![Jean Brooks](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w185/em8aWLDPIWwOvzNIa1hMg9j6FBn.jpg)
Jean Brooks
Fluent in Spanish, Jean Brooks began professionally by singing with Enric Madriguera and Orchestra in New York. She had a small role in the New York City-filmed The Crime of Doctor Crespi (1935) and the second lead in a Broadway play, "Name Your Poison" (1938), with Lenore Ulric, all under her real name of Jeanne Kelly. She was signed by an independent film production company that had gone under by the time she got to Hollywood. She spent several years at Universal as a leading lady in "B" pictures, including several Johnny Mack Brown westerns, but her option was dropped in late 1941. By this time she had married writer (later director) Richard Brooks and, with a certain Broadway hoofer having just signed at MGM, dropped the Kelly and became Jean Brooks. She signed with RKO, where film buffs know her for her three appearances for cult producer Val Lewton, particularly her stunning performance as a haunted devil worshiper in The Seventh Victim (1943).
Her clipped delivery and intense, forceful acting style made her a promising bet for stardom, but RKO lost interest in her by mid-'44 and her roles got gradually smaller until she was dropped in 1946. She and Brooks divorced (his later studio biographies omitted her name as one of his ex-wives). For many years she was listed as a "Lost Player" championed in several magazine articles by writer Doug McClelland. She was eventually located in San Francisco, where she had moved after her film career petered out, and was employed as a classified ad solicitor on the "San Francisco Examiner" newspaper. She had married a printer called Leddy. Her death at the Kaiser Hospital in Richmond, California, in 1963 was due to nutritional problems caused by alcoholism, a sad ending for a stylish and talented performer who didn't get the breaks she deserved, both personally and professionally.
Date of Death 25 November 1963, Richmond, California (extreme malnutrition & alcoholism)
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 5.38 |
Birthday | 1915-12-23 |
Place of Birth | Houston, Texas, USA |
Also Known As | Ruby M. Kelly, Jeanne Kelly, Ruby Matilda Kelly, |
![The Seventh Victim](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/cvck16EWDqWK6x4p78N8KyJyJNJ.jpg)
1943
![The Seventh Victim](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/cvck16EWDqWK6x4p78N8KyJyJNJ.jpg)
The Seventh Victim
6.338/119
A woman in search of her missing sister uncovers a Satanic cult in New York's Greenwich Village and finds that they could have something to do with he...
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The Seventh Victim
![Women in the Night](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/f4uVf0vl9H0hbdIU8mi40aIqcm2.jpg)
1948
![Women in the Night](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/f4uVf0vl9H0hbdIU8mi40aIqcm2.jpg)
Women in the Night
3.9/7
During WW2 six allied nations women at Shanghai University are arrested by the Germans accused of killing a German officer and forced to entertain the...
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Women in the Night
![The Leopard Man](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/aqgX4T8tnOXQjoZcQ1pHR9MnnyL.jpg)
1943
![The Leopard Man](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/aqgX4T8tnOXQjoZcQ1pHR9MnnyL.jpg)
The Leopard Man
6.441/111
When a leopard escapes during a publicity stunt, it triggers a series of murders.
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The Leopard Man
![Two O'Clock Courage](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/l5YoNf3VuSwKgxyyAxwa2wGGo7F.jpg)
1945
![Two O'Clock Courage](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/l5YoNf3VuSwKgxyyAxwa2wGGo7F.jpg)
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...
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Two O'Clock Courage
![The Falcon in Danger](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/tYO1a5ZXLNosJ1iN0W84kSMn1Hg.jpg)
1943
![The Falcon in Danger](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/tYO1a5ZXLNosJ1iN0W84kSMn1Hg.jpg)
The Falcon in Danger
5.6/11
Two industrialists disappear from an airplane while the plane is in the air. Also missing is $100,000. The Falcon investigates and discovers a plot ag...
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The Falcon in Danger
![The Falcon in Hollywood](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/8pdDEiJDpq1VVLyI1apFc9tgdrl.jpg)
1944
![The Falcon in Hollywood](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/8pdDEiJDpq1VVLyI1apFc9tgdrl.jpg)
The Falcon in Hollywood
6/12
Suave amateur detective Tom Lawrence--aka Michael Arlen's literary hero The Falcon--arrives in Hollywood for some rest and relaxation, only to find hi...
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The Falcon in Hollywood
![The Falcon and the Co-Eds](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/2ydAEscxnKXPTtgFd8f4jJ8lWCO.jpg)
1943
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The Falcon and the Co-Eds
6.2/14
The Falcon is called to a young woman's school to investigate a murder. When he arrives, another victim is discovered.
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The Falcon and the Co-Eds
![The Falcon's Alibi](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/qN6Q2ZuwOo252KGgs1skPKwCVUf.jpg)
1946
![The Falcon's Alibi](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/qN6Q2ZuwOo252KGgs1skPKwCVUf.jpg)
The Falcon's Alibi
5.1/8
A society sleuth sets out on the trail of a society matron's lost jewels.
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The Falcon's Alibi
![The Boss of Big Town](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/gYWcplNrZx6WvJuaSfYIemCvWaH.jpg)
1942
![The Boss of Big Town](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/gYWcplNrZx6WvJuaSfYIemCvWaH.jpg)
The Boss of Big Town
5/4
Quality was seldom a consideration in the low-budget films of PRC Studios; still, the company was a welcome harbor for character actors who aspired to...
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The Boss of Big Town
![Youth Runs Wild](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/AaUwGz07BMAuGBAaQNd3TWX3bfa.jpg)
1944
![Youth Runs Wild](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/AaUwGz07BMAuGBAaQNd3TWX3bfa.jpg)
Youth Runs Wild
4.2/9
The teens of a defense-plant town hop on the road to juvenile delinquency while their parents are busy with the war.
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![The Bamboo Blonde](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/sITMKEZi6Upo0lQkKPnZ5IRjhHB.jpg)
1946
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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...
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The Bamboo Blonde
![A Night of Adventure](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/tBkFW1r6Ei4tAcpnv1DokUFO5SW.jpg)
1944
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A Night of Adventure
4.9/7
A lawyer tries to clear his wife's lover of murder charges.
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A Night of Adventure
![Miracle on Main Street](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/wVodw8o0mBKVzexd3d3m5W3SuVq.jpg)
1939
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Miracle on Main Street
5.462/13
On Christmas Eve in the Spanish quarter of L.A. police try to arrest a couple running a shady floor show. Hiding in a church, the young woman finds an...
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Miracle on Main Street
![Man from Montana](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/nsc69sgmYKr5fTK3hrduK3wJB8u.jpg)
1941
![Man from Montana](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/nsc69sgmYKr5fTK3hrduK3wJB8u.jpg)
Man from Montana
0/0
A sheriff tries to prevent a range war between cattlemen and homesteaders.
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![The Devil's Pipeline](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/iVR6o5G44AgReTOo2A4hIXeqw4V.jpg)
1940
![The Devil's Pipeline](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/iVR6o5G44AgReTOo2A4hIXeqw4V.jpg)
The Devil's Pipeline
6/1
A secretary sends a coded plea for help in her monthly report; two detectives investigate and find out that men are jailed on phony charges, forced to...
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![Frankie and Johnnie](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/joidQ8GaK1vuYATxVSETZUwNW4y.jpg)
1936
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Frankie and Johnnie
5/1
The story of a woman, Frankie, and the man who has done her wrong, Johnnie.
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![The Invisible Killer](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/g4GybhAhZlvRDwKpLKOmhlsKfHJ.jpg)
1939
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The Invisible Killer
4/5
Reporter Sue Walker has too much inside information on the local gambling rackets to suit her sweetheart, Detective Lieutenant Jerry Brown, chief of t...
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![The Invisible Man Returns](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/hJmmgKnY0NaJKVP7Glb4ciAzXWr.jpg)
1940
![The Invisible Man Returns](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/hJmmgKnY0NaJKVP7Glb4ciAzXWr.jpg)
The Invisible Man Returns
6.2/114
The owner of a coal mining operation, falsely imprisoned for fratricide, takes a drug to make him invisible, despite its side effect: gradual madness.
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The Invisible Man Returns
![The Green Hornet Strikes Again!](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/aFIPmnz8S1KQzOzHE8BKi6M8URq.jpg)
1940
![The Green Hornet Strikes Again!](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/aFIPmnz8S1KQzOzHE8BKi6M8URq.jpg)
The Green Hornet Strikes Again!
6.2/4
Second serial featuring The Green Hornet and Kato.
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The Green Hornet Strikes Again!
![Riders of Death Valley](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/inVZzNrhZ8W8csZuvTTF86Sfs3j.jpg)
1941
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Riders of Death Valley
6.5/1
The Saturday matinee crowd got two cowboy stars for the price of one in this lavishly budgeted western serial starring former singing cowboy Dick Fora...
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Riders of Death Valley
![The Crime of Doctor Crespi](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/sPflUQKHuEckH2c5Ipb2gKkQSl0.jpg)
1935
![The Crime of Doctor Crespi](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/sPflUQKHuEckH2c5Ipb2gKkQSl0.jpg)
The Crime of Doctor Crespi
4.7/10
A crazed scientist invents a serum that induces a catatonic state in anyone who gets the injection. He uses the serum to paralyze his enemies, in orde...
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The Crime of Doctor Crespi
![Meet the Chump](https://movieunlimited.net/assets/no-poster.png)
1941
![Meet the Chump](https://movieunlimited.net/assets/no-poster.png)
Meet the Chump
0/0
A comedy about a man who tries to avoid giving up the $10,000,000 trust he's been administering so well that there's hardly any money left.
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Meet the Chump
![A Dangerous Game](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/4l8zSZSUyiHAf1FVrjAHJ5rQsQm.jpg)
1941
![A Dangerous Game](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/4l8zSZSUyiHAf1FVrjAHJ5rQsQm.jpg)
A Dangerous Game
5/1
Detectives Dick Williams and Andy McAllister find themselves trying to solve several crimes at an isolated mentally-ill hospital, where the patients r...
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A Dangerous Game
![Buck Privates](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/uACATiHL1nHFPbtZYqe6LD7BES1.jpg)
1941
![Buck Privates](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/uACATiHL1nHFPbtZYqe6LD7BES1.jpg)
Buck Privates
6.6/61
Petty con artists Slicker Smith and Herbie Brown mistakenly join the Army evading the cops. The cop chasing them winds up as their drill instructor. A...
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Buck Privates
![Son of Roaring Dan](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/bM1TQbOXqFD0JLIiZpRBOVOQfFG.jpg)
1940
![Son of Roaring Dan](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/bM1TQbOXqFD0JLIiZpRBOVOQfFG.jpg)
Son of Roaring Dan
0/0
In this exciting western, Roaring Dan is the meanest old cuss around. He and his "son" are constantly bickering. But things are not as they seem as th...
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Son of Roaring Dan
![Junior G-Men](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/9XqGTXsbR6eU7wyCKG9Z9haYBGW.jpg)
1940
![Junior G-Men](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/9XqGTXsbR6eU7wyCKG9Z9haYBGW.jpg)
Junior G-Men
6.1/4
A gang of urban street kids and a club of suburban would-be federal agents, at first rivals, join forces to rescue the father of one of the kids, the...
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Junior G-Men
![Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/5vT3VkTpdLQ2Me1WWbLHA7QCLr4.jpg)
1940
![Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/5vT3VkTpdLQ2Me1WWbLHA7QCLr4.jpg)
Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe
5.6/18
A mysterious plague, the Purple Death, ravages the earth. Dr. Zarkov, investigating in his spaceship, finds a ship from planet Mongo seeding the atmos...
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Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe
![Klondike Fury](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/zqSCYupUhkkrhviNDcvx100g9M7.jpg)
1942
![Klondike Fury](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/zqSCYupUhkkrhviNDcvx100g9M7.jpg)
Klondike Fury
3.9/5
In this Alaskan adventure, a surgeon becomes a pilot after he messes up an operation. Unfortunately, he crashes during a storm and finds himself cared...
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Klondike Fury
![Boot Hill Bandits](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/sGBPxb7H4UQnZr3PprkJj0c1J6N.jpg)
1942
![Boot Hill Bandits](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/sGBPxb7H4UQnZr3PprkJj0c1J6N.jpg)
Boot Hill Bandits
5.8/4
Bolton's men blow up the wagon carrying the mine payroll and Marshal Crash Corrigan is supposedly killed in the explosion. A man finds his badge and g...
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Boot Hill Bandits
![Fighting Bill Fargo](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/4ymBKRpcJiPqwWLehiWvyLI7PMD.jpg)
1941
![Fighting Bill Fargo](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/4ymBKRpcJiPqwWLehiWvyLI7PMD.jpg)
Fighting Bill Fargo
6/1
Johnny Mack Brown essays the title role in Universal's Fighting Bill Forgo. Returning to his home town, Bill Fargo takes over the operation of his lat...
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Fighting Bill Fargo
![Badlands Of Dakota](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/x65RDSFNrpJjEeeqp6sg3i3M36A.jpg)
1941
![Badlands Of Dakota](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/x65RDSFNrpJjEeeqp6sg3i3M36A.jpg)
Badlands Of Dakota
6.3/6
Up-and-coming Universal leading man Robert Stack made his western-movie debut in Badlands of Dakota. Set in the Dakotas during the days of the Great G...
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Badlands Of Dakota
![Tango Bar](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/k4XHQ5k84Mke8Lx1jUhXJGBnJUG.jpg)
1935
![Tango Bar](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/k4XHQ5k84Mke8Lx1jUhXJGBnJUG.jpg)
Tango Bar
7.8/16
Ricardo Fuentes (Carlos Gardel) leaves Buenos Aires after loosing in horse races to go to Barcelona, where he plans to open a tango bar, a new concept...
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Tango Bar
![Obeah](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/7JQlDY9IiFsSiGapbaYwZWAoGP7.jpg)
1935
![Obeah](http://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w154/7JQlDY9IiFsSiGapbaYwZWAoGP7.jpg)
Obeah
0/0
A sailor, known as the Adventurer, searching for a lost American explorer discovers him being held hostage on a remote island in the South Sea. The ma...
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