Jean Muir (actress)

Jean Muir

Warner Bros. publicity portrait of Jean Muir
Born Jean Muir Fullarton
(1911-02-13)February 13, 1911
Suffern, New York, U.S.
Died July 23, 1996(1996-07-23) (aged 85)
Mesa, Arizona, U.S.
Years active 1930–1968
Spouse(s) Henry Jaffe (1940-1960)
two sons, one daughter
Children Margaret, Michael, David[1]

Jean Muir (February 13, 1911 – July 23, 1996) was an American stage and film actress and educator. She was the first performer to be blacklisted after her name appeared in the infamous anti-Communist 1950 pamphlet Red Channels.

Career

Born in Suffern, New York, as Jean Muir Fullarton, she first appeared on Broadway in 1930, and was signed by Warner Bros. three years later. She played opposite several famous actors including Warren William, Paul Muni, Richard Barthelmess and Franchot Tone, but she returned to Broadway in 1937 because she was unsatisfied with the roles. She appeared occasionally in films through 1943. She was also one of the candidates for the role of Melanie in Gone with the Wind.[2]

In 1950 Muir was named as a Communist sympathizer by the notorious pamphlet Red Channels, and immediately removed from the cast of the television sitcom The Aldrich Family, in which she had been cast as Mrs. Aldrich. NBC had received between 20 and 30 phone calls protesting her being in the show. General Foods, the sponsor, said that it would not sponsor programs in which "controversial persons" were featured. Though the company later received thousands of calls protesting the decision, it was not reversed. Muir was the first performer to be deprived of employment because of a listing in Red Channels.[3]In the mid-1950s she reportedly suffered from alcoholism and cirrhosis of the liver.[4]

She was back on Broadway and TV by the early 1960s. In 1968 she moved to Columbia, Missouri, where she taught drama at Stephens College.

Muir died in Mesa, Arizona on July 23, 1996.

She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6280 Hollywood Blvd.[5]

Filmography

Sources for Jean Muir's filmography include the Internet Movie Database,[6] the Turner Classic Movies Database,[7] The Warner Bros. Story (1979) by Clive Hirschhorn, and Alanna Nash's cover story in Take One (July–August 1977).

Year Title Role Notes
1933 Bureau of Missing Persons Louise Kane uncredited
1933 Female Miss Joyce uncredited
1933 The World Changes Selma Peterson, her granddaughter Selma
1933 Son of a Sailor Helen Farnsworth
1934 Bedside Caroline Grant
1934 As the Earth Turns Jen Shaw
1934 A Modern Hero Joanna Ryan Croy
1934 Dr. Monica Mary Hathaway
1934 Desirable Lois Johnson
1934 Gentlemen are Born Trudy Talbot
1935 The White Cockatoo Sue Talley
1935 Oil for the Lamps of China Alice
1935 Orchids to You Camillia Rand
1935 A Midsummer Night's Dream Helena
1935 Stars Over Broadway Nora Wyman
1936 Faithful Marilyn Koster Warner Bros.-First National Teddington; lost film
1936 White Fang Sylvia Burgess
1936 Fugitive in the Sky Rita Moore
1937 Once a Doctor Paula Nordland
1937 Her Husband's Secretary Carol Blane Kingdon
1937 The Outcasts of Poker Flat Miss Helen Colby
1937 Draegerman Courage Ellen Haslett
1937 White Bondage Betsy Ann Craig
1937 Dance Charlie Dance Mary Mathews
1938 Jane Steps Out Beatrice Wilton
1940 And One Was Beautiful Helen Lattimer
1940 The Lone Wolf Meets a Lady Joan Bradley
1943 The Constant Nymph Kate Sanger
1949 Starring Boris Karloff (TV series) "False Face"
1949 Actors Studio (TV series) "Clarissa"
"A Child Is Born"
1950 The Philco Television Playhouse (TV series) "The Sudden Guest"
1958 Matinee Theater (TV series) "The Story of Marcia Gordon"
1959 Naked City (TV series) Mrs. Kling "Hey, Teach!"
1961 Route 66 (TV series) Beatrice Ware "A Bridge Across Five Days"
1962 Naked City (TV series) Mrs. Lund "The One Marked Hot Gives Cold"

References

  1. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/1996/07/25/arts/jean-muir-actress-penalized-by-50-s-blacklist-dies-at-85.html
  2. ↑ Pratt, William. Scarlett fever: the ultimate pictorial treasury of Gone with the wind : featuring the collection of Herb Bridges, Macmillan, 1977, p.68
  3. ↑ Brown, Jared (1989). Zero Mostel: A Biography. New York: Atheneum. p. 89. ISBN 978-0689119552.
  4. ↑ Vosburgh, Dick, Obituary: Jean Muir. The Independent, August 2, 1996. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
  5. ↑ Jean Muir, Hollywood Star Walk Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
  6. ↑ Jean Muir at the Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2013-06-16.
  7. ↑ Jean Muir at the Turner Classic Movies Database. Retrieved 2013-06-16.
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