Editing Jennifer Jones (section)

===1919–1939: Early life===
Jones was born{{sfn|Green|2011|p=7}} in [[Tulsa, Oklahoma]], the daughter of Flora Mae (née Suber) and Phillip Ross Isley.{{sfn|Green|2011|p=11}} Her father was originally from [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]], and her mother was a native of [[Sacramento, California]].{{sfn|Green|2011|p=11}} She was an only child, and she was raised Catholic. Her parents, both aspiring stage actors, toured the Midwest in a traveling [[tent show]] that they owned and operated. Jones accompanied them, performing on occasion as part of the Isley Stock Company.{{sfn|Green|2011|p=12}}
[[File:New Frontier (1939) 1.jpg|thumb|right|Jones with [[Ray Corrigan]] (left) and [[John Wayne]] (right) in ''New Frontier'' (1939)]]
In 1925, Jones enrolled at Edgemere Public School in [[Oklahoma City]], then attended [[Monte Cassino School (Tulsa, Oklahoma)|Monte Cassino]], a Catholic girls school and junior college in Tulsa.{{sfn|Green|2011|p=13}} After graduating, she enrolled as a drama major at [[Northwestern University]] in Illinois, where she was a member of [[Kappa Alpha Theta]] sorority before transferring to the [[American Academy of Dramatic Arts]] in New York City in September 1937.{{sfn|Green|2011|p=14}} It was there that she met and fell in love with fellow acting student [[Robert Walker (actor, born 1918)|Robert Walker]], a native of [[Ogden, Utah]].{{sfn|Green|2011|p=14}} They married on January 2, 1939.{{sfn|Green|2011|p=198}}

Jones and Walker returned to Tulsa for a 13-week radio program arranged by her father and then moved to Hollywood. She landed two small roles, first in the 1939 [[John Wayne]] Western ''[[New Frontier (film)|New Frontier]]'', which she filmed in the summer of 1939 for [[Republic Pictures]].{{sfn|Green|2011|p=17}} Her second project was the serial titled ''[[Dick Tracy's G-Men]]'' (1939), also for Republic.{{sfn|Green|2011|p=19}} In both films, she was credited as Phylis Isley.{{sfn|Green|2011|pages=17–19}} After failing a screen test for [[Paramount Pictures]], she became disenchanted with Hollywood and returned to New York City.{{sfn|Green|2011|pages=18–22}}