Actress Jean Simmons has died from cancer at age 80. Simmons began acting in the mid-1940s and won acclaim for her performance as Ophelia in Laurence Olivier's Oscar-winning screen version of
Hamlet in 1948. Major roles followed in films such as
The Blue Lagoon, The Robe, Guys and Dolls, The Big Country, Spartacus, Elmer Gantry and
The Happy Ending. By the late 1960s, however, the major roles in big screen productions stopped coming her way, although she did continue to act (often in independent films) up until last year.In the 1980s, she won an Emmy for her performance in the hit TV mini-series
The Thorn Birds. Simmons had been married to Stewart Granger, and later to director Richard Brooks. For more
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