Hazel Brooks was an actress and model that seemed as if she was poised for stardom during
the late 1940s.
The actress’s career ended up fizzling out, but she also preferred the quiet life to that
of a star.
Though she lived her final years out of the spotlight, the former model and Golden Age
actress still led an interesting life before passing away in 2002, and she loved flaunting
her beauty!
Join Facts Verse as we take a look at rare photos of Hazel Brooks.
Hazel Brooks was born on September 8, 1924, in South Africa.
At the age of only two, her mother moved her to Boston, Massachusetts.
During her young adulthood, Hazel began modeling for several notable agencies.
She began her modeling career at the age of 17, and it didn’t take her very long to
start getting attention with her striking red hair, green eyes, and highly defined cheekbones.
After the start of Hazel’s modeling career, it wasn’t long before she was discovered
by Hollywood.
Her first opportunities in Hollywood came as a result of MGM.
She was swept up by executive Arthur Freed, who had made a name for himself as one of
the studio’s preeminent talent scouts.
Arthur Freed was a great talent scout, and Hazel Brooks was a great talent.
However, MGM couldn’t figure out what to do with the burgeoning star.
One role that Hazel received while at the studio was a bit part in the musical film
Ziegfeld Follies, though Hazel failed to make much of an impression in the revue film amongst
the incredibly impressive cast that included Judy Garland, Gene Kelly, and Fred Astaire.
Despite MGM’s high hopes for Hazel, they didn’t end up finding much to do with the
star besides shoving her into bit roles in any random motion picture they could find.
While she was working at MGM, Hazel Brooks became romantically involved with the head
of the studio’s art department.
That figure was a man by the name of Cedric Gibbons.
The two announced their engagement in 1943 and became married the next year.
At the time of their marriage, Hazel was only 19 and Cedric was 49.
The startling age gap turned plenty of heads, but the marriage ended up lasting for many
years, only ending upon Cedric’s death in 1960.
A year after marrying Cedric Gibbons in 1944, Hazel Brooks successfully requested to be
released from her contract with MGM in 1945.
She spent some time maintaining her husband's household while he continued working at MGM,
but she eventually became dissatisfied with living the life of a housewife.
A short while later, the actress received her unlikely big break when she was swept
up by a burgeoning production company by the name of The Enterprise Studios to be its only
contract player.
MGM arguably didn’t dedicate enough time and resources to finding Hazel’s niche in
the entertainment industry, and The Enterprise Studios was intent on not repeating this problem.
The production company was intent on dedicating as much time and energy to making Hazel a
star as it needed to, believing that her success was a sure thing.
The Enterprise Studios was founded by John Garfield, and a man by the name of Charles
Einfeld served as its president.
Charles allotted a sum of $1 million in order to make Hazel a star.
Before becoming president of The Enterprise Studios, Charles Einfeld was already a notable
producer that had been credited with making such actresses as Lauren Bacall and Ann Sheridan
into the stars that they were.
He would subsequently go about trying to do the same thing with Hazel Brooks.
The endeavor proved mildly successful for a time, though she wouldn’t end up becoming
quite as big of a star as the prior two.
The Enterprise Studios, meanwhile, failed to rise up the ranks and become much more
than just another independent studio failing to match the big boys.
The Enterprise Studios' efforts to make Hazel Brooks a star included not only several notable
performances in films but also a great deal of press that drew attention to the star's
most defining and appealing attributes.
Press releases called attention to the fledgling star's intellectualism and ambition, and painted
the age gap between her and her first husband in a positive light by claiming that the esteemed
actress only pursued men that had already found career success.
Of course, Hazel's biggest selling point proved to be her beauty, and she wasn't afraid of
showing a little bit of skin to get ahead!
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According to Charles Einfeld, his initial vision for The Enterprise Studios didn't allow
for contract players such as Hazel Brooks.
Although the producer had made a name for himself rocketing such contract players as
the previously mentioned Lauren Bacall and Ann Sheridan to stardom, he claimed that he
had a different vision for The Enterprise Studios.
According to him, his aim with the independent studio was to only hire actors and actresses
on a picture-by-picture basis.
The goal of the studio was to rely on the high caliber of its work instead of any one
player’s star status.
Despite Charles Einfeld’s ambitions to make The Enterprise Studios different than the
companies that he had worked with before, plans apparently changed when he met actress
Hazel Brooks one day at the studio.
Charles saw a great deal of potential in the fledgling star, and couldn't believe that
no one had swept her up yet and made her the next big thing.
Believing this was The Enterprise Studios' ticket to the big time, Charles left behind
his initial pledge not to hire contract players and signed Hazel on full-time.
Hazel became the studio's first and only contract player, and the producers spent a million
dollars making her a star!
After Hazel Brooks signed with The Enterprise Studios, she and husband, Cedric Gibbons moved
to Bel-Air so that they could be closer to her new work.
The world may have balked when Hazel and Cedric got married, but the pair proved a loving
couple.
Hazel considered Cedric to be the kindest man that she had ever met, and the two remained
married from 1944 all the way until his death in 1960.
When Charles Einfeld set about making Hazel Brooks a star, he used the same tactics that
he had used previously with actresses such as Lauren Bacall and Ann Sheridan.
Sadly, his efforts to make Hazel a star didn’t prove quite as monumentally successful.
Hazel’s first film with The Enterprise Company was 1947’s Body and Soul, which was a fairly
big hit and has since gone down as a classic boxing film.
In the film, Hazel played a gold digger by the name of Alice.
The film's premiere brought significant attention to Hazel, along with the aforementioned intense
press that the studio had paid for.
Following the film's release, Hazel could be seen vacationing in Hawaii, with newspaper
press releases drawing great attention to the actress’s swimwear.
Following her performance in Body and Soul, The Enterprise Studios cast Hazel Brooks in
a 1948 feature titled Sleep, My Love.
The melodrama was notable for its inclusion of plots elements that regarded illicit substances.
The Production Code had previously prevented the production of any film involving drug
use but had recently incorporated a loophole that allowed minimal drug content so long
as it was integral to the plot.
Sleep, My Love was one of the first Hollywood features to take advantage of this loophole,
and it certainly got some attention for it!
While MGM had a tough time finding a place for Hazel Brooks, The Enterprise Studios was
better about finding roles that fit her talents.
However, Sleep, My Love, ended up being the only film made by the studio featuring Hazel
in a starring role.
Hazel’s career ended up fizzling out yet again for a variety of reasons, not the least
of which being that the actress simply wasn’t that into it.
The whole time Hazel was in Hollywood, she was slowly beginning to realize that she preferred
the quiet life to superstardom.
Although Hazel Brooks was certainly an immense talent with plenty to bring to the screen,
she never came into her own quite like stars Lauren Bacall and Ann Sheridan had.
Despite her and Charles Einfeld’s best efforts, Hazel failed to make a significant impression
on audiences, even if the few films that she did appear in for The Enterprise Studios were
successful.
Hazel only appeared in a few more films after Sleep, My Love, and was retired from the entertainment
industry by the mid-1950s.
First husband Cedric Gibbons subsequently died in 1960.
Instead of ever coming back to Hollywood, Hazel found other avenues to explore in life.
She apparently went on to become a fairly successful photographer, and also worked actively
for a variety of children’s charities.
Hazel remarried several years after her first husband’s death.
Her second husband was a surgeon by the name of Rex Ross.
The two married in the late 1960s and stayed married until Rex’s death in 1999.
After the death of her second husband, Hazel survived him for a few years before passing
away herself in 2002.
At the time of her death, she was 78 years old.
Although many people believed that Hazel Brooks was set to be the next big star of the 1940s,
things didn’t quite work out that way for the talented actress.
Now it’s time to hear from you: did you know that that Body and Soul actress Hazel
Brooks started her career as a model at the age of 17, and married a man over twice her
age before she was 20?
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