Actress Jane Greer Dies at 76
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Actress Jane Greer, a film noir star and former wife of bandleader Rudy Vallee, has died. She was 76.
Greer, who as an icy brunette bested both Robert Mitchum and Kirk Douglas in 1947's noir classic ``Out of the Past,'' died Friday of complications from cancer, said her son, Alex Lasker.
The native of Washington, D.C. and former beauty contestant and model caught the eye of Hollywood after appearing in Life magazine. She later signed with RKO, after studio head Howard Hughes became smitten with her.
While still a teen-ager, she married crooner Vallee in 1943. The two divorced in 1945. She then married attorney and producer Edward Lasker in 1947, earning the spite of Hughes who then sought to stymie her career. They later divorced.
Greer was best known for her role as the seductive Kathie Moffat in ``Out of the Past,'' which cemented her reputation as a noir vixen.
``She was a bad girl you could fall in love with - who could take on Robert Mitchum and really make him melt,'' Lasker said.
Bettejane Greer and her twin brother, Don, were born Sept. 9, 1924, and grew up in Florida.
Greer later said she was set on becoming an actress at 15, after awaking one morning to find the left side of her face was paralyzed. Months of facial exercises eventually cured her.
``I'd always wanted to be an actress, and suddenly I knew that learning to control my facial muscles was one of the best assets I could have as a performer. Emotions often must be portrayed from an inner feeling, of course, but I had a double advantage because I was learning to direct my as-yet expressionless feelings, as well as gaining an ability to express emotion by a very conscious manipulation of my muscles,'' Greer once told an interviewer.
Throughout the 1940s and '50s, she worked consistently, appearing in ``Dick Tracy, Detective,'' ``The Prisoner of Zenda,'' and ``Man of a Thousand Faces.'' Her career slowed by the mid 1950s, although she continued to act.
In 1984, Greer appeared in ``Against All Odds,'' a remake of ``Out of the Past.'' In it, she played the mother of her original character. She later acted in David Lynch's TV series ``Twin Peaks.''
Her on-screen character was not matched by her countenance in person, said daughter-in-law Anne Wile-Lasker.
``She was just gracious and sweet. She had this image on film that she wasn't in life,'' Wile-Lasker said.
Greer is survived by her twin brother; sons Alex, Lawrence and Steve; and two grandchildren. Her common-law husband, acting coach Frank London, died in January.
A private memorial service will be held Sept. 9 on what would have been Greer's 77th birthday.
Originally published August 26, 2001.
