Customer Reviews

Portrait of Jennifer: A Biography of Jennifer Jones

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I have to say that this book is a many-splendored thing. Finally, a bio on Jennifer Jones!

I remember the very first time I ever laid eyes on Jennifer Jones. I was probably around 8 or 9 years old and it was the NBC broadcast premiere of The Towering Inferno. I started watching it in mid film and saw this white claded woman running through a smoke filled hallway and banging on the door.

Needless to say, Jones was one of the few people who actually acted in the disaster epic and I was a Jennifer Jones fan from that day on.

Portrait of Jennifer is a biography on Jennifer Jones, the only other bio I know of is called Star Crossed, a book on Jones and her erstwhile husband Robert Walker. But this book concentrates solely on Ms Jones herself. This is a shame. It seems of all of the stars of yesteryear, Jennifer Jones is often the most overlooked and ignored. When the New York Rockette had their first Black performer, also named Jennifer Jones, nobody made the connection. It is a shame, but this book remedied that and gave Jennifer Jones the recognition she deserves in writing.

The author originally contacted Jennifer Jones for her participation in the book, which the former actress respectfully declined. Thus the book is mostly from hearsay and second hand accounts....but however, the author still managed to paint a fascinating portrait of the actress.

Born Phylis Isley, the book traced Jones' vaudeville childhood, to her marriage to Robert Walker. She was then discovered by David O. Selznick, which lead to her Oscar winning performance in The Song of Bernadette. She and Robert Walker became the star couple in Hollywood...which ended with her marriage to Selznick and her divorce from Robert Walker. Robert Walker's life was pratically destroyed after Jennifer divorced him and ironically, it seems Jennifer's promising film career was stunted (albeit unintentionally) by Selznick, who was so obsessed with her that he limited her roles mostly to romantic leads.

The bio also went onto Selznick's death, Jones' suicide attempts, her marriage to her Norton Simon, and a comeback to the movies which was aborted with the tragic suicide of her daughter.

There are also some background info on her various movies, and fans of "The Towering Inferno" may be interested in some tidbits in the book, such as Jones provided the material for the gown she wore in the film (white silk that costed around a hundred bucks a yard...and I am talking about 1970 dollars!).

In any case, after reading the book, Jennifer Jones came across as most of her onscreen roles: a seemingly timid and frail woman who possesses a high degree of strength and independence.

I hope that she realize she still has fans out there, and I wouldn't mind seeing her in a movie again.

I was named after Jennifer Jones, so I naturally had curiosity about her life. When I found a copy of this book, I bought it and read it in a matter of a few days. Jennifer Jones was a much more fascinating person than I had anticipated. Although I found the book to be a little murky on presenting a time/context of which events occur (particularly in relation to her first husband, Robert Walker), the book is overall very interesting and gives the reader an enthralling portrait of this great actress.

i found this to be a wonderful book beautifully written by the author, but there is one thing that is sadly lacking in the book, thats miss jones refusal to speak to the author, i have a question that i'm burning to know "why did she get involved with david selznick? was it love or merely her burning ambition?" throughout the book you never get a feeling of true love between the two, it was as though they were both using each other, but other than that question the book is informative and a great read- zero boring parts!

This is a very well written and well edited biography. Not too cerebral and not too simple. I've probably read at least 100 biographies of movie stars, mostly of classic movies and this one rates up there as one of the best. I've realized that an interesting subject does not necessarily make for an interesting book but this one does justice to both. Jennifer Jones lead a long, varied and unusual life with plenty of tragedy. Epstein does a great job of covering everything: the making of her movies, her personal relationships and personal quirks. (When you read of how wasteful and extravagant she was with beauty cream and nylons, you'll die!)Portrait of Jennifer

if jennifer jones had been alive today she would have been a superstar.
this book the only one written about her in 1995 is excellant.she died a couple of years ago aged 90. her films are not shown often enough. ie love letters and portrait
of jennie the best by far are seldon seen. although both are available if you look hard enough. love letters is available in spanish form
although the film is in english.this book came second hand but in perfect condition.
five stars.