Hazel Brooks

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Hazel Brooks
HazelBrooks.jpg
Background information
Other names: Hazel Brooks Ross
Hazel Brooks Gibbons
Born Sep 08, 1924
Cape Town, South Africa
Died Sep 18, 2002 - age  78
Bel Air, Los Angeles, CA USA
 
Spouse(s): Cedric Gibbons 1944-1960, died
Rex Ross 1967-1999 died
Occupation: Actress
Years active: 1943-1955

Hazel Brooks (✦September 8, 1924 – September 18, 2002) was an American actress.

Early years

The daughter of a sea captain, Brooks was born in Cape Town, South Africa. Her father died when she was three years old, and she moved with her mother to Brooklyn, New York. Her mother remarried and then divorced, resulting in custody battles over Brooks' half-brother. Brooks described her childhood as "very unhappy", noting that she attended 14 schools.

Career

Brooks became a model for Harry Conover when she was 16. A talent scout picked her and five other models to appear in the film "Du Barry Was a Lady" (1943). Billed under her real name, Hazel Brooks, she made a series of pictures at the studio during the 1940s, culminating with a lead role in 1947 "Body and Soul" with John Garfield.

She had captured almost as much attention three years earlier in 1944 when, at age 19, she married the long-time head of her studio's fabled art department, Cedric Gibbons, then 54. The wedding occurred on October 25, 1944. Although the age difference inspired a certain amount of winking in the gossip columns at the time, the marriage proved a strong one and lasted until Gibbons' death in 1960. Brooks subsequently married Dr. Rex Ross (1908-1999), a surgeon and founder of the Non-invasive Vascular Clinic at Hollywood Hospital.

According to long-time friend Maria Cooper Janis, Gary Cooper's daughter, Ross in the years after her retirement from films became a skilled still photographer.

She also worked actively for a number of children's charities.

She had subsequent roles in "Arch of Triumph" and "Sleep, My Love" in 1948, as well as "The Basketball Fix" (1951) and "The I Don't Care Girl" (1953).

Death

Brooks died in 2002, aged 78, in Bel Air, a residential district of Los Angeles.


Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1943 "Du Barry Was a Lady" Miss June Uncredited
1943 "Girl Crazy" Showgirl Uncredited
1944 "Rationing" Information Girl Uncredited
1944 "Meet the People" Show Girl Uncredited
1944 "Marriage Is a Private Affair" Bridesmaid Uncredited
1944 "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" Girl in Officers' Club Uncredited
1945 "Without Love" Girl on Elevator Uncredited
1945 "Ziegfeld Follies (film)" Dancer Uncredited
1946 "The Harvey Girls" Dance-Hall Girl Uncredited
1947 "Body and Soul" Alice
1948 "Sleep, My Love" Daphne
1948 "Arch of Triumph (1948 film)" Sybil Uncredited
1951 "The Basketball Fix" Lily Courtney
1953 "The I Don't Care Girl" Stella Forrest

References

External links

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