Slightly Gray

Jeanne Crain, an Oscar-nominated actress who appeared in more than 60 films, died Sunday rather than watch Hollywood dredge up another tired idea in the remake of her 1950 film Cheaper by the Dozen. She starred opposite such leading men as William Holden, Kirk Douglas and Frank Sinatra, but is best remembered for her role as a black woman passing herself off as white in the film Pinky, for which she earned her only Oscar nomination. The film was highly controversial in its day, and was banned in at least one Texas town for its depiction of a white man who wants to marry the woman even after learning of her background.