Jean Peters

Elizabeth Jean Peters (October 15, 1926 – October 13, 2000) was an American film actress. She was known as a star of 20th Century Fox in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and as the second wife of Howard Hughes. Although possibly best remembered for her siren role in Pickup on South Street (1953), Peters was known for her resistance to being turned into a sex symbol. She preferred to play unglamorous, down-to-earth women. Late in her career, and after her retirement, Peters occasionally played roles in TV productions, appearing in four from 1973 to 1988. Early life Peters was born on October 15, 1926, in East Canton, Ohio, the eldest daughter of Elizabeth (née Diesel) and Gerald Peters, a laundry manager. She had a younger sister, Shirley. Raised on a small farm in East Canton, Peters attended East Canton High School. She was a Methodist. She went to college at the University of Michigan and later Ohio State University, where she studied to become a teacher and majored in literature. While studying for a teaching degree at Ohio State, she entered and won the Miss Ohio State Pageant in the fall of 1945, besting 11 other finalists. Sponsored by photographer Paul Robinson, she was awarded the grand prize of a screen test with 20th Century-Fox.