Jean Sullivan

Jean Sullivan (May 26, 1923 – February 27, 2003) was an American actress and dancer. She acted in film, television and stage productions, and danced both flamenco and ballet, the latter with the American Ballet Theatre.

Biography Sullivan was born on May 26, 1923, in Logan, Utah, the daughter of Army Colonel Alexander Sullivan and Claire Cardon Sullivan. She had two younger sisters and a younger brother. As she grew up, she lived in Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Columbus, Ohio; and upstate New York before she reached Hollywood. She went to UCLA to study English literature major but changed her major to drama. (In 1943, Sullivan said that the scout urged her to sign but, "I told him I'd never thought of motion pictures and definitely wasn't ready for that sort of thing anyway. But he kept coming back. After six months I finally said yes."

She was co-artistic director with Michael Fischetti of the South Street Theatre Company, and played Spanish guitar, cello, and piano. She had a daughter, the actress Francesca Poston, by actor Tom Poston, whom she married in 1955. She and Poston separated in 1959 and divorced two years later.

Filmography

Features Uncertain Glory (1944) Escape in the Desert (1945) Roughly Speaking (1945) Squirm (1976)

Television One Day at a Time Somerset The Doctors Search for Tomorrow NBC Family Hour Colgate Family Hour Lamp Unto Thy Feet

Theatre roles The Seagull – Arkadina – Sybil Burton's New Theatre Macbeth – Lady Macbeth – Royal Shakespeare Company at JASTA Much Ado About Nothing – Hero – Royal Shakespeare Company for the Theatre Guild Phedre – Phedre – La Comedie Francaise (replaced Beatrice Straight) – Off-Broadway and touring Luv – Ruth The Bald Soprano – Mrs. Smith The Dark Lady of the Sonnets – Queen Elizabeth I Spoon River Anthology The Stronger – South Street Theatre (NYC) Before Breakfast – Vienna English Theatre (Vienna, Austria)

Awards Sullivan was selected as an Honored Member in the "US Executives" Category for 1989's "Who's Who in America".