Jean Hagen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jean Hagen (born Jean Shirley Verhagen, August 3, 1923 – August 29, 1977) was an American actress best known for her role as Lina Lamont in Singin' in the Rain (1952), for which she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Hagen was also nominated three times for an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for her role as Margaret Williams (1953–56) on the television series Make Room For Daddy. Her film debut was as a comical femme fatale in the Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn 1949 classic Adam's Rib, directed by George Cukor. The Asphalt Jungle (1950) provided Hagen with her first starring role alongside Sterling Hayden. Hagen received excellent reviews playing "Doll" Conover, a woman who sticks by criminal Dix's side until the bitter end. She appeared too in the film noir Side Street (1950) playing a gangster's sincere but none-too-bright nightclub-singer girlfriend. Hagen is best remembered for her comic performance in Singin' in the Rain as the vain and talentless silent movie star Lina Lamont. She received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for this memorable performance. By 1953, she had joined the cast of the television sitcom Make Room for Daddy. For her portrayal as the first wife of Danny Thomas, Hagen received three Emmy Award nominations, but after three seasons, she grew dissatisfied with the role and left the series. Thomas, who also produced the show, reportedly did not appreciate Hagen's departing the successful series, and her character was killed off rather than recast. This was the first TV character to be killed off in a family sitcom. Marjorie Lord was cast a year later as Danny's second wife and played opposite Thomas successfully for the remainder of the series. In 1957 Hagen co-starred in an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents titled "Enough Rope for Two", portraying a woman who accompanies two thieves trying to retrieve stolen money from a desert mine shaft. She then appeared as Elizabeth in the 1960 episode "Once Upon a Knight" on CBS's anthology series The DuPont Show with June Allyson; and the following year she guest-starred on The Andy Griffith Show in the episode "Andy and the Woman Speeder". Although she made frequent guest appearances in various television series, Hagen was unable to successfully resume her film career in starring roles. After appearing with Fred MacMurray in the Disney comedy The Shaggy Dog (1959), Hagen for the remainder of her career played supporting roles, such as Marguerite LeHand, personal secretary to Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Sunrise at Campobello (1960), and the friend of Bette Davis in Dead Ringer (1964). In the 1960s, Hagen's health began to decline and she spent many years hospitalized or under medical care. Much later, in 1976, she made a comeback of sorts playing character roles in episodes of the television series Starsky and Hutch and The Streets of San Francisco. She, however, made her final acting appearance the next year in the television movie Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn.
Singin' in the Rain
as Lina LamontIn 1927 Hollywood, a silent film production company and cast make a difficult transition to sound.
Movie pageThe Asphalt Jungle
as Doll ConovanRecently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo...
Movie pageThe Shaggy Dog
as Freeda DanielsThrough an ancient spell, a boy changes into a sheepdog and back again. It seems to happen at...
Movie pageAdam's Rib
as Beryl CaighnA woman's attempted murder of her uncaring husband results in everyday quarrels in the lives of...
Movie pageDead Ringer
as Dede MarshallThe working class twin sister of a callous wealthy woman impulsively murders her out of revenge...
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as Ann BaldwinWhile on a fishing trip, Harry Baldwin and his family hear an explosion and realize that Los...
Movie pageThe Big Knife
as Connie BlissMovie star Charlie Castle draws the ire of Hollywood producer Stanley Hoff when he refuses to...
Movie pageA Life of Her Own
as Maggie CollinsA young woman from Kansas moves to New York City, becomes highly successful at a prestigious...
Movie pageArena
as Meg HutchinsLeft by his wife, a vain rodeo star picks up a floozy and rides a bad Brahman bull.
Movie pageAmbush
as Martha ConovanA Westerner searches for a white woman held by the Apaches.
Movie pageSide Street
as Harriette SintonA struggling young father-to-be gives in to temptation and impulsively steals an envelope of...
Movie pageAlexander: The Other Side of Dawn
as LandladyIn this sequel to Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway, Alexander's story is told in both the...
Movie pageNo Questions Asked
as Joan BrensonWith the help of some seedy gangsters, young attorney Steve Keiver makes some quick cash by...
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as Self (archive footage)American Masters Series. Documentary on Gene Kelly that gives insight into his dancing, how he...
Movie pageCarbine Williams
as Maggie WilliamsDavid Marshall Williams is sent to a prison farm where he works in the tool shop and eventually...
Movie pageSunrise at Campobello
as Missy Le HandThe story of Franklin Roosevelt's bout with polio at age 40 in 1921 and how his family (and...
Movie pageShadow in the Sky
as Stella MurphyBurt, a Marine suffering from Battle Fatigue, is deathly afraid of rain and confined to an...
Movie pageThe Snows of Kilimanjaro
as RhodaA writer reflects on his life as he lies dying from an infection after a safari in the shadow of...
Movie pageLatin Lovers
as Anne KellwoodAn heiress searches for true love while vacationing in Brazil.
Movie pageNight Into Morning
as Girl Next DoorBerkeley university professor adjusts (using alcohol) to tragic fire deaths of wife & son.
Movie pageHalf a Hero
as Martha DobsonA man moves his family from the big city to the suburbs.
Movie pageSpring Reunion
as Barna ForrestA spinster finally finds the right man when she returns to her alma mater after 15 years for a...
Movie pageThe Andy Griffith Show
as Elizabeth CrowleyThe Andy Griffith Show is an American sitcom first televised on CBS between October 3, 1960 and...
TV Show pageWagon Train
as Maidie BrantThe series initially starred veteran movie supporting actor Ward Bond as the wagon master, later...
TV Show pageWagon Train
as Sarah ProctorThe series initially starred veteran movie supporting actor Ward Bond as the wagon master, later...
TV Show pageClimax!
as Eleanor GehrigClimax! is an American anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was...
TV Show pageBen Casey
as uncreditedBen Casey is an American medical drama series which ran on ABC from 1961 to 1966. The show was...
TV Show pageDr. Kildare
as Nurse Mary OgilvyThe story of a young intern in a large metropolitan hospital trying to learn his profession,...
TV Show pageStarsky & Hutch
as Belle KatesStreetwise Detective David Starsky partners up with a more intellectual partner, Kenneth 'Hutch'...
TV Show pageDick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
as Anne MaddenDick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theatre, is an American...
TV Show pageThe Detectives
as Alice StregerThe Detectives is an American crime drama series which ran on ABC during its first two seasons,...
TV Show pageThe Ford Television Theatre
as Nona CarsonThis show started in New York City, with Broadway actors and actresses. It then moved to...
TV Show pageWestinghouse Desilu Playhouse
as uncreditedWestinghouse Desilu Playhouse is an American television anthology series produced by Desilu...
TV Show pageThe Streets of San Francisco
as Ms. UngerTwo police officers, the older Lt. Stone and the young upstart Inspector Keller, investigate...
TV Show pageThe DuPont Show with June Allyson
as ElizabethThe DuPont Show with June Allyson is an American anthology drama series which aired on CBS from...
TV Show pageAlfred Hitchcock Presents
as Madge GriffinA television anthology series hosted by Alfred Hitchcock featuring dramas, thrillers, and mysteries.
TV Show pageThe Danny Thomas Show
as Margaret WilliamsDanny Thomas, an entertainer, tries to balance his home life with the needs of his career, with...
TV Show pageStagecoach West
as Lilly de MiloStagecoach West is an American Western drama television series which ran for thirty-eight...
TV Show pageGeneral Electric Theater
as Paula FarrelGeneral Electric Theater is an American anthology series hosted by Ronald Reagan that was...
TV Show page