Isabel Jewell (July 19, 1907 – April 5, 1972) was an American actress, who rose to prominence in the 1930s and early 1940s. Some of her more famous films were Ceiling Zero, Marked Woman, A Tale of Two Cities, Lost Horizon, and Gone with the Wind.

Early life Born in Shoshoni, Wyoming on July 19, 1907, Jewell was the daughter of Emory Lee Jewell and Livia A. Willoughby Jewell. Her father was "a prominent...doctor and medical researcher." She was educated at St. Mary's Academy in Minnesota and at Hamilton College in Kentucky.

Career

After years in theatre stock companies, including an 87-week stint in Lincoln, Nebraska, she got a part on Broadway in Up Pops the Devil (1930). She received glowing critical reviews for Blessed Event (1932) as well.

Jewell's film debut came in Blessed Event (1932) and was followed by supporting roles in other pre-Code classics like Jean Harlow's Bombshell (1933) and Design for Living (1933) from Ernst Lubitsch. She had been brought to Hollywood by Warner Brothers for the film version of Up Pops the Devil (1931). Jewell gained other supporting roles, appearing in a variety of films in the early 1930s. She played stereotypical gangsters' women in such films as Manhattan Melodrama (1934) and Marked Woman (1937). She was well-received playing against type as the seamstress sentenced to death on the guillotine with Sydney Carton (Ronald Colman) in A Tale of Two Cities (1935). She later co-starred with Colman in Lost Horizon as Gloria, the terminally-ill prostitute. Her most significant role was Sally Bates in She Had to Choose. Other films included Gone with the Wind (1939) (in the role of "that white trash, Emmy Slattery"), Northwest Passage (1940), High Sierra (1941), and in two psychological horror films from producer Val Lewton, The Leopard Man (1943) and The Seventh Victim (1943).

Jewel had a memorable supporting role as Laury Palmer in the film noir Born to Kill (1947), but by the end of the 1940s, her roles had reduced in significance to the degree that her performances often were uncredited, e.g. The Snake Pit. She performed in radio dramas in the 1950s, including This Is Your FBI.

In the 1950s and 60s, Jewell took occasional roles on television. In February 1965, she played Madame Ahr, a member of a bank-robbing circus troupe, in an episode of Gunsmoke entitled "Circus Trick."

In 1972, Jewell appeared opposite Edie Sedgwick in the film Ciao! Manhattan. Her final film was the B movie Sweet Kill (1973) starring Tab Hunter, the directorial debut of Curtis Hanson.

Personal life Jewell's first marriage (which "was not generally known during Jewell's lifetime...[nor] mentioned in the press during her heyday in American films") occurred when she wed Lovell "Cowboy" Underwood when she was 19. In the mid to late 1930s, Jewell was seen at nightclubs with actor William Hopper. In 1936, she was engaged to actor Owen Crump, marrying in 1939 and divorcing in 1941. In 1941, Jewell married actor Paul Marion, who was then a private in the United States Army. They separated in 1943, and were divorced on May 12, 1944.

Death and legacy Jewell, aged 64, committed suicide by taking an overdose of barbiturates, in Los Angeles, California on April 5, 1972. She was cremated and her ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

In 1960, Jewell was recognized with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to motion pictures. The star is located at 1560 Vine Street.

Filmography + Complete filmography Year Title Role Notes 1931 The Week End Mystery Miss Keith Short 1932 Blessed Event Dorothy Lane Uncredited 1933 The Crime of the Century Bridge Player Uncredited Bondage Beulah Beauty for Sale Hortense Credited as Isobel Jewell Bombshell Lily Credited as Isobel Jewell Day of Reckoning Kate Lovett Design for Living Plunkett's Stenographer Advice to the Lovelorn Rose The Women in His Life Catherine "Cathy" Watson Counsellor at Law Bessie Green 1934 Men in White Scenes cut Let's Be Ritzy Betty Manhattan Melodrama Annabelle Here Comes the Groom Angy She Had to Choose Sally Bates Evelyn Prentice Judith Wilson 1935 Shadow of Doubt Inez "Johnny" Johnson I've Been Around Sally Van Loan Times Square Lady 'Babe' Sweeney The Casino Murder Case Amelia Llewellyn Mad Love Marianne Scenes cut A Tale of Two Cities Seamstress 1936 Ceiling Zero Lou Clarke Dancing Feet Mabel Henry The Leathernecks Have Landed Brooklyn Big Brown Eyes Bessie Blair Small Town Girl Emily 'Em' Brannan 36 Hours to Kill Jeanie Benson Peggy Russell Valiant Is the Word for Carrie Lilli Eipper Go West, Young Man Gladys Career Woman Gracie Clay 1937 Lost Horizon Gloria Stone Marked Woman Emmy Lou Eagan Love on Toast Belle Huntley 1938 Swing It, Sailor! Myrtle Montrose The Crowd Roars Mrs. Martin 1939 They Asked for It Molly Herkimer Missing Daughters Peggy Gone with the Wind Emmy Slattery 1940 Oh Johnny, How You Can Love Gertie Northwest Passage Jennie Coit Irene Jane McGee Babies for Sale Edith Drake Scatterbrain Esther Harrington Marked Men Linda Harkness Little Men Stella 1941 High Sierra Blonde For Beauty's Sake Amy Devore 1943 Maria Frances Fallon Danger! Women at Work Marie Mary Phoebus 1944 Rose Monahan 1945 Steppin' in Society Jenny the Juke Sensation Hunters Mae 1946 Badman's Territory Belle Starr 1947 Born to Kill Laury Palmer Hysterical Mother 1948 Michael O'Halloran Laura Nelson The Snake Pit Inmate Uncredited Unfaithfully Yours First Telephone Operator Uncredited Belle Starr's Daughter Belle Starr 1949 Mrs. Mack Uncredited 1953 Man in the Attic Katy 1954 Drum Beat Lily White 1957 Bernardine Mrs. McDuff 1972 Sweet Kill Mrs. Cole Ciao! Manhattan Mummy

+ Partial television credits Year Series Role Episode 1952 The Adventures of Kit Carson Mary Barker "The Trap" The Unexpected Sister "One for the Money" Mr. & Mrs. North Anne Noble "The Nobles" Fireside Theatre "The Boxer and the Stranger" 1953 Fireside Theatre "The Twelfth Juror" 1955 Treasury Men in Action "The Case of the Lady in Hiding" 1956 Dr. Christian Mae "Insurance Policy" 1957 Climax! Actress " Murder Has a Deadline" 1961 Miss Port "The Defective Tank Adventure" Lock Up "Planter's Death" 1962 The Untouchables Sophie "The Night They Shot Santa Claus" 1964 Kraft Suspense Theatre Mrs. Lyons "The Gun" 1965 Gunsmoke Mme. Ahr "Circus Trick" 1967 Judd, for the Defense Geraldine Hull "Citizen Ritter"

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