British actress Jean Simmons, known as much for her versatility as her stunning beauty, died of lung cancer Saturday at the age of 80. Simmons starred in Spartacus, Guys and Dolls, Elmer Gantry, and won an Emmy for her role in The Thorn Birds in the ‘80s. A talent scout noticed Simmons at her dance class when she was just 14; in 1948 she earned her first of two Academy Award nominations for her role as Ophelia in Hamlet, in which she starred opposite Laurence Olivier. In her 60-year career, Simmons appeared in 55 feature films and almost as many TV productions.
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