MANILA, Philippines?Jennifer Jones drew worldwide attention when she won the Academy Award for her portrayal of Saint Bernadette in the biographical ?Song of Bernadette.? The young actress was acclaimed as one of Hollywood?s brightest young stars as a result of that performance.

She was very pretty and ambitious, besides. She was then married to boyish favorite Robert Walker, who starred in various Hollywood films and was greatly admired for his natural way of acting. Walker was actually a predecessor of realistic actors like Montgomery Clift who was closely followed by temperamental Marlon Brando and daredevil James Dean.

Bigger catch

However, Jennifer had set her eyes on a bigger catch that could catapult her career to greater heights. Only Hollywood insiders were on to the fact that the dark-haired Jennifer was already having secret trysts with ?Gone With the Wind? producer David O. Selznick. The powerful producer had grand plans for his paramour.

When Jennifer divorced lanky Robert for robust David, sympathy went to the skinny actor who had just finished ?Till the Clouds Roll By,? a grand musical in which he portrayed the beloved composer, Jerome Kern, with MGM?s roster of stars making cameo appearances in sumptuous musical numbers.

Fans who admired the saintly Bernadette were completely turned off by the sultry Jennifer, who was the reason for ?A Duel in the Sun.? She morphed from a French saint into a Mexican spitfire who stoked the passionate yearnings of Gregory Peck and Joseph Cotton. When it became publicly known she was the cause of ménage a trois in real life, the reel saint turned sinner once more.

Scandalized

Globally, her fans were scandalized by that seeming transformation. Especially shocked were rosary-praying Filipinos. How could she have betrayed them so? Fortunately, Jennifer?s powerful husband continued to produce great films with her as the star. He cast himself as her Hollywood Svengali, starring her in such great epics as Hemingway?s ?The Sun Also Rises? opposite Rock Hudson, as well as Scott Fitzgerald?s ?Tender Is the Night? opposite Jason Robards Jr.

The real box office bonanza she starred in was ?Love Is a Many Splendoured Thing,? best remembered for its romantic theme song.

Jennifer?s slow decline came after her film transformation from saint to trying-hard actress. She carried vehicles that were meant for the likes of Barbara Stanwyck and other drama heavyweights.

Drama

Despite her daring, she never had the glamour or the appeal of the likes of Garbo, Davis or Crawford. Neither was she the great beauty that was Katherine Hepburn, Ilona Massey or Ingrid Bergman.

Despite her dramatic transformation from saint to hot tamale, she was basically a thespic middleweight who shone brightly but not luminously enough to offset her many so-so performances in dramatic vehicles that failed to impress the critics.

Toward the end of her life, however, the Academy Award-winning actress discovered still another talent: She started to paint both in oil and watercolor, and soon had sellout exhibits of her works.