Isabel Jewell
Photos with Isabel Jewell
Biography
Shoshoni, Wyoming, USA
Isabel Jewell, like other actresses in Hollywood in the 1930s, suffered from chronic typecasting. The diminutive, platinum-haired daughter of a doctor and medical researcher seemed to be forever playing hard-boiled, tough-talking broads: gangster's molls, dumb blondes, prostitutes and, of course, poor "white trash" Emmy Slattery in Gone with the Wind (1939). While stardom eluded her for the most part, she nonetheless remained a busy supporting actress with an impressive array of A-budget films to her credit. Signed as an MGM contract player, she reputedly earned up to $3,000 a week -- a small fortune at the time. Isabel was educated at St. Read more... Mary's Academy in Minnesota and at Hamilton College in Kentucky. After years in stock companies (including an 87-week stint in Lincoln, Nebraska), she hit the big time after getting a part on Broadway in "Up Pops the Devil" (1930). With just three hours of rehearsal time, she delivered her performance to great critical acclaim and had even better reviews as a fast-talking telephone operator in "Blessed Event". She reprised this role in the screen version of Blessed Event (1932) and her movie career was effectively launched. While her parts were often small, they could also be memorable, as in Ceiling Zero (1936) and Marked Woman (1937). Other acting highlights include her consumptive prostitute finding salvation in Lost Horizon (1937), and her poignant against-type performance as an ill-fated seamstress on her way to the guillotine in A Tale of Two Cities (1935).
In the 1940s and '50s, her roles diminished from small to bits to uncredited and she fell on hard times: in 1959 she got into trouble with the law in Las Vegas for passing bad checks and, two years later, spent five days in jail for drunk driving. She was found dead in her home in April 1972, aged just 64. One of her two former husbands was writer-producer-director Owen Crump (1903-1998). A lasting memory of Isabel Jewell is her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Vine Street.
In the 1940s and '50s, her roles diminished from small to bits to uncredited and she fell on hard times: in 1959 she got into trouble with the law in Las Vegas for passing bad checks and, two years later, spent five days in jail for drunk driving. She was found dead in her home in April 1972, aged just 64. One of her two former husbands was writer-producer-director Owen Crump (1903-1998). A lasting memory of Isabel Jewell is her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Vine Street.
Actor

Character:
Dorothy Lane
Blessed Event 1932
6

Character:
Plunkett's Stenographer
Design for Living 1933
2

Character:
A Girl Friend
Bombshell 1933
10

Character:
Annabelle
Manhattan Melodrama 1934
16

Character:
Judith Wilson
Evelyn Prentice 1934
3

Character:
Angy
Here Comes the Groom 1934
1

Character:
Seamstress
A Tale of Two Cities 1935
7

Character:
Marianne
Mad Love 1935
4

Character:
Emily 'Em' Brannan
Small Town Girl 1936
5

Character:
Lou Clarke
Ceiling Zero 1936
5

Character:
Gladys
Go West Young Man 1936
4

Character:
Gloria
Lost Horizon 1937
2

Character:
Emmy Lou
Marked Woman 1937
2

Character:
Mrs. Martin
The Crowd Roars 1938
3

Character:
Emmy Slattery
Gone with the Wind 1939
84

Character:
Jennie Coit
'Northwest Passage' (Book I -- Rogers' Rangers) 1940
4

Character:
Stella
Little Men 1940
3

Character:
Jane
Irene 1940
7

Character:
Gertie, Truck Stop Waitress
Oh Johnny, How You Can Love 1940
7

Character:
Esther Harrington
Scatterbrain 1940
2

Character:
Blonde
High Sierra 1941
1

Character:
Mary Phoebus
The Falcon and the Co-eds 1943
3

Character:
Rose, aka Rose Monahan,unscrupulous Chorus Girl
The Merry Monahans 1944
20

Character:
Belle Starr
Badman's Territory 1946
5

Character:
Hysterical Mother
The Bishop's Wife 1947
26

Character:
Laury Palmer
Born to Kill 1947
5

Character:
Ward 33 Inmate
The Snake Pit 1948
9

Character:
First Telephone Operator
Unfaithfully Yours 1948
5

Character:
Katy
Man in the Attic 1953
4

Character:
Lily White
Drum Beat 1954
1

Character:
Mrs. McDuff
Bernardine 1957
7

Character:
Mummy
Ciao Manhattan 1972
6

Character:
Sophie
The Untouchables 1959
0

Character:
Lilli Eipper
Valiant Is the Word for Carrie 1936
0

Character:
Actress
Climax! 1954
0

Character:
Mrs. Hull
Judd for the Defense 1967
0

Character:
Mrs. Lyons
Kraft Suspense Theatre 1963
0