72 Facts About Jane Wyman

1.

Jane Wyman received an Academy Award, three Golden Globe Awards and nominations for two Primetime Emmy Awards.

2.

Jane Wyman received four nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress, winning for Johnny Belinda.

3.

Jane Wyman was the first wife of Hollywood actor and the future 40th president of the United States, Ronald Reagan.

4.

Sarah Jane Wyman Mayfield was born on January 5,1917, in St Joseph, Missouri, to Gladys Hope and Manning Jeffries Mayfield.

5.

Jane Wyman's father was a meal company laborer and her mother was a doctor's stenographer and office assistant.

6.

Jane Wyman was an only child biologically, but she had two foster siblings, whom she would refer to when saying she was the youngest of three.

7.

Jane Wyman took their surname unofficially, including in her school records and on her marriage certificate to first husband Ernest Wyman.

8.

In 1930, the two moved back to Missouri, where Sarah Jane Wyman attended Lafayette High School in Saint Joseph.

9.

For many years, Jane Wyman's birthdate was widely reported to be January 4,1914, but research by biographers and genealogists indicated that she was actually born three years later.

10.

Jane Wyman started to obtain small parts in such films as The Kid from Spain, Elmer, the Great, Gold Diggers of 1933, Harold Teen, College Rhythm, Rumba, All the King's Horses, George White's 1935 Scandals, Stolen Harmony, Broadway Hostess, King of Burlesque and Anything Goes.

11.

Jane Wyman signed a contract with Warner Brothers in 1936.

12.

At Warner Brothers, Jane Wyman was in Freshman Love and Bengal Tiger then went to Universal Studios for My Man Godfrey.

13.

Jane Wyman had small parts in Polo Joe, and Gold Diggers of 1937 but a bigger one in Smart Blonde, the first of the Torchy Blane series.

14.

Jane Wyman was in Ready, Willing and Able, The King and the Chorus Girl, and Slim.

15.

Jane Wyman had the lead in Little Pioneer, a short, and parts in The Singing Marine.

16.

Jane Wyman retained use of the surname for the remainder of her career.

17.

Jane Wyman had a supporting part in Mr Dodd Takes the Air and was the female lead in some "B" films, such as The Spy Ring, He Couldn't Say No with Frank McHugh and Wide Open Faces with Joe E Brown.

18.

Jane Wyman was "borrowed" by MGM to play a supporting part in The Crowd Roars.

19.

At Warner Brothers, Jane Wyman was cast as the lead in Brother Rat, a "B" which proved popular.

20.

Jane Wyman was "borrowed" by 20th Century Fox for a supporting role in Tail Spin, followed by The Kid from Kokomo with Pat O'Brien and Morris.

21.

Now established, Jane Wyman was cast in Kid Nightingale with John Payne, Private Detective with Foran, Brother Rat and a Baby with Reagan, An Angel from Texas with Albert, Flight Angels, and Gambling on the High Seas with Wayne Morris.

22.

Jane Wyman had supporting roles in "A" films such as My Love Came Back, starring Olivia de Havilland and Jeffrey Lynn.

23.

Jane Wyman was a supporting role to Ann Sheridan in Honeymoon for Three and was Dennis Morgan's leading lady in Bad Men of Missouri.

24.

Jane Wyman made The Body Disappears with Jeffrey Lynn and You're in the Army Now with Jimmy Durante; in the latter she and Regis Toomey had the longest screen kiss in cinema history: 3 minutes and 5 seconds.

25.

At 20th Century Studios, Jane Wyman was a supporting actor to Betty Grable in Footlight Serenade then back at Warners supported Olivia de Havilland in Princess O'Rourke.

26.

Jane Wyman was one of many stars to cameo in Hollywood Canteen.

27.

Jane Wyman gained critical notice in the film noir The Lost Weekend, made by the team of Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett, who had been impressed by her performance in Princess O'Rourke.

28.

Jane Wyman remained a supporting actor in One More Tomorrow, and Night and Day.

29.

However Jane Wyman was borrowed by MGM for the female lead in The Yearling, and was nominated for the 1946 Academy Award for Best Actress.

30.

Jane Wyman was leading lady for Dennis Morgan in Cheyenne and James Stewart in RKO's Magic Town.

31.

Jane Wyman spent over six months preparing for the film which was an enormous hit and won Jane Wyman a Best Actress Oscar.

32.

Jane Wyman was the first person in the sound era to win an acting Oscar without speaking a line of dialogue.

33.

Jane Wyman did two comedies, A Kiss in the Dark with David Niven and The Lady Takes a Sailor with Morgan, then made a thriller in England, Stage Fright for Alfred Hitchcock.

34.

Jane Wyman played Laura in The Glass Menagerie, and went to MGM for Three Guys Named Mike, a popular comedy.

35.

Jane Wyman was one of many stars in Warner Bros' Starlift.

36.

Jane Wyman was the female lead in The Story of Will Rogers and Paramount reunited her and Crosby in Just for You.

37.

Jane Wyman expressed interest around this time of doing no more "weepy" roles.

38.

Jane Wyman had a huge success when producer Ross Hunter cast her alongside Rock Hudson in Magnificent Obsession.

39.

Jane Wyman did Miracle in the Rain with Van Johnson.

40.

Jane Wyman was meant to follow this with Annabella but it appears to have not been made.

41.

Jane Wyman's first guest-starring television role was on a 1955 episode of General Electric Theater, a show hosted by her former husband Ronald Reagan.

42.

Jane Wyman hosted every episode, acted in half, and was a producer.

43.

When Fireside Theatre ended Jane Wyman was no longer a film star, but she remained in demand.

44.

Jane Wyman continued to guest star on TV shows like Checkmate, Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse, Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, The Investigators, Wagon Train, and Insight.

45.

Jane Wyman made the occasional acting appearance, mostly on television.

46.

Jane Wyman returned to films with How to Commit Marriage.

47.

Jane Wyman continued to work in the 1970s, guest starring on My Three Sons; The Bold Ones: The New Doctors; The Sixth Sense; and Owen Marshall, Counselor at Law and starring in films like The Failing of Raymond and The Incredible Journey of Doctor Meg Laurel.

48.

Jane Wyman starred in a pilot for a TV series Amanda Fallon but it was not picked up.

49.

Jane Wyman guest starred on Charlie's Angels and The Love Boat.

50.

Jane Wyman said she wanted to make it as it was a change from "the four handkerchief bits" she was known for.

51.

Later in the show's run, Jane Wyman suffered several health problems.

52.

Months later in 1989, Jane Wyman collapsed on the set and was hospitalized due to problems with diabetes and a liver ailment.

53.

Jane Wyman's doctors told her that she should end her acting career.

54.

Jane Wyman ultimately appeared in almost every episode until the beginning of the ninth and final season, for a total of 208 of the show's 227 episodes.

55.

Jane Wyman had starred in 83 movies and two successful TV series, and was nominated for an Academy Award four times, winning once.

56.

Jane Wyman married salesman Ernest Eugene Jane Wyman in Los Angeles, California, on April 8,1933.

57.

Jane Wyman listed foster parents Emma and Richard Fulks as her parents.

58.

Jane Wyman kept her first husband's surname professionally for the remainder of her life.

59.

Jane Wyman married Myron Martin Futterman, a dress manufacturer, in New Orleans on June 29,1937.

60.

In 1938, Jane Wyman co-starred with Ronald Reagan in Brother Rat, and its sequel Brother Rat and a Baby.

61.

Jane Wyman, who was a registered Republican, stated that their break-up was due to a difference in politics.

62.

Jane Wyman filed for divorce in 1948; the divorce was final in 1949 and Wyman leased a home in Palm Springs, California.

63.

Jane Wyman, who had converted to Catholicism in 1953, never remarried.

64.

Jane Wyman was a member of the Good Shepherd Parish and the Catholic Motion Picture Guild in Beverly Hills, California.

65.

Jane Wyman was a recluse and made only a few public appearances in her last years in part due to suffering from arthritis.

66.

Jane Wyman suffered from Type 1 diabetes from a very young age.

67.

Jane Wyman did attend her daughter's funeral in 2001 after Maureen died of melanoma; Ronald Reagan was unable to attend due to his Alzheimer's disease.

68.

Jane Wyman attended the funeral of her long-time friend Loretta Young in 2000.

69.

Jane Wyman broke her silence about her former husband upon his death in 2004.

70.

Jane Wyman died at the age of 90 at her home in Rancho Mirage on September 10,2007.

71.

Jane Wyman was interred at Forest Lawn Mortuary and Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California.

72.

Jane Wyman has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame: one for motion pictures, at 6607 Hollywood Boulevard; and one for television, at 1620 Vine Street.