Portrait of Jennifer: A Biography of Jennifer Jones

Epstein (Mia: The Life of Mia Farrow), in this entertaining celebrity bio, details the successful career and tragic personal life of Jones, a versatile film star whose popularity peaked in the 1940s and '50s. Born Phyllis Isley in 1919, Jones was renamed by producer David O. Selznick, who brought her to public attention in Song of Bernadette, for which she won the 1943 Academy Award for best actress. The love affair between Jones and Selznick ended Jones's first marriage to actor Robert Walker and caused Selznick's wife, Irene, to divorce him. Walker later died under mysterious circumstances. An overbearing perfectionist, according to the author, Selznick married Jones and chose her film roles for her. Epstein describes Jones as a shy and emotionally fragile woman who, though ambitious, had difficulty adjusting to fame. After Selznick's death, she remarried billionaire Norton Simon and became a therapist. Photos not seen by PW. Movie Entertainment Book Club alternate. (Feb.)