With prominent cheekbones and the most appealing overbite of her day, her striking good looks helped propel her to stardom. Her best known role is the enigmatic murder victim in Laura. She was also Oscar-nominated for Leave Her to Heaven. Her acting performances were few in the 1950s as she battled a troubled emotional life that included hospitalization and shock treatment for depression.
Her first daughter was born mentally retarded because Gene had contracted measles during a U.S.O. tour. This served as the uncredited inspiration for the plot of the 1980 Agatha Christie movie The Mirror Crack'd. Interred at Glenwood Cemetery, Houston, Texas, USA. During her first film she discovered that her voice was too high and it was suggested that she take up smoking to lower her voice. It worked, but she eventually died of emphysema. Two daughters, Daria and Christina. Measurements: 35B-25-36 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine) Was represented by the John Robert Powers Agency as a fashion model in the 1930s. Darryl F. Zanuck, founder of 20th Century Fox, said she was unquestionably the most beautiful woman in movie history. Howard Hughes provided the funds for her retarded daughter's medical care. Second husband, Howard Lee, was originally married to Hedy Lamarr before he married Tierney. Had her share of love affairs during her Hollywood reign, including a notorious one with John F. Kennedy, whom she met while filming Dragonwyck. Kennedy broke it up because of his political aspirations. She also had dalliances with Tyrone Power during production of The Razor's Edge and with Prince Aly Khan in the early 1950s. MGM offered her the lead in National Velvet but when the production was delayed, she instead signed with Fox. Received extensive shock treatment in the 1950s while battling her mental instability. Tierney was in the throes of suicidal depression and was admitted to the Menninger Clinic in Topeka, Kansas, on Christmas Day in 1957, after police talked her down from a building ledge. She was released from Menningers the following year. Fox offered Gene a lead role in Holiday for Lovers following her rehabilitation therapy. However, the stress proved too great and she was forced to leave the production. Spoke fluent French. Discovered she was expecting daughter Daria while filming Heaven Can Wait. Began filming Laura, after returning from her maternity leave. Younger daughter, Christina "Tina" Cassini, was born on her 28th birthday, 19th November 1948. Gave her name as "Gene Eliza Taylor Tierney" upon her marriage to Oleg Cassini in Las Vegas. Daughter, Antoinette Daria Cassini, was born in Washington, D.C., on 15th October 1943. Ex-sister-in-law of Igor Cassini. She appeared in five films with Dana Andrews: Tobacco Road, Belle Starr, Laura, The Iron Curtain and Where the Sidewalk Ends. When Gene saw herself on screen for the first time, she was horrified by her voice ("I sounded like an angry Minnie Mouse"). She began smoking to lower her voice, but it came at a great price - she died of emphysema.