Jean Hagen

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If she'd never played anyone other than squeaky-voiced Lina Lamont, the hopelessly vain silent-screen star of Singin' in the Rain (1952, for which she was Oscar-nominated), this attractive, talented blond actress would still rate a place in Hollywood history. A former drama major who worked as a theater usherette before getting acting jobs on radio and stage, she debuted on screen in Adam's Rib (1949, playing the femme fatale who disrupts Judy Holliday's marriage), and scored her first real triumph as the female lead in The Asphalt Jungle (1950). Unfortunately, neither MGM nor any of the other studios for which Hagen worked seemed able to provide her with roles and vehicles that might have made her a real star. She played Danny Thomas' wife in the "Make Room for Daddy" TV series (1953-57) - Biography from Leonard Maltin's Movie Encyclopedia.
A prolonged illness necessitated her early retirement in the mid-60s, entering a convalescent home for the rest of her life. A desire to act one more time happened for her in 1977 when she appeared briefly as a landlady in the TV-movie "Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn" (TV) 77. She died shortly after of throat cancer.
Jean seemed a shoo-in to win Best Supporting Actress for her hilarious performance as Lina Lamont in Singin' in the Rain (1952), but was beaten out for the award by Gloria Grahame for The Bad and the Beautiful (1952). This was one of Hollywood's major injustices.