Jean Heather (February 21, 1921 – October 29, 1995[citation needed] ) was an American actress who appeared in eight feature films during the 1940s.
She acted in two Oscar-nominated movies in 1944: the crime drama Double Indemnity, in which she played Lola Dietrichson, a young woman convinced that her stepmother Phyllis (Barbara Stanwyck) is responsible for the murder of her father, and Going My Way, where she played a runaway teenager assisted by Father O'Malley (Bing Crosby).
Heather's acting career was cut short by an automobile accident in December 1947, in which she was thrown from her car onto the pavement and suffered severe facial lacerations.[1]
Heather attended Oregon State University, 1940–41. She transferred to the University of Washington in 1942. She was an initiate of the Alpha Theta chapter of Alpha Delta Pi at the University of Washington.[2]
Heather married United States Military Academy graduate Arthur Ferdinand Meier on July 5, 1944, in Glendale, California. While at West Point, Meier was captain of Army's golf team, but after Pearl Harbor, his chest X-rays revealed lung scarring from childhood influenza, rendering him unfit for further military service. Meier later became a corporate executive. After 41 years of marriage with Heather, Meier died in 1985 from pulmonary disease.[3] Heather died ten years later. Both were cremated and their ashes scattered in the Pacific Ocean.[citation needed]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1942 | Holiday Inn | 4th of July Dancer | Uncredited |
1944 | Going My Way | Carol James | |
1944 | Double Indemnity | Lola Dietrichson | |
1944 | Our Hearts Were Young and Gay | Frances Smithers | |
1944 | The National Barn Dance | Betty | |
1945 | Murder, He Says | Elany Fleagle | |
1945 | Duffy's Tavern | Jean Heather | |
1946 | The Well-Groomed Bride | Wickley | |
1947 | The Last Round-up | Carol Taylor | |
1949 | Red Stallion in the Rockies | Cynthia "Cindy" Smith | (final film role) |
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