Jeanne Aubert

Jeanne Aubert (21 February 1900 – 6 March 1988) was a French singer and actress.

Born Jeanne Perrinot in Paris, France to an aristocratic father and a former flower girl, she was pushed by her mother into showbusiness. At age five, she began performing on stage at the Théâtre du Châtelet. As a teenager, she was given voice and music lessons and at age eighteen appeared in an elaborate Mistinguett production at the Casino de Paris. In 1928, she helped organize the first female branch of the Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne (JOC), a Roman Catholic apostolic organization for young people. Jeanne Aubert served as the first president of the JOCF of France.

Using the stage name Jane Aubert, in 1929, she made her motion picture debut in the silent film, "La Possession." Her film was seen by Nelson Morris of Chicago, Illinois a multi-millionaire whose family had made their fortune in meatpacking and who at the time was overseeing a meat processing operation in France. Morris used his connections to get to meet her and the two became involved. Eventually they moved to the United States and married but the marriage did not last. In May 1937, Nelson Morris survived the Hindenburg disaster. This is referenced in Hindenburg: The Untold Story. Nelson Morris talks to others in a story and says, "The moral of this story is, never marry an actress."

Following her divorce, Aubert began working in Broadway musical comedies as well as making an appearance in the 1934 East Coast film production "The Gem Of The Ocean". In 1935, she returned to her native France where she acted in several films during the ensuing two years. In 1937, she returned to the stage, performing in musical varieties with the celebrated songstress Fréhel in Paris.

She was part of a number of other shows in London and other cities throughout Europe including the original London production of Anything Goes by Cole Porter, in which she played the lead role of Reno Sweeney. Although never a headline star, for the next three decades her career was busy with numerous recordings, film and stage performances, and eventually roles on television.

Jeanne Aubert died on 6 March 1988, aged 88, and was interred in the Cimetière de Pantin in the Pantin.