Jane Wyman

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Template:Short description Template:Distinguish Template:Use American English Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Jane Wyman (Template:IPAc-en Template:Respell; born Sarah Jane Mayfield; January 5, 1917 – September 10, 2007)<ref name="official-release">Template:Cite web.</ref> was an American actress. A star of both movies and television, she received an Academy Award for Best Actress, four Golden Globe Awards and nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards. In 1960 she received stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for both motion pictures and television. She was the first wife of actor and future U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

According to studio biographies Jane Wyman made her theatrical film debut in The Kid from Spain (1932) as an uncredited chorus girl. Wyman always maintained that she got her start in 1934 at 17 dancing in the chorus for LeRoy Prinz at Paramount Pictures. In 1936 Bryan Foy signed Wyman, at 19 years old, to her first studio contract with Warner Bros. During her tenure there, Wyman began appearing in bit roles but progressed into supporting roles, including My Love Came Back (1940), Footlight Serenade (1942), and Princess O'Rourke (1943).

By 1945, Wyman emerged as a prominent A-list actress with successful releases in The Lost Weekend (1945), The Yearling (1946), Johnny Belinda (1948), Stage Fright (1950), The Blue Veil (1951), So Big (1953), Magnificent Obsession (1954), and All That Heaven Allows (1955). She received four nominations for Academy Award for Best Actress between 1946 and 1954, winning one for Johnny Belinda (1948).

In 1955, Wyman transitioned into television, forming her own production company Lewman Productions Ltd. (co-owned with MCA Inc.). She was also made the producer, host, and frequent star of the last three seasons of NBC's Fireside Theatre, which was rebranded with Wyman's name. Her career declined shortly after, and she went into virtual retirement for several intervals of the 1960s and 1970s.

Wyman's career resurged when she appeared on the primetime soap opera Falcon Crest (1981–1990), portraying the villainous matriarch Angela Channing. She retired in 1993, after appearing in an episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Wyman died from natural causes in 2007, at the age of 90.

Early life

Wyman's birthplace in St. Joseph, Missouri

Sarah Jane Mayfield was born on January 5, 1917, in St. Joseph, Missouri, to Gladys Hope (Template:Née Christian; 1891–1960) and Manning Jeffries Mayfield (1895–1922). Her father was a meal company laborer and her mother was a doctor's stenographer and office assistant. Wyman was an only child. Her birth parents were married in March 1916 in Jackson County, Missouri. The 1920 census showed her to be three years old on January 15, 1920, and living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.Template:Citation needed

In October 1921, her parents divorced and her father died unexpectedly three months later. After his death, her mother moved to Cleveland, Ohio, leaving her to be reared by her neighbors Emma (née Reiss)<ref>Morris, Edmund. Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan. Random House, Inc., 1999</ref><ref>U.S. Census, April 15, 1910, State of Missouri, County of Buchanan, enumeration district 54, p. 5-A, family 99. California death index, 1940–1997.</ref> and Richard D. Fulks, the chief of detectives in Saint Joseph.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She took their surname unofficially, including in her school records and on her marriage certificate to first husband Ernest Wyman.<ref name="Morris, Edmund 1999"/> The Fulks’ had two older children who were sometimes referenced as siblings.

Her unsettled family life resulted in few pleasurable memories. Wyman later said, "I was raised with such strict discipline that it was years before I could reason myself out of the bitterness I brought from my childhood."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1928, aged 11, she moved to California with her foster mother, returning to Missouri in 1930, attending Lafayette High School in Saint Joseph. That same year, she began a radio singing career, calling herself Jane Durrell and altering her birthdate by three years to allow her to work because she was legally under-aged.<ref>Edwards, Anne. Early Reagan: The Rise to Power. William Morrow & Co (November 1990); Template:ISBN.</ref><ref>Bubbeo, Daniel. The Women of Warner Brothers: The Lives and Careers of 15 Leading Ladies, McFarland & Company (October 2001); Template:ISBN.</ref><ref>Colacello, Bob. Template:Asin Ronnie and Nancy: Their Path to the White House – 1911 to 1980. Warner Books; 1st Warner Books Edition (2004); Template:ISBN.</ref><ref>Wyman is listed in the U.S. Census taken in April 1930 as being 18 years old, when she was actually 13. U.S. Census, April 1, 1930, State of California, County of Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles, enumeration district 328, p. 13A, family 503.</ref><ref name="official-release"/>

After dropping out of Lafayette High School in 1932 at age 15, she returned to Hollywood, taking on odd jobs as a manicurist and a switchboard operator.<ref name="tele"/>

Career

1932–1936: Early years in Hollywood

An 18-year-old Wyman on the beach in 1935

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Jane Wyman began her 60-year show business career as an extra on The Kid from Spain (1932), Gold Diggers of 1933 (1933), Elmer, the Great (1933), and Harold Teen (1934). She had taken classes with Edward Albert Prinz (Dad Prinz) at Prinz’s Dancing Academy back in St. Joseph, Missouri. Dad Prinz’s son LeRoy Prinz was now a successful Dance Director at Paramount Pictures.

Prinz hired Wyman for the chorus of College Rhythm (1934), Rumba (1935), All the King's Horses (1935), Stolen Harmony (1935), Broadway Hostess (1935), and Anything Goes (1936). In between pictures at Paramount she did King of Burlesque (1936) and George White's 1935 Scandals (1935) at Fox.

She then went to Universal Studios for My Man Godfrey (1936).

1936–1944: Career at Warner Bros.

Jane Wyman signed her first contract with Warner Bros. in 1936 Template:Citation needed and stayed for the next two decades. Miracle in the Rain (1956) would become the last film she completed under contract to the studio. It was released on April 7, 1956 almost exactly twenty years after she signed her inaugural contract.

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At Warner Bros, Wyman was in Freshman Love (1936) and Bengal Tiger (1936), Stage Struck (1936), Cain and Mabel (1936), and Here Comes Carter (1936).

Wyman had her first big role, both singing and dancing in a Dick Foran Western The Sunday Round-Up (1936).

Wyman had small parts in Polo Joe (1936), and Gold Diggers of 1937 (1936) but a bigger one in Smart Blonde (1936), the first of the Torchy Blane series. She appeared in Ready, Willing and Able (1937), The King and the Chorus Girl (1937), and Slim (1937). She had the lead in Little Pioneer (1937), a short, and parts in The Singing Marine (1937).

By the time Wyman starred in Public Wedding (1937), a "B" picture, she was already divorced from first husband Ernest Wyman. She retained use of the surname for the remainder of her career.<ref name="Morris, Edmund 1999"/>

She had a supporting part in Mr. Dodd Takes the Air (1937) and was the female lead in some "B" films, such as The Spy Ring (1938) (at Universal), He Couldn't Say No (1938) with Frank McHugh and Wide Open Faces (1938) with Joe E. Brown.<ref name="hedda"/>

Wyman was borrowed by MGM to play a supporting part in The Crowd Roars (1938).

Back at Warner Brothers, Wyman was cast as one of the leads in Brother Rat (1938) for Hal B. Wallis. It co-starred Ronald Reagan, Priscilla Lane, Wayne Morris and Eddie Albert.

Wyman was borrowed by 20th Century Fox for a supporting role in Tail Spin (1939), followed by The Kid from Kokomo (1939) with Pat O'Brien and Morris. She played the title role in Torchy Blane..Playing with Dynamite (1939).

Now established, Wyman was cast in Kid Nightingale (1939) with John Payne, Private Detective (1939) with Foran, Brother Rat and a Baby (1940) with Reagan, An Angel from Texas (1940) with Albert, Flight Angels (1940), and Gambling on the High Seas (1940) with Wayne Morris.

Wyman had supporting roles in "A" films such as My Love Came Back (1940), starring Olivia de Havilland and Jeffrey Lynn. She and Reagan were in Tugboat Annie Sails Again (1940). Wyman was a supporting role to Ann Sheridan in Honeymoon for Three (1941) and was Dennis Morgan's leading lady in Bad Men of Missouri (1941).<ref name="bob"/>

Wyman made The Body Disappears (1941) with Jeffrey Lynn and You're in the Army Now (1941) with Jimmy Durante; in the latter she and Regis Toomey had the longest screen kiss in cinema history: 3 minutes and 5 seconds.<ref>cinemaspot.com Template:Webarchive, quoting Guinness Book of World Records</ref><ref>"Jane Wyman: Some Kisser" The Washington Post September 29, 1941: 11.</ref>

Wyman did Larceny, Inc. (1942) with Edward G. Robinson, and My Favorite Spy (1942) with Kay Kyser.

At Twentieth Century Fox, Wyman was a supporting actor to Betty Grable in Footlight Serenade (1942) then back at Warners supported Olivia de Havilland in Princess O'Rourke (1943).

Warners teamed Wyman with Jack Carson in Make Your Own Bed (1944) and The Doughgirls (1944), then she was top billed in Crime by Night (1944). She was one of many stars to cameo in Hollywood Canteen (1944).<ref>"Jane Wyman Comedy" Star Los Angeles Times June 14, 1944: A8.</ref>

1945–1956: Leading roles and critical acclaim

Wyman with Gregory Peck in The Yearling in 1946
With director Douglas Sirk on set for All That Heaven Allows (1955), one of her last major roles

Wyman finally gained critical attention with The Lost Weekend (1945), made by the team of Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett. Wilder had wanted Katharine Hepburn or Barbara Stanwyck for the female lead but Brackett had been impressed by Wyman’s performance in Princess O'Rourke. Wyman called it "a small miracle".<ref name="hedda">"Deaf Girl Role Helps Jane Wyman Career: Deaf Role Helps Jane Wyman Up" Hopper, Hedda. Los Angeles Times October 3, 1948: D1.</ref>

Wyman remained a supporting actor in One More Tomorrow (1946), and Night and Day (1946).<ref name="drama">Plaudits Handed to Jane Wyman: Change in Screen Personality Stamps Her as Dramatic Star Jane Wyman Lauded for Drama Roles Her Screen Personality Changes in 'Yearling' and 'Lost Week-end' Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times October 21, 1945: B1.</ref> However Wyman was borrowed by MGM for the female lead in The Yearling (1946), and was nominated for the 1946 Academy Award for Best Actress.

She was leading lady for Dennis Morgan in Cheyenne (1947) and James Stewart in RKO's Magic Town (1947).

Her breakthrough role was playing a deaf-mute rape victim in Johnny Belinda (1948). Wyman spent over six months preparing for the film which was an enormous hit and won Wyman a Best Actress Oscar.<ref name="hedda"/> She was the first person in the sound era to earn the award without speaking a line of dialogue. In an amusing acceptance speech, Wyman took her statue and said only, "I accept this, very gratefully, for keeping my mouth shut once. I think I'll do it again."<ref>Template:YouTube</ref><ref name="tele">Template:Cite news</ref>

Wyman was now a top-billed star. She did two comedies, A Kiss in the Dark (1948) with David Niven and The Lady Takes a Sailor (1949) with Morgan, then made a thriller in England, Stage Fright (1950) for Alfred Hitchcock.<ref name="bob">"Jane Wyman, star of 'Falcon Crest,' dies". Bob Thomas The Associated Press. The Salt Lake Tribune September 10, 2007.</ref>

She played Laura in The Glass Menagerie (1950), and went to MGM for Three Guys Named Mike (1951), a popular comedy.

Frank Capra used her as Bing Crosby's leading lady in Here Comes the Groom (1951) at Paramount, then she had the lead role in RKO's The Blue Veil (1951), a melodrama that was a big box office hit and earned her an Oscar nomination.Template:Citation needed

Wyman was one of many stars in Warner Bros' Starlift (1951). She was the female lead in The Story of Will Rogers (1952) and Paramount reunited her and Crosby in Just for You (1952). Wyman expressed interest around this time of doing no more "weepy" roles.<ref>"Jane Wyman Abandons Weepy Roles" By Bob Thomas. The Washington Post August 16, 1952: 13.</ref>

Columbia cast her in a musical, Let's Do It Again (1953) with Ray Milland, then at Warners she was in So Big (1953), a melodrama.

Wyman had a huge success when producer Ross Hunter cast her alongside Rock Hudson in Magnificent Obsession (1954). It earned her another Oscar nomination.

Wyman and Hudson were promptly reteamed on All That Heaven Allows (1955). Pine-Thomas Productions put Wyman in Lucy Gallant (1955) with Charlton Heston. She did Miracle in the Rain (1956) with Van Johnson. Wyman was meant to follow this with Annabella but it appears to have not been made.<ref>"Jane Wyman Will Portray Architect" Hopper, Hedda. Los Angeles Times March 2, 1955: B6.</ref><ref>"Jane Wyman Goes Out on Loan" The Washington Post and Times-Herald June 17, 1954: 38.</ref>

1951–1953: Recording career

Jane Wyman's brief recording career with Decca Records extended between 1951 and 1953. She recorded a few solo tracks along with duets and novelty songs achieving three Billboard top 30 hits and appearing on one #1 album.

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Decca Albums
Decca Singles

1955–1967: Career in television

Wyman in 1953

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Wyman's television acting debut was the 1955 episode "Amelia" of the anthology series General Electric Theater produced by MCA Inc.'s Revue Studios and hosted by her former husband Ronald Reagan.

On August 30, 1955 just a year after Magnificent Obsession became Wyman's biggest hit and her first #1 film at the weekly box office her eponymous weekly television anthology series made its debut on NBC.

Wyman announced her first TV series The Jane Wyman Show (1955–58) in 1955. In its first season it was known as Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre then the Jane Wyman Theatre and finally The Jane Wyman Show. Wyman hosted every episode, acted in half, and was a producer.<ref name="new"/>

When The Jane Wyman Show ended Wyman was no longer a film star, but she remained in demand. She replaced the ailing Gene Tierney in Holiday for Lovers (1959) for Fox, and next appeared in Disney's Pollyanna (1960) and Bon Voyage! (1962).<ref name="gal">Maurine Myers Remenih. "Busiest Gal in Hollywood!" Chicago Daily Tribune March 2, 1957: b3.</ref>

Wyman continued to guest star on TV shows like Checkmate, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, The Investigators, Wagon Train, and Insight.

"Something happened in the sixties," she later said. "it seemed that the time didn't permit women to be part of it except in a sort of secondary sort of way which I resented. I kept telling myself 'I didn't want to play Whatever Happened to Baby Jane."<ref name="new"/> So she went into semi-retirement around 1962.

1968–1993: Brief retirement and career resurgence

Wyman focused on painting. She made the occasional acting appearance, mostly on television. Template:Quote box

In 1966, Reginald Denham announced Wyman would appear in a play Wonderful Us based on the Parker–Hulme murder case but it was not produced.<ref>"News of the Rialto: Jane Wyman Says 'Yes' Jane Wyman Says 'Yes'" By Lewis Funke. New York Times May 8, 1966: X1.</ref>

She returned to films with How to Commit Marriage (1969).

Wyman continued to work in the 1970s, guest starring on My Three Sons; The Bold Ones: The New Doctors; The Sixth Sense; and Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law and her first film for television, The Failing of Raymond (1971). She starred in a pilot for a TV series Amanda Fallon but it was not picked up.<ref>"Jane Wyman to Be Guest Star". Los Angeles Times March 5, 1974: c12.</ref>

She was offered roles of "murderers, old ladies that were senile – they were awful. The weirdest kind of writing."<ref name="new"/> After five years of retirement living in Carmel painting and focusing on her philanthropic work she took her first acting role since 1974. She accepted a featured role in the television movie, The Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel (1979). She then guest starred on Charlie's Angels and The Love Boat.Template:Citation needed

In the spring of 1981, Wyman's career enjoyed a resurgence when she was cast as the scheming Californian vintner and matriarch Angela Channing in The Vintage Years, which was retooled as the primetime soap opera Falcon Crest. Wyman said she wanted to make it as it was a change from "the four handkerchief bits" she was known for. "You just can't miss on a thing like this," she added.<ref name="new">Jane Wyman: 'I Always Did Four-Handkerchief Roles. Until Now.': Jane Wyman By Marianne Constantinou. The New York Times November 29, 1981: D29.</ref>

Then relatively unknown Lorenzo Lamas appeared as Angela's irresponsible grandson, Lance Cumson. The on- and off-screen chemistry between Wyman and Lamas helped fuel the series' success.Template:Citation needed

For her role as Angela Channing, Wyman was nominated for a Soap Opera Digest Award five times (for Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role and for Outstanding Villainess: Prime Time Serial), and was also nominated for a Golden Globe award in 1983 and 1984. She won in 1984 for Best Performance By an Actress in a TV Series. Later in the show's run, Wyman suffered several health problems. In 1986 abdominal surgery caused her to miss two episodes. She was plagued with fatigue during the 1988–1989 season, and her health continued to deteriorate. Later in 1989 she collapsed on the set and was hospitalized due to problems with diabetes and a liver ailment. Her doctors told her that she should end her acting career. Wyman was absent for most of the ninth and final season of Falcon Crest in 1989–1990.

Against her doctor's advice, she returned for the final three episodes in 1990, even writing a soliloquy for the series finale. Wyman appeared in 208 of the show's 227 episodes.

After Falcon Crest, Wyman acted only once more, playing Jane Seymour's screen mother in a 1993 episode of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman.<ref name="PeopleObit"/> In all, Wyman had starred in 83 moviesTemplate:Citation needed and two successful TV series, and was nominated for an Academy Award four times, winning once.

Personal life

Marriages

Jane Wyman was married five times,<ref name="Morris, Edmund 1999">Morris, Edmund. Dutch: A Memoir of Ronald Reagan. Random House, Inc., 1999. Template:ISBN</ref> to four men. Her last marriage to Fred Karger ended in 1965 and she never remarried.

Ernest Wyman

At age 16, Wyman married salesman Ernest Eugene Wyman in Los Angeles, California, on April 8, 1933. She recorded her name as 'Jane Fulks', foster parents Emma and Richard Fulks, and her age as 19 on the wedding certificate. Though the couple divorced after just two years, she retained the name Wyman professionally for the rest of her life.<ref name="Morris, Edmund 1999"/>

Myron Futterman

Wyman was 20 when she married dress manufacturer Myron Martin Futterman in New Orleans on June 29, 1937. She wanted children but he did not, and they separated after only three months.<ref>Jane Wyman biography. Official Jane Wyman website.</ref> They were divorced on December 5, 1938.<ref>"Film Actress Wins Divorce", Los Angeles Times, December 6, 1938, p. 3.</ref>

Ronald Reagan

25-year-old Wyman with husband and fellow actor Ronald Reagan at the premiere of Tales of Manhattan in Los Angeles in August 1942
Wyman with three-year-old Maureen Reagan in 1944

In 1938, Wyman co-starred with Ronald Reagan in Brother Rat (1938). They were engaged at the Chicago Theatre,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and married on January 26, 1940, at the Wee Kirk o' the Heather in Glendale, California.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She and Reagan had two biological daughters: Maureen in 1941, and Christine in 1947 (born prematurely and died the following day). They adopted a son, Michael, in 1945.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In the aftermath of the premature birth and subsequent death of their infant daughter Christine on June 26, 1947 Wyman separated from Reagan. Wyman’s divorce from Reagan was granted on June 28, 1948 and finalized on July 18, 1949. Wyman leased a home in Palm Springs, California.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Wyman, who was a registered Republican, said that their divorce was due to political differences; Ronald Reagan was still a Democrat at the time.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

When Reagan was inaugurated as president on January 20, 1981, Wyman became the first ex-wife of a U.S. president in American history. Although she remained silent during Reagan's political career, she told a newspaper interviewer in 1968 that this was not because she was bitter or because she did not agree with him politically:

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When Reagan died in 2004, Wyman issued a statement, saying, "America has lost a great president. And a great, kind and gentle man."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Frederick Karger

On November 1, 1952, Wyman married German-American Hollywood music director and composer Frederick M. "Fred" Karger at El Montecito Presbyterian Church, Santa Barbara. They separated on November 7, 1954, and were granted an interlocutory divorce decree on December 7, 1954; the divorce was finalized on December 30, 1955.

They remarried on March 11, 1961, and Karger divorced her again on March 9, 1965. According to The New York Times' report of the divorce, the bandleader charged that the actress "had walked out on him."<ref>"Jane Wyman Divorced", The New York Times, March 10, 1965.</ref> Wyman had a stepdaughter, Terry, from Karger's marriage to Patti Sacks.<ref>"Frederick M. Karger, 63, Arranger and Composer", The New York Times, August 6, 1979.</ref>

Wyman, who had converted to Catholicism in 1953, never remarried.<ref name=Kengor>Paul Kengor, God and Ronald Reagan: A Spiritual Life. Harper Collins Publishers (2004). p. 50.</ref> She was a member of the Good Shepherd Parish and the Catholic Motion Picture Guild in Beverly Hills, California.<ref>Church of the Good Shepherd: Our History</ref>

Later life

After Falcon Crest ended, Wyman made a guest appearance on the CBS series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and then completely retired from acting; she spent her retirement painting and entertaining friends. Wyman was a recluse and made only a few public appearances in her last years in part due to suffering from arthritis. Wyman also suffered from Type 1 diabetes from a very young age. She attended the funeral of her long-time friend Loretta Young in 2000. She attended her daughter's funeral in 2001 after Maureen died of melanoma, and Ronald Reagan's funeral in 2004.<ref name="PeopleObit">Template:Cite news</ref>

Death

On September 10, 2007, Wyman died in her sleep of natural causes<ref name="official-release"/> at her home in Rancho Mirage, California, at age 90.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Her son Michael Reagan released a statement saying:

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Wyman was a devout Catholic for nearly 55 years. She was lay tertiary of the Dominican Order of the Catholic Church. As a lay Dominican, the full Dominican habit is available at death, if desired. Therefore, Wyman chose to be buried in the full habit of the Dominican Order.<ref name=Petrucelli>Alan Petrucelli, Morbid Curiosity: The Disturbing Demises of the Famous and Infamous. Penguin Group (2009). p. 5.</ref> She was interred at Forest Lawn Mortuary and Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California.<ref name="official-release"/>

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role

Notes

1932 Template:Sortname extra Uncredited
1933 Elmer, the Great
1933 Gold Diggers of 1933
1934 All the King's Horses Chorine Uncredited, Paramount
1934 College Rhythm Chorine Uncredited, Paramount
1935 Broadway Hostess Chorine Uncredited
1935 Rumba Chorine Uncredited, Paramount
1935 George White's 1935 Scandals Chorine Uncredited, Fox
1935 Stolen Harmony Chorine Uncredited, Paramount
1936 King of Burlesque Chorine Uncredited, Fox
1936 Freshman Love Co-Ed Uncredited
1936 Anything Goes Chorine Uncredited, Paramount
1936 Bengal Tiger Saloon Girl Uncredited
1936 My Man Godfrey Socialite Uncredited, Universal
1936 Stage Struck Bessie Funfnick Uncredited, Warner Bros.
1936 Cain and Mabel Chorus Girl Uncredited, Warner Bros.
1936 Here Comes Carter Nurse Uncredited
1936 The Sunday Round-Up Butte Soule Short film
1936 Polo Joe Girl at Polo Field Uncredited, Warner Bros. B picture
1936 Gold Diggers of 1937 Chorus Girl Uncredited
1937 Smart Blonde Dixie the Hat Check Girl
1937 Ready, Willing, and Able Dot
1937 Template:Sortname Babette Latour
1937 Slim Stumpy's Girl
1937 Little Pioneer Katie Snee Short film
1937 Template:Sortname Joan
1937 Public Wedding Florence Lane Burke
1937 Mr. Dodd Takes the Air Marjorie Day
1937 Over the Goal Co-Ed Uncredited
1938 The Spy Ring Elaine Burdette
1938 He Couldn't Say No Violet Coney
1938 Fools for Scandal Party Guest Uncredited
1938 Wide Open Faces Betty Martin
1938 Template:Sortname Vivian
1938 Brother Rat Claire Adams
1939 Tail Spin Alabama
1939 The Kid from Kokomo Marian Bronson
1939 Torchy Blane... Playing with Dynamite Torchy Blane
1939 Kid Nightingale Judy Craig
1939 Private Detective Myrna "Jinx" Winslow Warner Bros., B picture
1940 Brother Rat and a Baby Claire Terry
1940 An Angel from Texas Marge Allen
1940 Flight Angels Nan Hudson
1940 Gambling on the High Seas Laurie Ogden
1940 My Love Came Back Joy O'Keefe
1940 Tugboat Annie Sails Again Peggy Armstrong
1941 Honeymoon for Three Elizabeth Clochessy
1941 Bad Men of Missouri Mary Hathaway
1941 Template:Sortname Joan Shotesbury
1941 You're in the Army Now Bliss Dobson
1942 Larceny, Inc. Denny Costello
1942 My Favorite Spy Connie
1942 Footlight Serenade Flo La Verne
1943 Princess O'Rourke Jean Campbell
1944 Make Your Own Bed Susan Courtney
1944 The Doughgirls Vivian Marsden Halstead
1944 Crime by Night Robbie Vance
1944 Hollywood Canteen Jane Wyman
1945 Template:Sortname Helen St. James
1946 One More Tomorrow Frankie Connors
1946 Night and Day Gracie Harris
1946 The Yearling Orry Baxter Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actress
1947 Cheyenne Ann Kincaid
1947 Magic Town Mary Peterman
1948 Johnny Belinda Belinda MacDonald Academy Award for Best Actress
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Photoplay Gold Medal Actress
Picturegoer Award - Best Actress
1949 Template:Sortname Polly Haines
1949 It's a Great Feeling Jane Wyman
1949 Template:Sortname Jennifer Smith
1950 Stage Fright Eve Gill
1950 Template:Sortname Laura Wingfield
1951 Three Guys Named Mike Marcy Lewis
1951 Here Comes the Groom Emmadel Jones
1951 Template:Sortname Louise Mason Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Laurel Awards - Best Dramatic Performance
Picturegoer Award - Best Actress
Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actress
1952 Template:Sortname Betty Blake Rogers
1952 Just for You Carolina Hill
1953 Three Lives Commentator Short film
1953 Let's Do It Again Constance "Connie" Stuart
1953 So Big Selina DeJong
1954 Magnificent Obsession Helen Phillips Picturegoer Award - Best Actress
Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actress
1955 All That Heaven Allows Cary Scott
1955 Lucy Gallant Lucy Gallant
1956 Miracle in the Rain Ruth Wood
1959 Holiday for Lovers Mrs. Mary Dean
1960 Pollyanna Polly Harrington
1962 Bon Voyage! Katie Willard
1969 How to Commit Marriage Elaine Benson

Box office ranking

For several years, film exhibitors voted Wyman as among the most popular stars in the country. Annual Top Ten Money Making Stars Poll rankings:

Television

Air Date Title Role Notes
1955 General Electric Theater Dr. Amelia Morrow Episode: "Amelia"
1955–1958 The Jane Wyman Show Various Host, star and producer
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1957 Summer Playhouse Host Episodes 01-07
1957 Tennessee Ernie Ford Show Guest Episode: Jane Wyman
1957 The Lux Show with Rosemary Clooney Guest Episode: 01-01
1958 The Perry Como Show Guest Episode: #10.36
1958 Wagon Train Dr. Carol Ames Willoughby Episode: "The Doctor Willoughby Story"
1958 Tennessee Ernie Ford Show Guest Episode: Jane Wyman(2)
1959 The Perry Como Show Guest Episode: #11.18
1959 Lux Video Theatre Selena Shelby Episode: "A Deadly Guest"
1960 Dr. Kate Dr. Kate Episode: "Spitfire”
1960 Startime Host Episode: "Academy Award Songs"
1960 Checkmate Joan Talmadge Episode: "Lady on the Brink"
1961 The Investigators Elaine Episode: "Death Leaves a Tip"
1962 Insight Edith Stein Episode: "The Cross in Crisis"
1962 Wagon Train Hannah Episode: "The Wagon Train Mutiny"
1963 The Andy Williams Show Guest Episode: #1.16
1963 The Andy Williams Show Guest Episode: #2.3
1964 The Bell Telephone Hour Host Episode: “The Younger Generation”
1964 Insight Marie Episode: "The Hermit"
1966 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre Addie Joslin Episode: "When Hell Froze"
1967 Insight Auschwitz Victim Episode: "Why Does God Allow Men to Suffer?"
1968 The Red Skelton Show Clara Crowley Appleby Episode: "Clara and Me and Mama Makes Three"
1969 Insight Catherine Episode: "Prince in the Apple Town"
1969 The Jim Nabors Hour Guest Episode: #1.11
1970 My Three Sons Sylvia Cannon Episode: "Who Is Sylvia?"
1970 The Jim Nabors Hour Guest Episode: #2.15
1971 The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour Guest Episode: The 42nd Annual Photoplay Awards
1971 The Failing of Raymond Mary Bloomquist Television film
1972 The Sixth Sense Ruth Ames Episode: "If I Should Die Before I Wake"
1972 Template:Sortname Dr. Amanda Fallon Episode: "Discovery at Fourteen"
1973 Template:Sortname Dr. Amanda Fallon Episode: "And Other Things I May Not See"
1974 Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law Sophia Ryder Episode: "The Desertion of Keith Ryder"
1979 The Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel Granny Arrowroot Television film
1980 Template:Sortname Sister Patricia Episode: "Another Day, Another Time"
1980 Charlie's Angels Eleanor Willard Episode: "To See an Angel Die"
1981–1990 Falcon Crest Angela Channing Main cast
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1993 Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman Elizabeth Quinn Episode: "The Visitor"

Radio appearances

Program Episode Date Notes
Burns and Allen Gracie's Christmas Party December. 25, 1947 Wyman played Gracie Allen, due to the star's illness
Screen Guild Players The Lost Weekend January 7, 1946 <ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Screen Guild Players Saturday's Children June 2, 1947 <ref name="Those Were the Days">Template:Cite magazine</ref>
The Jack Benny Show From San Francisco March 30, 1947 <ref name="Those Were the Days"/>
The Martin and Lewis Show Jane Wyman November 30, 1951 Template:Citation needed
Hollywood Star Playhouse A Letter from Laura February 24, 1952 <ref>Template:Cite news Template:Open access</ref>
Hallmark Playhouse Whistler's Mother May 8, 1952 <ref>Template:Cite news Template:Open access</ref>
Lux Radio Theatre The Blue Veil November 24, 1952 <ref>Template:Cite news Template:Open access</ref>

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Results Template:Reference column heading
1946 Academy Awards Best Actress The Yearling Template:Nom <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1948 Johnny Belinda Template:Won <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1951 The Blue Veil Template:Nom <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1954 Magnificent Obsession Template:Nom <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1948 Golden Globe Awards Best Actress in a Leading Role Johnny Belinda Template:Won <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1950 World Film Favorite – Female Template:N/a Template:Won
1951 Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama The Blue Veil Template:Won
1982 Best Actress in a Television Series – Drama Falcon Crest Template:Nom
1983 Template:Won
1957 Primetime Emmy Awards Best Continuing Performance by an Actress The Jane Wyman Show Template:Nom <ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
1959 Best Actress in a Leading Role (Continuing Character) in a Dramatic Series The Jane Wyman Show Template:Nom
  • Jane Wyman's imprints were set in concrete in front of Grauman's Chinese Theatre on September 17, 1952.
  • Jane Wyman has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for motion pictures, at 6607 Hollywood Boulevard; and one for television, at 1620 Vine Street. Both from the inaugural placement of stars in 1960.

References

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Further reading

  • Bubbeo, Daniel. The Women of Warner Brothers: The lives and Careers of 15 Leading Ladies, with filmographies for each (McFarland, 2010).
  • Lafferty, William. "'No Attempt at Artiness, Profundity, or Significance': 'Fireside Theater' and the Rise of Filmed Television Programming." Cinema Journal (1987): 23–46 online.
  • Leff, Leonard J. "What in the World Interests Women? Hollywood, Postwar America, and 'Johnny Belinda.'" Journal of American Studies 31#32 (1997), pp. 385–405. online
  • Morella, Joe, and Edward Z. Epstein. Jane Wyman (Dell, 1986).

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