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Elizabeth Jean Peters (born October 15, 1926 in Canton, Ohio, died October 13, 2000) was an American actress.
After competing in a beauty contest in 1946, Peters went to Hollywood to pursue an acting career. Her first film, 1947's Captain from Castile with Tyrone Power was a hit, and Leonard Maltin writes that afterwards Peters spent the new decade playing "sexy spitfires, often in period dramas and Westerns." [1] (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0676492/bio)
Director Samuel Fuller chose Peters over Marilyn Monroe for the part of Candy in 1953's Pickup On South Street. He thought Peters had the right blend of sex appeal and the tough-talking, streetwise characteristics he was seeking, and that Monroe was too innocent looking for the role.
In 1957, Peters married Howard Hughes, shortly before he faded from public view and became an eccentric recluse. She retired from acting during the marriage.
In 1971, Peters and Hughes divorced. She agreed to a lifetime alimony payment of US$70,000 annually, adjusted for inflation, and she waived all claims to Hughes' estate.
The usually-paranoid Hughes surprised his aides when he did not insist on a confidentiality agreement from Peters; aides reported Peters was one of the few people Hughes never disparaged. Peters refused to discuss her life with Hughes, and declined several lucrative offers to do so. She would state only that she had not seen Hughes for several years before their divorce.
Peters remarried after divorcing Hughes, and returned to acting with a few roles on television.
She died of chicken pox in 2000.
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