The Mirror Cracked: the real story of Agatha Christie's novel (11 photos)

At the center of the book (in other translations “...And in the cracks is a mirror circle”) lies the story of a famous actress who contracted rubella during pregnancy. The woman finds out who exactly is to blame for her grief and makes revenge the goal of her life.





Few people remember Gene Tierney today, but she was one of the most talented actresses in classic Hollywood. She managed to work with almost all the greatest directors of Hollywood's golden age (between the 1910s and 1960s), but one fleeting touch completely ruined Gene Tierney's life.



The actress was pregnant with her first child in 1943 and decided to go out in public for the last time before going to rest and prepare for childbirth. In those days, the Hollywood canteen was something of a club, where American soldiers often came to relax before going to the front. And famous actors came there to support the soldiers and inspire those who may not return home.

Joan Crawford, Betty Grable, Hedy Lamarr, Rita Hayworth, Joan Frontain, and many other actresses came there to treat the soldiers with coffee sandwiches and dance with them.





Gene Tierney with husband Oleg Cassini

The actress’s husband went to the front as a volunteer at the beginning of the war. And she visited hospitals, took an active part in patriotic events, tried to maintain the morale of the soldiers, and signed autographs.

That night, Jean also decided to go support the American Army soldiers. For several hours she signed autographs and shook hands with those who wanted to touch the screen star.

Within a few days, Tierney woke up and saw red spots on her face and arms. Doctors diagnosed him with rubella.

Yes, it is considered a childhood disease that is relatively easily tolerated by children. But for a pregnant woman, this is a death sentence. Almost any child born to a mother who has had rubella is born with severe pathologies. There was no vaccine that year. And she was not there for another 20 years. Doctors simply advised avoiding crowds in the first trimester of pregnancy.



The long-awaited Antoinette Daria was born in 1943, prematurely. And already in the first few days, doctors told the bitter news to Jean and her husband, Oleg Cassini: Daria was almost completely blind and deaf, and later she was diagnosed with serious mental retardation. All this was the result of rubella, which my mother had. The girl weighed a little over a kilogram at birth and immediately received more than ten blood transfusions.

Oleg and Jean rushed to all the luminaries of medicine, but the result was always the same - their daughter will forever remain disabled and she will need care that is impossible at home.



Gin with Daria

The baby was four years old when her parents were able to make the obvious, but such a difficult decision: to place Daria in the hospital. She spent almost her entire life in a special institution in New Jersey.

Jean hated herself. She only blamed herself for everything. Despite the fact that she and Oleg had another, completely healthy daughter, the actress’s mental state was rapidly deteriorating. On set, she forgot the text and was constantly late for her shifts. Jean became a frequent visitor to the clinic for psychological rehabilitation. Oleg said: “She began to fall apart and live a life of “absolute suffering and despair.”

Unable to bear his wife's condition, Oleg decided to leave her. He was sick of being Jean's nanny.



With Oleg Cassini

Most of the 50s of the last century were spent for Jean traveling from one psychological assistance center to another. She was tormented by constant suicidal thoughts and manic depression. 27 shock therapy sessions. 27! This further undermined her condition and memory.

In 1953, its concentration became almost zero, which, of course, affected the work. In the film "Mogambo" she was eventually replaced by Grace Kelly.

In December 1957, Jean stood on the windowsill of her mother's Manhattan apartment (14th floor), where she stood for 20 minutes, just looking down. After this, Jean was immediately admitted to a psychiatric clinic because this postpok was regarded as a suicide attempt.

After leaving the hospital, the actress began working in a store.



But let's go back a little. Two years after Daria was born, Tierney was sitting with her friends in a cafe when a woman approached her and showered her with compliments, repeating that she was a big fan of Jean. And then she said: “You probably don’t remember me, but a couple of years ago you shook my hand and I will never forget it. I was sick with rubella then, but I couldn’t miss meeting you, and so I came, despite feeling unwell.” . Everyone said that I shouldn’t go, but I just had to do it: you were my favorite!” The fan was proud of her action, saying that this is what she is ready for for the sake of her favorite actress. Tierney only asked when exactly this happened and the date coincided with the time when she was carrying the child.



This upset Jean even more. She realized that her fame and fame led to the nightmare that her life had become. Yes. Not an idiot fan who only thinks about herself.

Jean was drowning in guilt. She couldn't forgive herself.

"The emptiness inside me was like a cave. She was a sweet little girl with golden curls and soft skin. Outwardly, she looked like any other child. I mourned Daria and mourned myself."



It seemed that all that awaited Jean was a slow decline in one of the US hospitals. Nothing could bring her back to life - neither fans, nor fleeting romances, nor her second daughter Christina.

But Texas oil tycoon Howard Lee managed the incredible. They met in 1958.

The man was 20 years older than the actress and in appearance did not at all look like the hero-lover. But it was this man who managed to make Tierney happy.

Christina shared her memories: “Howard loved his mother very much. He literally understood the words from the marriage vow “for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health, and until death do us part...”



With Howard

Jean married Howard and even returned to the movies, which she seemed to have given up on. Her beauty, despite all the sorrows, shock therapy and medications, remained just as attractive. She told John Kennedy at a banquet about the end of the next filming: “I have a husband who loves me, and he doesn’t care whether I’m crazy or not.”

Howard died in 1981 and his death was the second huge tragedy for Jean. For all ten years, until her own death, Tierney was devastated, withdrawn and wanted to “go away” to him as soon as possible. To the one who loved her, no matter what.

Jean died on November 6, 1990.



Photo taken in recent years