Jill Ireland

Jill Dorothy Ireland (24 April 1936 – 18 May 1990) was an English actress and singer, best known for her many films with her second husband, Charles Bronson.

Life and career

Born in London, Ireland was the daughter of a wine importer. She began acting in the mid-1950s with bit parts in films including Simon and Laura (1955) and Three Men in a Boat (1956).

In 1957, Ireland married actor David McCallum. The couple met on Hell Drivers and starred opposite each other in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. episode "The Quadripartite Affair" (season 1, episode 3 - 1964) and again four weeks later in episode 7, "The Giuoco Piano Affair". She came back a third time in "The Tigers Are Coming Affair" (episode 37 in 1965) and a fourth in the two-part episode The Five Daughters Affair (season 3, episodes 28 and 29 - 1967). They had three sons, Paul, Valentine, and their adopted son, Jason McCallum, who died of a drug overdose in 1989, six months before Ireland's own death. McCallum and Ireland divorced in 1967.

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

Death

Ireland was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1984. 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 spokesperson for the American Cancer Society. In 1988, she testified before Congress about medical costs and was given the American Cancer Society's Courage Award by President Ronald Reagan.

On 18 May 1990, Ireland died of breast cancer at her home in Malibu, California.

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

In 1991, Jill Clayburgh portrayed Ireland in the made-for-television film Reason for Living: The Jill Ireland Story, which told of her later years, including her fight with breast cancer. Clayburgh herself would die from cancer (leukemia) in November 2010.