LaJOLLA, Calif. (AP) — Jean Peters, who appeared in films with Marlon Brando, Ray Millard and Spencer Tracy before marrying billionaire Howard Hughes, died Oct. 13 of leukemia. She was 73.
Peters, originally from Canton, Ohio, appeared in 19 films, beginning with the 1947 movie "Captain from Castile" opposite Tyrone Power, and including "It Happens Every Spring" (1949) with Milland, "Viva Zapata!" (1952) with Brando, "Niagara" (1953) with Marilyn Monroe, "Apache" (1954) with Burt Lancaster and "Broken Lance" (1954) with Tracy.
After a one-year marriage to Texas oil executive Stuart Cramer III, Peters met Hughes, who was 21 years her senior.
The two married in 1957 in a secret ceremony in Tonapah, Nev., and Peters gave up her career. She embarked on a reclusive life with the eccentric billionaire and was rarely seen in public.
In 1970, Peters filed for divorce.
Peters married 20th Century Fox executive Stanley Hough in 1971. She appeared in a few miniseries and TV programs in the 1970s and 1980s.
When her husband died about four years ago, she moved from Beverly Hills to Carlsbad, Calif., to live near her sister.