Jean Porter

Early life Porter was born in Cisco, Texas, to a Texas and Pacific Railway worker and a music teacher. When she was one year old, she was called the "Most Beautiful Baby" in Eastland County. Porter acted in Dwan's 1936 musical, Song and Dance Man, but did not appear in the credits.

Beginning with small roles in such movies as The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) and The Under-Pup (1939), she was signed by producer Hal Roach, who featured her in comedies. She also appeared in Roach's 1940 adventure One Million B.C.. Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941) and Hellzapoppin‘ (1941) followed.

Porter was signed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 on loan from Roach. Though never a big star, Jean Porter was active as a wholesome, mainly comedic ingenue in B pictures throughout the 1940s, appearing in almost 30 features alongside MGM stars such as Esther Williams, Mickey Rooney, Margaret Dumont, and the comedy duo Abbott and Costello.

Personal life Two years after writer-director Edward Dmytryk directed Porter as a replacement for Shirley Temple in Till the End of Time, It was his second marriage, her first.

During the McCarthy-era hearings, Dmytryk was facing a jail sentence for a contempt of Congress charge, fired from RKO, and barred from working in the United States. The couple moved to England, where she gave birth to the first of their three children. After they were forced to return to the U.S. in 1950 due to his expiring passport, Dmytryk was imprisoned for six months on the contempt charge.

Filmography