Jean Peters - Personal Life and Death

Personal Life and Death

After landing a contract in Hollywood, Peters moved there, where she initially lived with her aunt, Melba Diesel. From the beginning of her career, Peters openly admitted she did not like the fame, explaining her sheltered life had made her develop antipathy to crowds. Co-actors at Fox recalled that she was very serious about her career. Jeanne Crain said Peters was "anything but a party girl". Despite her clashes with the studio, Peters was well liked by other contract players. One biographer recalled: "In all the research and planning that went into this book, no one ever had an unkind word to say of Miss Peters, and that is unusual." Peters was close friends with Marilyn Monroe, who also worked for Fox. Other actors she befriended during her career were Joseph Cotten, David Niven, Ray Milland, Marie McDonald, and especially Jeanne Crain.

Actor and soldier Audie Murphy claimed that he had a relationship with Peters in 1946, before she met Howard Hughes. In 1954, Peters married Texas oilman Stuart Cramer. By the time they married, they had known each other for only a few weeks, and they separated a few months later. There was much talk of Peters possibly retiring from the screen, but the actress insisted that after her eight-week leave from Fox, she was to return to Hollywood.

In 1957, after her divorce from Cramer, Peters married Howard Hughes, shortly before he faded from public view and became an eccentric recluse. The couple met in the 1940s, before Peters became a film actress. They had a highly publicized romance in 1947 and even then there was talk of marriage, but she said she could not combine it with her career. It was later claimed that Peters was "the only woman ever loved", and he reportedly had his security officers follow her everywhere even when they were not in a relationship. This was confirmed by actor Max Showalter, who became a close friend of Peters during shooting of Niagara (1953). Showalter told in a 2004 interview that because he frequently met with Peters, Hughes' men threatened to ruin his career if he did not leave her alone.

Peters retired from acting during the marriage between 1957 and 1971, and did not attend any social events in Hollywood. According to a 1969 article, she went through life unrecognizable, despite being protected by Hughes' security officers all day. Living in anonymity was easy, according to the actress, because she "didn't act like an actress." It was later reported that during the marriage, Peters was frequently involved in numerous activities, such as charitable work, arts and crafts, and university studies including psychology and anthropology at UCLA.

In 1971, Peters and Hughes divorced. She agreed to a lifetime alimony payment of $70,000 annually, adjusted for inflation, and she waived all claims to Hughes' estate. In the media, she refused to speak about the marriage, claiming she rather focused on the present and future. She furthermore admitted that she hoped avoiding being known as 'Mrs. Howard Hughes' for the rest of her life, although realizing it would be otherwise: "I'm a realist. I know what the score is, and I know who the superstar is." Later in 1971, Peters married Stan Hough, an executive with 20th Century Fox. She was his wife until Hough's death in 1990.

Peters died of leukemia in 2000 in Carlsbad, California, two days before her 74th birthday.