Jean Shepard (1933 - 2016)

Jean Shepard Jean Shepard was born Ollie Imogene Shepard on Nov. 21, 1933 in Oklahoma, but was raised in California, where she was influenced greatly by the West Coast country sound. She started her musical career playing in an all-female group called The Melody Ranch Girls, who caught the eyes and ears of Capitol Records […]

Jean Simmons (1929 - 2010)

Simmons was born in Lower Holloway, London, to Charles Simmons, a gymnast, and his wife, Winifred (née Loveland) Simmons. Jean was the youngest of four children with siblings Edna, Harold and Lorna. She began acting at the age of 14. During the Second World War, the Simmons family was evacuated to Winscombe, Somerset. Her father, […]

Jean Speegle Howard (1927 - 2000)

Motion picture and television actress. Mother of director/actor Ron Howard and actor Clint Howard. Married to director/actor Rance Howard. (bio by: A.J. Marik)  Family links:  Parents:  William Allen Speegle (1903 – 1960)  Louise Dewey Speegle (1906 – 1974)Cause of death: Heart and respiratory illness

Jean Stapleton (1923 - 2013)

Stapleton was born in Manhattan, New York City, to Joseph E. Murray (a billboard advertising salesman) and Marie Stapleton Murray (an opera singer). At age 18, while she was a student at Manhattan’s Hunter College, she began her career in 1941 in summer stock theatre, and made her New York debut in the Off-Broadway play […]

Jean Vander Pyl (1919 - 1999)

Actress. Born in Philadelphia, her career spanned many decades on both radio and television. She is most fondly remembered for the role and voice of ‘Wilma’ on the animated TV series “The Flinstones”. Her many credits included appearances on “Father Knows Best”, “Leave It to Beaver”, “Top Cat”, “The Fireside Thearte”, “The Donna Reed Show”, […]

Jean Wallace (1923 - 1990)

Film actress who began her entertainment career as an Earl Carroll showgirl, and shortly thereafter was signed to a contract with Paramount Studios. Jean was married to Franchot Tone (1941-1948) with whom she had two sons, and Cornel Wilde (1951-1981) with whom she had one son. Her list of credits include “Jigsaw” and “Man on […]

Jean-Antoine Brutus Menier (1795 - 1853)

Entrepreneur.  Founder of the Menier dynasty of chocolate makers.  Born in Germain-de-Bourgeuil,  France,  he was a largely self-schooled (and unlicensed) pharmacist who in 1816 set up shop selling medicinal products in Paris.  Much of his success derived from his use of chocolate to coat bitter-tasting pills.  In the late 1830s he began marketing solid bars […]

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780 - 1867)

Major French Neoclassicist painter of the 19th century. He was a hero of Degas’. He was a consummate draughtsman who worked most of his career in Rome. He was a master of the female nude and portraiture.

Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780 - 1867)

Major French Neoclassicist painter of the 19th century. He was a hero of Degas’. He was a consummate draughtsman who worked most of his career in Rome. He was a master of the female nude and portraiture.

Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725 - 1805)

French Artist.  A painter of primarily portraits, genre scenes, and history painting, he was born in Tournus, Burgundy, France and was inspired at a young age to pursue a career in art.  His father agreed for him to be tutored in Lyon, France and later he went to Paris, France and studied at the Royal […]

Jean-Baptiste Isabey (1767 - 1855)

Painter.

Jean-Baptiste Papin (1756 - 1809)

Count de Saint-Christau. Lawyer, promoted to Count in 1808. Entered Pantheon 1809. (bio by: David Conway)

Jean-Baptiste Treilhard (1742 - 1810)

Lawyer who played a leading part in devising the Napoleonic civil and criminal codes. Entered Pantheon 1810. (bio by: David Conway)

Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot (1796 - 1875)

Artist. Born in Paris in 1796. His family were bourgeois people, his father was a wigmaker and his mother a milliner and unlike the experience of some of his artistic colleagues, throughout his life he never felt the want of money, as his parents made good investments and ran their businesses well. After his parents […]

Jean-Claude Brialy (1933 - 2007)

Actor,  Director. Born in Aumale (El-Ghozlane) in Algeria,  he started his performing career in the 1950s and became one of the most prolific actors of the French “nouvelle vague” (“New Wave”) movement.  His appearance in the title role of the 1958 Claude Chabrol film “Le beau Serge” made him famous. Brialy worked with such filmmakers […]

Jean-Dominique Bauby (1952 - 1997)

Author.  Born and raised in Paris,  he was a journalist for French Elle magazine and became its editor-in-chief in 1991.  Nicknamed “Jean-Do” by his friends,  he was a noted bon vivant and a fixture of fashionable Parisian society.  In December 1995,  at the age of 43,  Bauby suffered a massive stroke which left him completely […]

Jean-Etienne-Marie Portalis (1746 - 1807)

Lawyer, arrested during the Terror, saved by the fall of Robespierre. Helped to negotiate the Concordat (treaty with the Pope) in 1801. Became Minister for Religion (1804-1807). Entered Pantheon 1807. (bio by: David Conway)

Jean-Frederic de Perregaux (1744 - 1808)

Banker, helped finance Bonaparte, gained (amongst other advantages) the monopoly of issuing bank-notes in 1803. (bio by: David Conway)

Jean-Ignace Jacqueminot (1754 - 1813)

Count de Ham. Lawyer and political placeman. Entered Pantheon in 1813.  (bio by: David Conway)

Jean-Marie Bonnassieux (1810 - 1892)

Sculptor. One of his most famous work is the Statue of Notre Dame in  Le-Puy-en-Velay (Departement Haute-Loire) made out of canons “taken” in the battle of Sebastopol. The Virgin holds the Jesus Child on her right arm, so that he can easily bless the City down the volcano hill  with his right arm.

Jean-Miche Folon (1934 - 2005)

Artist. An architectural school dropout, he went on to be a versatile artist, painter, cartoonist, sculptor and one of the world’s best known commercial artists. His work appears throughout the world in galleries, magazines and on murals in subway stations. In 1969, he had his first one man show in the United States followed by […]

Jean-Michel Atlan (1913 - 1960)

Poet, Artist.  Born in Constantine, French Algeria. Leaving Istanbul in 1930 to study philosophy at the Sorbonne in Paris where he also worked as a teacher afterwards. Jean-Michael and his family were jewish. During the occupation, Jean-Michel lost his teaching license and lived in poverty in Montparnasse. During that time he taught himself painting. Due […]

Jean-Michel Basquiat (1960 - 1988)

Artist. The protege of pop artist Andy Warhol, he was the son of middle-class Brooklyn parents, and had a precocious success with his paintings from the start. His career was incubated by the short-lived graffiti movement, which started on the streets and subway cars in the early 1970s. Having no art training, he never tried […]

Jean-Michel Frank (1895 - 1941)

Jean-Michel Frank was born in Paris, a son of Léon Frank, a banker, and his wife and cousin, the former Nanette Frank. From 1904, he attended the Lycée Janson de Sailly in Paris. He began law school in 1911, but in 1915, he was hit by the double blow of the death of his two […]

Jean-Nicolas Démeunier (1751 - 1814)

Lawyer. President of the National Assembly. Keen Bonapartist, promoted by Napoleon to count in 1808. Entered Pantheon 1814. (bio by: David Conway)

Jean-Pierre Aumont (1911 - 2001)

Aumont was born Jean-Pierre Philippe Salomons in Paris, the son of Suzanne (née Cahen; 1885–1940), an actress, and Alexandre Salomons, owner of La Maison du Blanc (a linen department store). His mother’s uncle was well-known stage actor George Berr (died 1942). His father was from a Dutch Jewish family; his mother’s family were French Jews. […]

Jean-Pierre Cassel (1932 - 2007)

Actor. Born Jean-Pierre Crochon in Paris, France. He was a leading man of the 1960s and 1970s who is probably best remembered for his roles in the films “The Three Musketeers” (1973),  “The Four Musketeers (1974),  and “Murder on the Orient Express” (1974). Some of his other notable films include “The Joker” (1960), “Candide” (1960), […]

Jeane Dixon (1904 - 1997)

Folk Figure. She gained fame for alledged psychic abilities. Some of her most famous predictions were the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and his brother, Robert, and that Ronald Reagan would one day be President of the United States. She also wrote a series of books, including “My Life and Prophecies” in 1968; “Reincarnation […]

Jeanette Beaudine (1920 - 2003)

Actress. Beaudine was a long-time stand-in for actress Helen Hayes and a member of the Screen Actors Guild. Before turning to acting, she owned a celebrity-populated vacation resort, bar and restaturant on Harsen’s Island, Michigan. In 1957 on the advice of friend and producer, Jack Rose, her and husband Al moved to Los Angeles, California, […]

Jeanette Loff (1906 - 1942)

Jeanette Loff (October 9, 1906 – August 4, 1942) was an American motion picture actress and singer. Born Janette Lov was born in Orofino, Idaho. She was the eldest of a family of five children born to Morris and Inga Loff. Her parents were of Norwegian and Danish heritage. Her father was a professional violinist who […]