Jean Rogers
Jean Rogers, born Eleanor Dorothy Lovegren, was an American actress who starred in serial films in the 1930s and low–budget feature films in the 1940s as a leading lady. She is best remembered for playing Dale Arden in the science fiction serials Flash Gordon and Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars.
She graduated from Belmont High School, and had hoped to study art, but in 1933, she won a beauty contest sponsored by Paramount Pictures that led to her career in Hollywood. Rogers starred in several serials for Universal between 1935 and 1938, including Ace Drummond and Flash Gordon. Rogers was one of seven women chosen out of 2,700 passengers on excursion boats and ferries who were interviewed for roles in Eight Girls in a Boat. The group began work in Hollywood on September 3, 1933. By 1937, Rogers was the only one of the seven featured as an actress.
Rogers was assigned the role of Dale Arden in the first two Flash Gordon serials. Buster Crabbe and Rogers were cast as the hero and heroine in the first serial, Flash Gordon, and Rogers' beauty, long blonde hair, and revealing costumes endeared her to moviegoers. The evil ruler Ming the Merciless lusted after her, and Gordon was forced to rescue her from one situation after another. While filming the series in 1937, her costume caught fire and she suffered burns on her hands. Co-star Crabbe smothered the fire by wrapping a blanket on her.
In the first serial, Arden competed with Princess Aura for Gordon's attention. Rogers' character was fragile, small-chested, diminutive, and totally dependent on Gordon for her survival; Lawson's Princess Aura was domineering, independent, voluptuous, conniving, sly, ambitious, and determined to make Gordon her own. The competition for Gordon's attention is one of the highlights of the film. In Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars, the second serial, Rogers sported a totally different look. She had dark hair and wore the same modest costume in each episode. Rogers matured after the first serial, and no sexual overtones are seen in Trip to Mars. Rogers told writer Richard Lamparski that she was not eager to do the second serial and asked her studio to excuse her from the third.
Despite starring in serial films, Rogers felt she was not going to improve her career unless she could participate in feature films. She discovered that it was more tedious working in feature films. She played John Wayne's leading lady in the 1936 full-length motion picture Conflict and co-starred with Boris Karloff in the horror film Night Key the following year. During the 1940s, Rogers appeared solely in feature films, including The Man Who Wouldn't Talk with Lloyd Nolan, Viva Cisco Kid with Cesar Romero as the Cisco Kid, Design for Scandal with Rosalind Russell and Walter Pidgeon, Whistling in Brooklyn with Red Skelton, A Stranger in Town with Frank Morgan, Backlash, and Speed to Spare with Richard Arlen. Still, she was unhappy with the studios, possibly because she was relegated to B-movie productions on a lower salary. She decided to freelance with companies such as 20th Century Fox and MGM. Her last appearance was in a supporting role in the suspense film The Second Woman, made in 1950 by United Artists.
She died in Sherman Oaks in 1991 at the age of 74 following surgery. She was later cremated and her ashes returned to her family.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 6.318 |
Birthday | 1916-03-25 |
Place of Birth | Belmont, Massachusetts, USA |
Also Known As | Eleanor Dorothy Lovegren, Eleanor Lovegren, Элинор Лавгрен, Джин Роджерс, |
1936
Flash Gordon
6.3/40
Disaster seems imminent when scientists discover that the planet Mongo is about to crash into Earth. Luckily, heroic young Flash Gordon is on hand to...
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Flash Gordon
1937
Night Key
6.1/28
The inventor of a new top-of-the-line burglar alarm system is kidnapped by a gang in order to get him to help them commit robberies.
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Night Key
1945
The Strange Mr. Gregory
5.1/7
The title character, played by Edmund Lowe, is a famous magician who fakes his own death -- then reappears as his nonexistent twin brother. It's all p...
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The Strange Mr. Gregory
1947
Backlash
4.9/18
In a series of flashbacks, shows that attorney John Morland has given a lift to a hitchhiker who turns out to be a murderer. As a result, Morland hims...
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Backlash
1950
The Second Woman
5.5/30
In flashback from a 'Rebecca'-style beginning: Ellen Foster, visiting her aunt on the California coast, meets neighbor Jeff Cohalan and his ultramoder...
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The Second Woman
1940
Charlie Chan in Panama
6.816/19
Charlie impersonates an employee of the U.S. government to foil an espionage plot which would destroy part of the Panama Canal, trapping a Navy fleet...
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Charlie Chan in Panama
1949
Squadron of Doom
0/0
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Squadron of Doom
1943
Whistling in Brooklyn
6.3/3
Radio crime show host "The Fox" finds himself on the trail of a serial killer while a suspect himself.
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Whistling in Brooklyn
1937
Reported Missing
0/0
A gang is sabotaging planes so that when they crash, the corpses can be robbed.
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Reported Missing
1940
Brigham Young
4.4/15
Based on the story of the famous Mormon leader, it follows Brigham Young and his challenge to transport his people across the Rocky mountains to settl...
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Brigham Young
1941
Design for Scandal
5.2/6
A newsman (Walter Pidgeon) falls in love on Cape Cod with the judge (Rosalind Russell) his angry boss (Edward Arnold) expects him to discredit.
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Design for Scandal
1942
The War Against Mrs. Hadley
4.8/5
Wealthy American society matron, Stella Hadley refuses to sacrifice her material comforts to aid the war effort until she realizes that her selfishnes...
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The War Against Mrs. Hadley
1943
Swing Shift Maisie
6.5/3
Street-smart Maisie from Brooklyn lands a job at an airplane assembly plant during WWII and falls in love with handsome pilot "Breezy" McLaughlin. Bre...
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Swing Shift Maisie
1942
Sunday Punch
5/3
Ma Galestrum (Connie Gilchrist) is a boardinghouse owner whose tenants are a group of aspiring boxers. When her young niece, Judy (Jean Rogers), comes...
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Sunday Punch
1942
Pacific Rendezvous
6/1
A code expert working for Naval Intelligence is assigned to decode enemy messages despite his desire for active duty.
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Pacific Rendezvous
1938
While New York Sleeps
0/0
Newspaperman (Whalen) looks into the deaths of bond-carriers while romancing a show girl (Rogers).
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While New York Sleeps
1938
Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars
5.9/11
When a deadly Nitron ray strikes Earth, Flash Gordon and his friends travel to Mars to battle Ming the Merciless and his new ally Queen Azura.
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Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars
1942
Dr. Kildare's Victory
5.8/8
Dr. Gillespie supports Kildare's crusade against their hospital's deal with a rival hospital.
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Dr. Kildare's Victory
1941
Let's Make Music
5.6/5
An elderly schoolmarm makes a hit in New York after a bandleader jazzes up her corny song.
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Let's Make Music
1937
Secret Agent X-9
6.7/3
A secret agent goes after the gang that stole the crown jewels of a European monarchy.
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Secret Agent X-9
1943
A Stranger in Town
6.5/13
In the small town of Crownport local attorney Bill Adams is trying to break up the ring of corrupt town officials by running for mayor. The cards seem...
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A Stranger in Town
1936
Ace Drummond
6.5/2
This 13 chapter serial is based on the comic strip character Ace Drummond created by Eddie Rickenbacker. Ace is a 'G-Man of the sky' working out of Wa...
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Ace Drummond
1939
Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence
6.333/6
New York store clerk joins a hobo and an illegal immigrant heading for his newly bought land in Arizona.
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Heaven with a Barbed Wire Fence
1939
Hotel for Women
6/1
Guests at a women's residence club help a jilted small-town girl turn to modelling.
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Hotel for Women
1940
Viva Cisco Kid
5.5/4
Cisco saves a stagecoach from being robbed and takes a shine to one of the passengers whose father is in cahoots with a vicious criminal who plans to...
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Viva Cisco Kid
1948
Speed to Spare
5/2
Stunt driver Cliff Jordan takes a job with his old pal Jerry McGee, branch manager of an express trucking firm. Jerry is married to Mary, Cliff's form...
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Speed to Spare
1936
The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
4/2
A 12-episode serial in which scholastic sports star Frank Merriwell leaves school to search for his missing father. His adventures involve a mysteriou...
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The Adventures of Frank Merriwell
1938
Always in Trouble
7/1
Jane's dad (Tombes) is an oil field worker who comes into a fortune and is then pushed into society by his wife.
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Always in Trouble
1936
Mysterious Crossing
0/0
While crossing on the train ferry to New Orleans, roving reporter Addison Francis Murphy borrows money from singing hillbilly "Carolina," then loses i...
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Mysterious Crossing
1939
Inside Story
0/0
A good-hearted reporter attempts to find the loneliest woman in New York so he can give her an old-fashioned Christmas on a farm..
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Inside Story
1948
Fighting Back
6/2
An ex-convict, freed to fight in World War II, gets a factory job and is accused when a bracelet is missing.
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Fighting Back
1940
The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
4/2
A man involved in a crime (Nolan) kills his key witness by mistake and resigns himself to death. He changes his name so as not to harm his family. The...
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The Man Who Wouldn't Talk
1938
Rocket Ship
4.8/3
A heavy condensation of the 1936 serial Flash Gordon, with altered musical score. Flash Gordon, Dale Arden and Dr. Hans Zarkov visit the planet Mongo...
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Rocket Ship
1937
When Love Is Young
0/0
In this drama, a girl from a small town in Pennsylvania dreams of being a star while she goes to school. The trouble is, no one notices her. Later a m...
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When Love Is Young
1936
Conflict
0/0
Pat's ability as a logging/mining camp fighter sets him up to box prizefighter Corrigan. Unknown to his supporters, he's actually in collusion with Co...
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Conflict
1945
Rough, Tough and Ready
0/0
The story is the old bromide about two brawling buddies, duking it out over the same girl, in this case pert Jo Matheson (Jean Rogers). Owen and Brad...
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Rough, Tough and Ready
1939
Stop, Look and Love
5/1
Daughter has trouble holding onto boyfriends because of her critical mother until understanding father comes to her aid.
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Stop, Look and Love
1935
Tailspin Tommy in The Great Air Mystery
6/1
A 12-episode serial in which Tailspin Tommy evades volcanoes, anti-aircraft shells, and time bombs as he foils a plan by corrupt profiteers to steal a...
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Tailspin Tommy in The Great Air Mystery
1934
Twenty Million Sweethearts
6/6
Unscrupulous agent Rush Blake makes singing waiter Buddy Clayton a big radio star while Peggy Cornell, who has lost her own radio show, helps Buddy.
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Twenty Million Sweethearts
1938
Mars Attacks the World
6/1
Feature version of the 1938 film serial FLASH GORDON'S TRIP TO MARS. Flash Gordon fights Ming the Merciless once again to ensure the survival of the E...
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Mars Attacks the World
1946
Gay Blades
0/0
New York hockey player Andy Buell is approached by Hollywood talent scout Nancy Davis to play the hunk lead in "The Behemoth" but he would prefer she...
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Gay Blades
1935
Manhattan Moon
0/0
Night club owner Dan Moore is trying to collect a debt owed to him by playboy Reggie Van Dorn, but Reggie is a playboy with no money but lots of socia...
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Manhattan Moon
1935
Stormy
0/0
A young man looks for a thoroughbred horse that was got lost during a train wreck.
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Stormy
1938
Time Out for Murder
6/2
A bank runner is accused of killing a woman for whom he deposited a large amount. Reporter and bank official investigate.
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Time Out for Murder
1935
Fighting Youth
7/2
A radical campus group persuades student Carol Arlington to lead a protest of a college's football team. She manages to recruit Larry Davis, even thou...
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Fighting Youth
1936
Crash Donovan
0/0
A California Highway Patrolman gets involved with a smuggling ring.
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Crash Donovan
1942
Personalities
0/0
In this "Romance of Celluloid", MGM showcases performers whose careers are just starting. Excerpts from their recently released films are included. Th...
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Personalities
1966
Spaceship to the Unknown
6/1
A heavy condensation of the original serial compresses the original thirteen episodes into an efficient 97 minute feature. Disaster seems imminent wh...
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Spaceship to the Unknown
1936
My Man Godfrey
7.573/335
Fifth Avenue socialite Irene Bullock needs a "forgotten man" to win a scavenger hunt, and no one is more forgotten than Godfrey Park, who resides in a...
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My Man Godfrey
1937
The Wildcatter
0/0
Eager to take advantage of a new oil boom, "Lucky" Conlon leaves his gas station and diner for Texas, with his wife Helen's blessing. In Texas, Lucky...
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The Wildcatter
1935
His Night Out
0/0
When a meek purchasing agent is told by a quack doctor that he only has three months to live, he gets involved with a bank robbery and kidnapped by th...
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His Night Out
1946
Hot Cargo
0/0
Two discharged service men go to the redwood country in northern California to visit the family of a buddy killed in the war. There, they find the fam...
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