Jean Peters

She died of Leukemia in 2000. She died in Brighton. Peters remarried after divorcing Hughes, and returned to acting with a few roles on television. It was her success in Hollywood that brought her recognition, and in 1960 she was created a Dame of the British Empire. She would state only that she had not seen Hughes for several years before their divorce. After the war, demonstrating her range, she appeared in Holiday Camp (1947), the first of a series of films which featured the very ordinary Huggett family; as the Mother Superior in Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's Black Narcissus (1947); as a magistrate in Goodtime Girl (1948); as a prospective Labour MP in Basil Dearden's excellent Frieda (1947); and in Dearden's costume melodrama, Saraband for Dead Lovers (1948). The usually-paranoid Hughes surprised his aides when he did not insist on a confidentiality agreement from Peters; aides reported Peters was one of the few people Hughes never disparaged. Peters refused to discuss her life with Hughes, and declined several lucrative offers to do so. At the age of 32, Robson played the old Empress Elizabeth in Alexander Korda's Catherine the Great (1934).

She agreed to a lifetime alimony payment of US$70,000 annually, adjusted for inflation, and she waived all claims to Hughes' estate. Lacking the glamorous looks of a leading lady, she specialised in character roles, notably that of Queen Elizabeth I in both Fire over England (1937) and The Sea Hawk (1940). In 1971, Peters and Hughes divorced. She was born in South Shields, Durham, England and made her stage debut in 1921 at the age of 19. She retired from acting during the marriage. Flora Robson (March 28, 1902 - July 7, 1984) was a British actress renowned as one of the great character players and one of Britain's theatrical grandes dames. In 1957, Peters married Howard Hughes, shortly before he faded from public view and became an eccentric recluse.

He thought Peters had the right blend of sex appeal and the tough-talking, streetwise characteristics he was seeking, and that Monroe was too innocent looking for the role. Director Samuel Fuller chose Peters over Marilyn Monroe for the part of Candy in 1953's Pickup On South Street. Her first film, 1947's Captain from Castile with Tyrone Power was a hit, and Leonard Maltin writes that afterwards Peters spent the new decade playing "sexy spitfires, often in period dramas and Westerns." [1] (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0676492/bio). After competing in a beauty contest in 1946, Peters went to Hollywood to pursue an acting career.

Elizabeth Jean Peters (born October 15, 1926 in Canton, Ohio, died October 13, 2000) was an American actress.