Biographie

She was 18 when she married the 36-year-old actor Franchot Tone. They later had a bitter divorce. She lost custody of their two children after he claimed she was romantically involved with shady mobster Johnny Stompanato (1925-1958), who later was stabbed to death in self defense by Lana Turner's daughter Cheryl Crane. Amazingly, after their custody battle she and Tone went off and appeared together in the films L'homme de la tour Eiffel (1949) and L'ange de la haine (1949). She re-won custody of the children in 1951, after her more stable marriage to Cornel Wilde.

Cornel Wilde turned producer/director for several of his movies in the 1950s and tried to transform Wallace from sexpot to legit actress. She appeared exclusively for Wilde from 1953 on in a number of well-done potboilers.

She attempted suicide in 1946 with sleeping pills, and in 1949 with a self inflicted knife wound.

Jean's mother was killed in a hit-and-run accident in 1954 while crossing a street.

In October 1962, she was injured while practicing for a horse riding part in the film Lancelot chevalier de la reine (1963). Her horse refused a jump, she fell off and suffered a fractured sacrum.