Jean Simmons

Jean Simmons (born January 31, 1929) is a British actress.

She was born in London and began acting while still in her teens. Her first major film was Great Expectations, in which she played the young Estella. In 1948, she was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance as Ophelia in Hamlet, opposite Laurence Olivier.

In 1950, she married the British actor, Stewart Granger, with whom she appeared in several films, successfully making the transition to Hollywood. Among her best-known leading roles are Guys and Dolls (1955), Elmer Gantry (directed by her second husband, Richard Brooks) and Spartacus, and "The happy ending," again directed by Brooks and for which she received her second Oscar nomination.

By the 70s, her screen career had tapered off. Fortunately, the screen's loss was the stage and television's gain: to glowing reviews, Simmons toured the U.S. in "A little night music," then took the show to London. For her appearance in the mini-series, "The thornbirds," she won an Emmy award. In 1989, she again starred in a miniseries version of Great Expectations, where she performed the role of Miss Havisham, Estella's adopted mother.