Jeanne Crain
Oscar nominated actress
Barstow, Calif., native grew up in Los Angeles and attracted the attention of Fox when she won the Camera Girl of 1942 contest in Long Beach. After appearing in a swimsuit in her debut pic "The Gang's All Here," she became popular during WWII (especially as a pinup among military personnel) and in the immediate postwar years, eventually appearing in 64 films and many television shows.
As a leading lady, she starred onscreen in "Home in Indiana," "In the Meantime, Darling," "Winged Victory," and the Rodgers & Hammerstein musical classic "State Fair."
Additional films include "Margie," musical "You Were Meant for Me" with Dan Dailey, "Apartment for Peggie" with William Holden, "Cheaper by the Dozen," "Duel in the Jungle" and numerous other pics, both lesser and better.
But she is perhaps best known for her Academy Award-nommed role as a black girl passing for white in the controversial 1949 Elia Kazan film "Pinky." The role was sought by Lena Horne and other black actresses, but Fox's Darryl F. Zanuck decided on a white star with box office appeal.
She married Paul Brinkman, an actor who later became a successful businessman, in 1945; they had seven children and she took off time to raise the family, returning to TV and film on occasion. Her last pic was 1972's "Skyjacked," after which she retired to work on her two ranches.
She is survived by two sons and three daughters; her husband died in October, and two sons also predeceased her.
