Personal Life
Jean Simmons was married and divorced twice. She married Stewart Granger in Tucson, Arizona, on 20 December, 1950. In 1956 she and Granger became U.S. citizens; they divorced in 1960. On 1 November, 1960, she married director Richard Brooks; they divorced in 1977. Although both men were significantly older than Simmons, she denied she was looking for a father figure. Her father had died when she was just 16 but she said: "They were really nothing like my father at all. My father was a gentle, soft-spoken man. My husbands were much noisier and much more opinionated ... it's really nothing to do with age ... it's to do with what's there – the twinkle and sense of humour." And in a 1984 interview, given in Copenhagen at the time she was shooting the film Yellow Pages, she elaborated slightly on her marriages, stating,
| “ | It may be simplistic, but you could sum up my two marriages by saying that, when I wanted to be a wife, Jimmy would say: 'I just want you to be pretty.' And when I wanted to cook, Richard would say: 'Forget the cooking. You've been trained to act – so act!' Most people thought I was helpless – a clinger and a butterfly – during my first marriage. It was Richard Brooks who saw what was wrong and tried to make me stand on my own two feet. I'd whine: 'I'm afraid.' And he'd say: 'Never be afraid to fail. Every time you get up in the morning, you are ahead.' | ” |
She had two daughters, Tracy Granger and Kate Brooks, one by each marriage – their names bearing witness to Simmons' friendship with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. Simmons moved to the East Coast of the US in the late 1970s, briefly owning a home in New Milford, Connecticut near her longtime friend Rex Reed. Later she moved to Santa Monica, California, where she lived until her death from lung cancer. She died at home on 22 January, 2010, nine days before her 81st birthday, surrounded by her family.
Throughout her life Simmons spoke out publicly about her own struggle with addiction, and in 2003 became the patron of the UK drugs and human rights charity Release. She was an active supporter of their campaigns for just, humane and effective drug policies, recognising that many of those with drug problems cannot afford the luxurious facilities available to celebrities. In 2005 Simmons signed a petition to the British Prime Minister Tony Blair asking him not to upgrade cannabis from a class C drug to a class B. Because cannabis was legal in California, Simmons was able to use medical cannabis to ease her pain and suffering during the last months of her life.
She was cremated in Santa Monica and her ashes buried in North London in Highgate Cemetery West.
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