{{Short description|American actress and photographer}} {{about|the actress born 1910|the actress born 1927|Jean Speegle Howard|the American professor in English studies|Jean E. Howard}} {{Infobox person | name = Jean Howard | image = Jean Howard publ.jpg | caption = Howard in 1930s | birth_name = Ernestine Hill | birth_date = {{birth_date|1910|10|13}} | birth_place = Longview, Texas, U.S. | death_date = {{death_date and age|2000|03|20|1910|10|13}} | death_place = Beverly Hills, California, U.S. | resting_place = Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, California, U.S. | occupation = Actress · Photographer | years_active = | known_for = Photography | spouse = {{plainlist| * {{marriage|Charles K. Feldman|1935|1947|reason=div.}} * {{marriage|Tony Santoro|1973}} }} }} '''Jean Howard''' (born '''Ernestine Hill'''; October 13, 1910 – March 20, 2000)<ref>Van Craddock (April 26, 2003). [https://www.newspapers.com/image/215601049/?clipping_id=130786840 "East Texas socialite kept Hollywood in focus"]. ''Longview News-Journal''. p. 3. Retrieved August 28, 2023. See also: * Reed, Christopher (April 8, 2000). [https://www.newspapers.com/image/259487618/?clipping_id=111363439 "Obituaries: The photographer who snapped her partygoing friends, the stars, when Hollywood was a real community"]. ''The Guardian''. p. 24. * Lentz, Harris M., III (2001). ''[https://archive.org/details/obituariesinperf0000lent/page/112/mode/2up?q=%22October+13+1910%22+%22Jean+Howard%22 Obituaries in the Performing Arts 2000 : Film, Television, Radio, Theatre, Dance, Music, Cartoons and Pop Culture]''. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 112. {{ISBN|0-7864-1024-8}}. * Ellenberger, Allan R. (2001) [https://books.google.com/books?id=8bOJCgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Ernestine+Hill%22+actress&pg=PA132 ''Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory'']. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company. p. 132. {{ISBN|978-0-7864-0983-9}}.</ref> was an American actress and professional photographer.<ref>{{cite news|last=Martin|first=Douglas|title=Jean Howard, the House Photographer For Hollywood's Glamour Set, Dies at 89|newspaper=New York Times|date=March 24, 2000}}</ref> She was born in Longview, Texas and died in Beverly Hills, California.
==Early years== Howard was born Ernestine Hill on October 13, 1910, in Longview, Texas. Her father left her mother shortly thereafter and she lived with her mother. Her mother died when Ernestine was 13 years old. She then joined her father and stepmother in Dallas, from where her father traveled as a salesman.<ref>[https://virmuze.com/m/uwyo-american-heritage-center/x/jean-howards-hollywood/]: "Jean Howard's Hollywood: “The excitement, the glamour, and the good times." A virtual exhibit of selected photographs curated by Theoren Shepard, American Heritage Center. Retrieved September 12, 2023.</ref>
When she was a teenager, she accompanied her nephew to a photographic studio to have his portrait taken. Paul Mahoney, the photographer, took her photograph, which led to his becoming her teacher and mentor. "Young, eager, and frustrated," Howard changed her name to '''Ernestine Mahoney''' and began participating in beauty contests and fashion shows.<ref name="i">{{cite news |last1=Vallance |first1=Tom |title=Jean Howard |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111333662/jean-howard/ |access-date=October 15, 2022 |work=The Independent |date=April 1, 2000 |location=England, London |page=39|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref> Her father paid her expenses while Mahoney taught her. Howard acted in local theatrical productions before she went to Hollywood in the late 1920s and became a part of the Studio Club, a group for women who hoped to act in films.<ref name="i" />
==Career== Howard's time as a Goldwyn Girl began when she responded to an advertisement. Her film debut came in ''Whoopee!'' (1930). Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. selected Howard as one of four women from that film to appear in his upcoming musical production, ''Smiles'', but she had to go to Dallas after her father died in an automobile accident. Ziegfeld gave her a role in the 1931 edition of the ''Ziegfeld Follies'', billing her as Jean Howard. She next appeared in Ziegfeld's ''Hot-Cha'' (1932).<ref name="i" />
A contract with MGM resulted in Howard's appearing in ''The Prizefighter and the Lady'' and ''Broadway to Hollywood'', ''Dancing Lady'' (all 1933). She also appeared in ''Break of Hearts'' (1935), ''The Final Hour'' (1936),<ref name=":0" /> and ''Claudia'' (1943).<ref name="i" />
Howard studied photography at the Los Angeles Art Center. She appeared on Broadway in the productions: ''The Age of Innocence'' with Franchot Tone and ''Evensong''.
[[File:Cole-Porter-and-Jean-Howard.jpg|thumb|upright|right|Howard and Cole Porter in early 1954]] She often used her camera to capture moments from Hollywood during the 1940s and 1950s. She photographed parties, gatherings, sports tournaments, etc., shooting Tyrone Power, Gene Tierney, Richard Burton, Cole Porter, Judy Garland, Grace Kelly, Hedy Lamarr, Jennifer Jones, Deborah Kerr, Geraldine Page, Ethel Barrymore, Laurence Olivier, Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Ali Kahn, Van Johnson, Marti Stevens, Charles K. Feldman and Vivien Leigh. Two books of her photographs were published, ''Jean Howard's Hollywood: A Photo Memoir'' (1989) and ''Travels With Cole Porter'' (1991).<ref name="g">{{cite news |last1=Reed |first1=Christopher |title=Jean Howard |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/111363439/jean-howard/ |access-date=October 15, 2022 |work=The Guardian |date=April 8, 2000 |location=England, London |page=24|via = Newspapers.com}}</ref>
==Personal life and death== Howard married Hollywood talent agent Charles K. Feldman on August 25, 1934, in Harrison, New York,<ref>{{cite news |title=Jean Howard married |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/08/26/archives/jean-howard-married-wed-to-charles-k-feldman-at-harrison-ny.html |access-date=October 15, 2022 |work=The New York Times |date=August 26, 1934 |page=N 6|url-access=subscription}}</ref> and they divorced in 1948. The couple continued to regularly live together until her travels to Europe with Cole Porter in the mid-1950s. She conceived with Feldman once, but lost the pregnancy and never had children.<ref>[http://www.vanityfair.com/news/1991/04/jean-howard-photographic-memoir-hollywood Vanity Fair: "Pictures of Jean" by Ben Brantley] February 3, 2014</ref> She married Tony Santoro, a musician from Italy, in 1973.<ref name="i" />
Howard died on March 20, 2000, in her Beverly Hills, California, home.<ref name=":0">{{cite book |last1=Willis |first1=John |last2=Monush |first2=Barry |title=Screen World 2001 |date=March 25, 2002 |publisher=Hal Leonard Corporation |isbn=978-1-55783-478-2 |page=344 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Q0G3hog_c2kC&dq=%22Ernestine+Hill%22+actress&pg=PA344 |access-date=October 15, 2022 |language=en}}</ref> She was buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ellenberger |first1=Allan R. |title=Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory |date=May 1, 2001 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-0-7864-0983-9 |page=132 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8bOJCgAAQBAJ&dq=%22Ernestine+Hill%22+actress&pg=PA132 |access-date=October 15, 2022 |language=en}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==Sources== *''The Stars of Hollywood Forever: 1901-2006'' ({{ISBN|0917083601}}/{{ISBN|978-0917083600}}/ASIN: B0006SA7KO); Publisher: Tony Scott Publishing; 1st edition (2001)
==External links== {{commons category}} * {{IMDb name|397361}} * {{IBDB name}} * [https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv279471?q=jean%20howard Jean Howard's papers] at the American Heritage Center {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Howard, Jean}} Category:1910 births Category:2000 deaths Category:20th-century American actresses Category:Actresses from Texas Category:American film actresses Category:American stage actresses Category:American female dancers Category:Dancers from Texas Category:20th-century American photographers Category:Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery Category:People from Longview, Texas Category:Ziegfeld girls Category:20th-century American dancers Category:20th-century American women photographers