Editing Jennifer Jones (section)

===1940–1948: Career beginnings===
Shortly after Jones married Walker, she gave birth to two sons: [[Robert Walker (actor, born 1940)|Robert Walker Jr.]] (1940–2019), and Michael Walker (1941–2007). While Walker found steady work in radio programs, Jones worked part-time modeling hats for the [[John Robert Powers|Powers Agency]], and posing for ''Harper's Bazaar'' while looking for acting jobs.{{sfn|Green|2011|p=22}} When she learned of auditions for the lead role in [[Rose Franken]]'s hit play ''Claudia'' in the summer of 1941, she presented herself to [[David O. Selznick]]'s New York office but fled in tears after what she thought was a bad reading.{{sfn|Green|2011|pages=22–3}} However, Selznick had overheard her audition and was impressed enough to have his secretary call her back. Following an interview, she was signed to a seven-year contract.{{sfn|Green|2011|pages=23–24}}

[[Image:Jennifer Jones still, 'Song of Bernadette'.jpg|right|thumb|Jones as Bernadette Soubirous in ''[[The Song of Bernadette (film)|The Song of Bernadette]]'' (1943)]]
She was carefully groomed for stardom and given a new name: Jennifer Jones. Director [[Henry King (director)|Henry King]] was impressed by her screen test as Bernadette Soubirous for ''The Song of Bernadette'' (1943), and she won the coveted role over hundreds of applicants.{{sfn |Green|2011|p= 32}} In [[16th Academy Awards|1944]], on her 25th birthday, she won the [[Academy Award for Best Actress]] for her performance as Bernadette, her third screen role.{{sfn|Green|2011|p=39}}

Simultaneously to her rise in prominence for ''The Song of Bernadette'', Jones began an affair with producer [[David_O._Selznick|Selznick]]. She separated from Walker in November 1943, co-starred with him in ''[[Since You Went Away]]'' (1944), and formally divorced him in June 1945.<ref>{{cite news | last= Watters | first=Sam | url= https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-oct-02-la-hm-lost-la-tea-party-20101002-story.html | title=Lost L.A.: Time for tea — and spin control: When Jennifer Jones' affair with David Selznick sank their marriages, the actress played tea party for a magazine spread | work=Los Angeles Times | date= October 2, 2010 | access-date=March 28, 2014}}</ref> For her performance in ''Since You Went Away'', she was nominated for her second Academy Award, this time for Best Supporting Actress.{{sfn|Green|2011|p=53}} She earned a third successive Academy Award nomination for her performance with [[Joseph Cotten]] in ''[[Love Letters (1945 film)|Love Letters]]'' (1945).{{sfn |Green|2011|p=57}}

Jones's saintly image from her first starring role was starkly contrasted three years later when she was cast as a biracial woman in [[David_O._Selznick|Selznick]]'s controversial ''[[Duel in the Sun (film)|Duel in the Sun]]'' (1946), in which she portrayed a mixed-race indigenous ([[Mestizo|mestiza]]) orphan in Texas who falls in love with a white man ([[Gregory Peck]]).{{sfn|Green|2011|pages=74–76}} 

Also in 1946, she starred as the title character in [[Ernst Lubitsch]]'s romantic comedy ''[[Cluny Brown]]'' as a working-class English woman who falls in love just before World War II.{{sfn |Green|2011|pages=67–68}} She next appeared in the fantasy film ''[[Portrait of Jennie]]'' (1948), again costarring with Cotten. The film was based on the [[Portrait of Jennie (novella)|novella of the same name]] by [[Robert Nathan]].{{sfn |Green|2011|pages= 88, 235}}{{sfn|Green|2011|pages= 88–90}} However, it was a commercial failure, grossing only $1.5 million against a $4 million budget.{{sfn|Green|2011|p=88}}