Jill Ireland

Born in Hounslow,[1] Ireland was the daughter of a wine importer.[2]

She was evacuated to Upper Broughton in South Nottinghamshire, with solicitor Bernard Dowson, and his wife Elizabeth, of Sulney Fields on Colonels Lane. He died aged 91 in August 1964, leaving £200 to her.[3] This house, in the 1910s, was the East Midlands headquarters of the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies. His mother, Alice Dowson (from Asfordby, who married Benjamin Dowson, and died in 1927) was the grandmother of Dame Alix Kilroy,[4] who was responsible for the utility furniture scheme of the war, and for clothing coupons.[5]

She was educated at Chatsworth Junior School in Hounslow. She lived at 'Chertsey' on Maswell Park Road in Hounslow.[6]

She began acting in the mid-1950s with small roles in films including Simon and Laura (1955) and Three Men in a Boat (1956).

In 1957, Ireland married actor David McCallum[7] after the couple met while working on the film Hell Drivers (1957). They married on Saturday 11 May 1957 at Islington register office.[8]

Later, they appeared together in five episodes of The Man from U.N.C.L.E.: "The Quadripartite Affair" (season 1, episode 3, 1964), "The Giuoco Piano Affair" (season 1, episode 7, 1964), "The Tigers Are Coming Affair" (season 2, episode 8, 1965), and a two-parter "The Five Daughters Affair" (season 3, episodes 28 & 29, 1967). They had three sons, Paul, Valentine, and Jason (who was adopted). McCallum and Ireland divorced in 1967. Jason McCallum died of a drug overdose in 1989, six months before Ireland's death.[9]

In 1968, Ireland married Charles Bronson.[7] She had met him when he and McCallum were filming The Great Escape (1963) some years earlier. Together they had a daughter, Zuleika, and adopted a daughter, Katrina. They remained married until Ireland's death in 1990.[10]

Ireland was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1984.[7] After her diagnosis, Ireland wrote two books, chronicling her battle with the disease. At the time of her death, she was writing a third book and became a spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society.[7] In 1988, she testified before the U.S. Congress about medical costs and was given the American Cancer Society's Courage Award by President Ronald Reagan.[11]

In 1990, Ireland died of breast cancer at her home in Malibu, California.[11] She was cremated and her ashes were placed in a cane which Charles Bronson had buried with him at Brownsville Cemetery[12] when he died in 2003.[13]

For her contribution to the film industry, Jill Ireland has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6751 Hollywood Boulevard.[14]

In 1991, Ireland was portrayed by Jill Clayburgh in the made-for-television film Reason for Living: The Jill Ireland Story. The film, which was based on Ireland's memoir Lifelines and listed her posthumously as an executive producer, received mixed reviews from critics.[15] To prepare for the role, Clayburgh, who had never met Ireland, read Lifelines and listened to Ireland's recorded interviews.[16]

• Life Wish: a Personal Story of Survival (1987) ISBN 0-515-09609-1, ISBN 0-316-10926-6
• Lifeline: My Fight to Save My Family (1989) ISBN 0-7126-2531-3, ISBN 0-446-51480-2

• Jill Ireland at IMDb
• Jill Ireland at AllMovie
• Jill Ireland at Memory Alpha
• Jill Ireland at Find a Grave