Jane Greer
Jane Greer was a film and television actress who was perhaps best known for her role as femme fatale Kathie Moffat in the 1947 film noir Out of the Past.
A beauty-contest winner and professional model from her teens, Greer began her show-business career as a big-band singer. She sang in Washington, DC, with the orchestra of Enric Madriguera. She "sang phonetically in Spanish" with the group.
Howard Hughes spotted Greer modeling in the June 8, 1942 issue of Life, and sent her to Hollywood to become an actress. Hughes lent her to RKO to star in many films (another source says Greer's husband, Rudy Vallee, "helped her get out of her contract with Hughes and secure another pact with RKO Studios") including Dick Tracy, Out of the Past, They Won't Believe Me, and the comedy/suspense film The Big Steal, with Out of the Past co-star Robert Mitchum. Hughes refused to let her work for a time; when she finally began film acting, she appeared in You're in the Navy Now, The Prisoner of Zenda, Run for the Sun, and Man of a Thousand Faces. In 1984, she was cast in Against All Odds, a remake of Out of the Past, as the mother of the character she had played in 1947. In 1952, Greer obtained a release from her contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. She said, "When there is a good role at MGM, the producers want Lana or Ava. There is no chance for another actress to develop into important stardom at the studio".
Greer's noteworthy roles in television included guest appearances on episodes of numerous shows over the decades, such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Bonanza, Quincy, M.E., Murder, She Wrote, and a 1975 gig with Peter Falk and Robert Vaughn in an episode of Columbo titled Troubled Waters. She even got to make fun of Out of the Past in a parody with Robert Mitchum on TV's Saturday Night Live in 1987. Greer joined the casts of Falcon Crest in 1984 and Twin Peaks in 1990 in recurring roles until her retirement in 1996.
Greer was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1634 Vine Street for her contributions to the motion picture industry. The star was dedicated on February 8, 1960. Greer died of cancer on August 24, 2001, at the age of 76, in Bel Air, Los Angeles. Her body was interred at Los Angeles' Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Jane Greer, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 7.343 |
Birthday | 1924-09-09 |
Place of Birth | Washington, D.C., USA |
Also Known As | Bettejane Greer, |
1947
Out of the Past
7.6/559
Jeff Bailey seems to be a mundane gas station owner in remote Bridgeport, California. He is dating local girl Ann Miller and lives a quiet life. But J...
Watch Now
Out of the Past
1984
Against All Odds
5.7/196
She was a beautiful fugitive. Fleeing from corruption. From power. He was a professional athlete past his prime. Hired to find her, he grew to love he...
Watch Now
Against All Odds
1973
The Outfit
6.831/68
A two-bit criminal takes on the Mafia to avenge his brother's death. Earl Macklin is a small time criminal who is released from prison after an unsucc...
Watch Now
The Outfit
1947
They Won't Believe Me
6.55/40
On trial for murdering his girlfriend, philandering stockbroker Larry Ballentine takes the stand to claim his innocence and describe the actual, but i...
Watch Now
They Won't Believe Me
1951
The Company She Keeps
5.9/15
A lady con artist sets out to steal her parole officer's fiance.
Watch Now
The Company She Keeps
1952
The Prisoner of Zenda
6.77/50
An Englishman vacationing in Ruritania is recruited to impersonate his cousin, the soon-to-be-crowned king after the monarch is drugged and kidnapped.
Watch Now
The Prisoner of Zenda
1957
Man of a Thousand Faces
6.7/38
The turbulent life and professional career of vaudeville actor and silent screen horror star Lon Chaney (1883-1930), the man of a thousand faces; bear...
Watch Now
Man of a Thousand Faces
1948
Station West
6.1/23
When two US cavalrymen transporting a gold shipment get killed, US Army Intelligence investigator John Haven goes undercover to a mining and logging t...
Watch Now
Station West
1947
Sinbad the Sailor
5.9/39
Daredevil sailor Sinbad embarks on a voyage across the Seven Seas to find the lost riches of Alexander the Great. His first stop is the port of Basra,...
Watch Now
Sinbad the Sailor
1945
Two O'Clock Courage
6.2/23
After nearly running over him with her cab, Patty Mitchell picks up a fare who claims to have amnesia. As he fumbles to remember the basic facts of hi...
Watch Now
Two O'Clock Courage
1956
Run for the Sun
5.885/26
Mike, a Hemingway-esque adventure novelist, is spending his days in a self-imposed exile somewhere in Central America. A reporter for Sight Magazine,...
Watch Now
Run for the Sun
1946
The Falcon's Alibi
5.1/8
A society sleuth sets out on the trail of a society matron's lost jewels.
Watch Now
The Falcon's Alibi
1949
The Big Steal
6.5/91
Army Lieutenant Halliday, accused of stealing the Army payroll, pursues the real thief on a frantic chase through Mexico aided by the thief's ex-girlf...
Watch Now
The Big Steal
1951
You're in the Navy Now
4.4/9
When Lt. John Harkness is assigned as the new skipper of a submarine chaser equipped with an experimental steam engine, he hopes that the U.S.S. Teake...
Watch Now
You're in the Navy Now
1964
Where Love Has Gone
6.1/18
A divorced couple's teen-age daughter stands trial for stabbing her mother's latest lover.
Watch Now
Where Love Has Gone
1965
Billie
5/10
A 16-year-old tomboy and high school athlete becomes embroiled with the lives around her boyfriend whose conservative father is running for mayor.
Watch Now
Billie
1953
The Clown
5.4/7
Once a famous Ziegfeld star, Dodo Delwyn is reduced to playing clowns in burlesque and amusement parks as a result of his drinking. His son Little Din...
Watch Now
The Clown
1952
Desperate Search
5.7/7
A man (Howard Keel), his wife (Jane Greer) and his famous-aviator ex-wife (Patricia Medina) search for their two children lost with a cougar.
Watch Now
Desperate Search
1946
The Bamboo Blonde
6/3
A pilot of a B 29 meets Louise Anderson, a singer in a New York nightclub. He falls in love with her, but he had to leave next day for action in the P...
Watch Now
The Bamboo Blonde
1945
Dick Tracy
5.1/22
Detective Tracy (Morgan Conway) rescues Tess Trueheart (Anne Jeffreys) and Junior from a killer called Splitface (Mike Mazurki).
Watch Now
Dick Tracy
1953
Down Among the Sheltering Palms
5/1
War-weary Captain Willoby and his men are the occupation force on an island of lovely women...and are forbidden to fraternize.
Watch Now
Down Among the Sheltering Palms
1952
You for Me
4.5/3
A good-hearted nurse gets mixed up with a millionaire who could help her hospital.
Watch Now
You for Me
1946
Sunset Pass
3.5/1
A young outlaw gets involved with a gang of crooks. When he tells them he is breaking away, they threaten to pin a false murder charge on him. But he...
Watch Now
Sunset Pass
1945
George White's Scandals
5.333/3
Two couples work through their issues in this backstage Broadway musical.
Watch Now
George White's Scandals
1991
Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star
7/1
A retrospective on the career of Robert Mitchum through interviews with friends and co-workers, scenes from his films and the actor himself.
Watch Now
Robert Mitchum: The Reluctant Star
1945
Pan-Americana
3.6/5
A New York magazine sends its editors to South America to find beautiful girls.
Watch Now
Pan-Americana
1986
Just Between Friends
5.2/9
Holly and Sandy strike up an instant friendship; they don't know however that they have more in common than they'd like. When tragedy strikes, their r...
Watch Now
Just Between Friends
1989
Immediate Family
5.966/30
Linda and Michael, married for ten years, desperately want a baby and turn to an adoption agency which introduces them to Lucy, a teenage girl expecti...
Watch Now
Immediate Family
2006
Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light
7.077/14
Film Noir burrows into the mind; it's disorienting, intriguing and enthralling. Noir brings us into a gritty underworld of lush morbidity, providing i...
Watch Now
Film Noir: Bringing Darkness to Light
1982
The Shadow Riders
6.444/45
After starring in "The Sacketts", Tom Selleck and Sam Elliott team up again but this time as Mac and Dal Traven, in a movie based on a classic Louis L...
Watch Now
The Shadow Riders
1998
Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero
0/0
Known for his personification of the Western Hero, it was Montana-born Gary Cooper's horse-riding skills that first brought him bit parts in movies. A...
Watch Now
Gary Cooper: The Face of a Hero
1979
A Christmas for Boomer
0/0
A sacked maid and butler kidnap a pampered dog and want $20,000 ransom from the rich owner, Lila Manchester. A shaggy dog named Boomer helps save it a...
Watch Now
A Christmas for Boomer
1958
No Time at All
0/0
An airliner flying nonstop at night from Miami to New York fails to check in, then disappears from radar. We see how its disappearance affects people...
Watch Now