Description:
As a baby, she was winning beauty contests; as a teenager, with good looks and an attractive contralto voice, she was singing with big bands (most notably Enric Madriguera's orchestra in Latin Club Del Rio in Washington, D.C.. She met Rudy Vallee, her first husband, on the radio where she also enjoyed a brief stint as a singer. At age 15, an attack of palsy left her face partially paralyzed. She claimed that it was through facial exercises to overcome the paralysis that she learned the efficacy of facial expression in conveying human emotion, a skill she was renowned for using in her acting.
Birthday
September 9, 1924
Born In
Washington, District of Columbia, USA
Alternative names
Bettejane Greer
Height
165 cm
Spouse/Ex-
Edward Lasker August 20, 1947 - November 16, 1963 (divorced),Rudy Vallee December 2, 1943 - July 27, 1944 (divorced)
Parents
Dean McLean Greer Jr.
Trivia
Howard Hughes became attracted to Greer and brought her to Hollywood after he
saw her in Life magazine, modeling army uniforms for
women. Deciding that Bettejane was too "ingenuish", she shortened her
name to Jane for her billing in the film, Dick Tracy (1945).
Quotes
I'd always wanted to be an actress, and suddenly I knew that learning
to control my facial muscles was one of the best assets I could have as
a performer. Emotions often must be portrayed from an inner feeling, of
course, but I had a double advantage because I was learning to direct
my as-yet expressionless feelings, as well as gaining an ability to
express emotion by a very conscious manipulation of my muscles.
