seasoned actors.
One evening while out on the town in Hollywood she met soon to be fashion designer Oleg Cassini. Her family and friends were against her dating a foreigner so quite naturally the couple eloped on June 1st, 1941 and had two children, Daria and Christina before divorcing on February 28th, 1952.
During the war effort she gave speeches and sold bonds and appeared at the Hollywood Canteen where she contracted Rubella or German Measles, causing her first born Daria to be born prematurely and with cognitive disabilities.
She reluctantly took her doctor's advice and institutionalized Daria at the age of four, at one point billionaire Howard Hughes, a friend of Gene's, would provide funds for Daria's medical care.
Despite the turmoil in her personal life Gene's career was becoming more positive when she co-starred in Tobacco Road, The Shanghai Gesture and China Girl in 1942 but it was 1943's Heaven Can Wait opposite Don Ameche that would send Tierney's star into orbit.
In 1944 she starred in her most famous role, that of intended murder victim Laura Hunt in Laura opposite Dana Andrews, shortly thereafter came A Bell for Adano in 1945, Leave Her to Heaven for which she won an Academy Award for Best Actress, Dragonwyck-where she reportedly met John F. Kennedy and had an affair but he broke off the relationship due to his political aspirations-imagine that, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, That Wonderful Urge (1948) and Whirlpool in 1949. She also reportedly had conquests with Tyrone Power and Prince Aly Khan as well.
Busy, busy, busy!
During the early 50s she suffered from manic depression and when it did not improve with a psychiatrist's help, she checked in at The Institute for Living where she endured brutal shock treatments.
She was still quite unstable when she was released in 1958, for the actress was found standing on the ledge of her New York apartment, she would spend the next few years at the Menniger Clinic before being released again.
Following this her third release, Gene took a trip for relaxation to Aspen, Colorado where she met Texas oil baron W. Howard Lee, former husband of actress Hedy Lamarr, and on July 11th, 1960 the couple were married and remained together until his death on February 17th, 1981. The actress still continued to struggle with her mental issues however, checking in once more for a year.
Tierney's career spanned some 42 years with her final performance being in 1980's Scruples, a TV mini-series.
After hearing her voice following the screening of her first movie she said, "I sound like an angry Minnie Mouse."
She then began to smoke in order to lower her voice and it worked, but she would pay a hefty price.
Gene Tierney died on November 6th, 1991 of emphysema in Houston, Texas, she is interred at Glenwood Cemetery.
Gene Tierney knew early on the social circles and pomp and circumstance of the upper crust were not her cup of tea and set out to take life for all it could offer, in her own way.
Like so many others, she charted her course and followed her passion despite having mental issues, and cultivated one of the most intriguing careers as an actress in the process.


Sources:
Gene Tierney: A Shattered Portrait,
The Biography Channel. March 26, 1999.
Self Portrait: Tierney and Herskowitz, 1978 Wyden Books.
E True Hollywood Story,
The Kennedys: Power, Seduction
and Hollywood 1998.

Photo Credits:
BooBooGBs architekt2