After father's murder, lived with foster parents until reunited with mother and moved to California

Reportedly "discovered" by "Hollywood Reporter" editor Billy Wilkerson in a drug store while she was playing hooky from school (January)

Film debut (in a crowd scene), "A Star is Born"

Film acting debut, "They Won't Forget"

Packaged as "The Sweater Girl" in the late 1930s, she became a top WWII pinup

Began playing leading roles at MGM in a series of programmers

Confirmed as top star with her performance in "Ziegfeld Girl"

First film opposite Clark Gable, "Honky Tonk"

Starred in one of her most famous films, "The Postman Always Rings Twice"

Last of four films opposite Clark Gable, "Betrayed"

Left MGM after nearly twenty years; last film under contract, "Diane"

Career boosted by success of her first post-MGM film, "Peyton Place"; film also marked first in which she played the mother of a grown daughter; also marked the one time she received an Oscar nomination for Best Actress

Starred in biggest box office hit of her career, "Imitation of Life"

Stopped regularly appearing in films after 1962; thereafter would star in a film once every several years

Starred in TV series, "The Survivors"

Made stage debut in "Forty Carats"

Last film with top billing, "Bittersweet Love"

Last film, "Witches' Brew"

Played recurring role of Chase Gioberti's (Robert Foxworth) mother on a season of the primetime CBS soap, "Falcon Crest", in the early 1980s

Rumors that she had died circulated late in the year