It's Jane Wyman's Centennial. The actress was born on this day in Missouri in 1917 as Sara Jane Mayfield.
Like many major stars her legacy rests on a period that's only about a decade long -- in Wyman's case the mid 40s through the 50s, or more specifically the Best Picture winner The Lost Weekend (1945) through the Douglas Sirk classic All that Heaven Allows (1955) a period in which she specialized in childlike women and their inverse young widows-- but her career was long, stretching from bit parts in the early 30s through TV stardom in the 80s.
Her greatest hits and Oscar triumphs after the jump. Which is your favorite?
...As "Helen St James," girlfriend of a drunk, in Best Picture winner The Lost Weekend (1945)
...As "Orry Baxter" in Best Picture nominee The Yearling (1946) - Oscar Nomination Best Actress
...As mute rape victim "Belinda McDonald" in Best Picture nominee Johnny Belinda (1948) - Oscar & Golden Globe Winner Best Actress
...As timid "Laura Wingfield" in The Glass Menagerie (1950)
...As struggling actress "Eve Gill" in Stage Fright (1950)
...As widow and nurse "Louise Mason" in The Blue Veil (1951) - Oscar Nominee & Golden Globe Winner, Best Actress
...As blind widow "Helen Phillips" in Magnificent Obsession (1954) -Oscar Nomination Best Actress
...As lonely widow "Cary Scott" in Douglas Sirk's All That Heaven Allows (1955)
THINK IT OVER. THEN CAST YOUR VOTE IN THE COMMENTS...
Fun trivia note #1
While other actresses have been married to elected leaders of various kinds, Jane Wyman is the only woman nominated for acting at the Oscars who was ever married to a US President. She was Ronald Reagan's first wife (from 1940 through 1949 after their co-starring gig in Brother Rat, 1938) but they divorced over reported differences about his political ambitions. Nevertheless they reportedly remained friends and Wyman voted for him in both of his Presidential runs.
Fun trivia note #2
Her final major role was of course as the matriarch of Falcon Crest (1981-1990). She won a Golden Globe for her television soap work in the same year that another 1940s A-Lister, none other than Barbara Stanwyck, took home a Globe for a role in a prestige soapy mini series The Thorn Birds (1983). Prime-time soaps were the most popular TV genre for a time in the 80s and these weren't the only two that harnessed the grande dame appeal of actresses from classic Hollywood. Other examples include Anne Baxter on Hotel, Joan Collins on Dynasty, and Barbara Stanwyck again on The Colbys.