Jennifer O'Neill (born February 20, 1948) is a Brazilian-born American author, model, and former actress. After moving to the United States as an infant, she first came to prominence as a teenaged model, and for her spokesperson work for CoverGirl cosmetics, which began in 1963 and spanned three decades. She made her feature-film debut in the comedy film For Love of Ivy (1968), followed by a lead role in Howard Hawks's Western film Rio Lobo (1970).
O'Neill's breakthrough role came in Robert Mulligan's period drama Summer of '42 (1971), in which she portrayed the wife of an army serviceman during World War II who becomes the subject of a teenaged boy's romantic attraction. The same year, she starred in Otto Preminger's Such Good Friends. In the mid-1970s, she appeared in several Italian films, including Luchino Visconti's final feature, The Innocent (1976), and Lucio Fulci's giallo horror film The Psychic (1977). She later starred in David Cronenberg's cult horror film Scanners (1981), and in the short-lived television series Cover Up (1984–1985).
In 1988, O'Neill became a born-again Christian, and inspired by her feelings of regret over having an abortion at age 22, became active in the anti-abortion movement. She has since authored several books, including a memoir, Surviving Myself (1999), in which she detailed her career, marriages, experiences with anxiety and postpartum depression, and her religious faith. O'Neill founded the Hope and Healing at Hillenglade Foundation in Nashville, Tennessee, an equine-assisted therapy foundation that specializes in treating war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Since the 1990s, O'Neill has occasionally appeared in film and television, including roles in the independent film Doonby (2013) and the Rachel Scott biopic I'm Not Ashamed (2016).
Early life
O'Neill was born on February 20, 1948, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Irene Freda (née Pope), a native of London, and Oscar Delgado O'Neill, a Brazilian of Portuguese, and Irish ancestry. O'Neill's father, born in Puerto Rico, was a bomber pilot in World War II, and later owned a medical supply company. O'Neill's mother, one of seven children, was raised in a "poor but close-knit family."
When she was an infant, she relocated with her family to the United States, where she and her older brother Michael were raised in New Rochelle, New York, and Wilton, Connecticut. O'Neill began riding horses at age 9, and became an accomplished equestrienne,
In 1968, O'Neill landed a small role in the comedy film For Love of Ivy. In 1970, she played her first lead role in the Howard Hawks film Rio Lobo co-starring John Wayne. She had a supporting role in Otto Preminger's Such Good Friends (1971) starring Dyan Cannon and Ken Howard.
In the 1971 film Summer of '42, O'Neill played Dorothy Walker, the early-20s wife of an airman who has gone off to fight in World War II. since the role had been cast for an "older woman" to a "coming of age" 15-year-old boy, and the director was only considering actresses over the age of 30. The film was a box-office success and went on to attract a cult following. The same year, she starred in the crime thriller The Carey Treatment (1972), and the drama Glass Houses, the latter of which was filmed in 1970. This was followed by a lead role in Lady Ice (1973) opposite Donald Sutherland and Robert Duvall.
O'Neill next had a leading role in the psychological horror film The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975), co-starring with Michael Sarrazin and Margot Kidder, and directed by J. Lee Thompson. The same year, she appeared opposite Elliott Gould in the Ted Post-directed comedy Whiffs.
thumb|left|upright=1|O'Neill and [[James Mason in The Flower in His Mouth (1975)]]
By the mid-1970s, O'Neill had forged a career in Italy, first starring in Luigi Zampa's drama The Flower in His Mouth (1975) opposite James Mason, which was shot on location in Sicily. The following year, she starred in Luchino Visconti's final directorial feature, The Innocent,
She was in the movie Caravans (1978) with Anthony Quinn, Christopher Lee and Michael Sarrazin.
She was originally cast in the Disney film The Black Hole (1979), but was told she needed to cut her hair because it would be easier to film the zero-G scenes. She gave in, drinking wine during the haircut and leaving noticeably impaired. She lost the part after a serious car crash on the way home. O'Neill was instead cast in the action martial arts film A Force of One (1979), co-starring with Chuck Norris.
1980–1990: Subsequent film and television
O'Neill starred opposite David Carradine in the aviation-themed drama Cloud Dancer (1980), followed by a lead role in David Cronenberg's science-fiction horror film Scanners (1981), portraying a woman who leads an oppositional group against a malevolent private military company creating biokinetic and psychokinetic humans.
When her movie career slowed, O'Neill took roles in series television. She starred in NBC's short-lived 1982 primetime soap opera Bare Essence and played the lead female role on the 1984 television series Cover Up. On October 12, 1984, Jon-Erik Hexum, O'Neill's co-star in the Cover Up television series, mortally wounded himself on the show's set, unaware that a gun loaded with a blank cartridge could still cause extreme damage from the effect of expanding powder gases. He died six days later.
O'Neill continued to appear in film and television throughout the late 1980s, including in the drama film I Love N.Y. (1987) and in the Perry Mason television film Perry Mason: The Case of the Shooting Star (1986).
1991–present: Later work
In 1991, O'Neill starred in the thriller film Committed, portraying a nurse who discovers the fellow staff at the psychiatric hospital where she has been hired are in fact inmates. She later starred opposite James Brolin in The Visual Bible: Acts (1994), which depicts the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament.
Personal life
O'Neill has been married nine times to eight men (remarrying her sixth husband), and had three children, one each with three of her husbands. After the birth of her first child, Aimee, O'Neill experienced undiagnosed postpartum depression and committed herself to a psychiatric hospital for treatment, which included electroshock therapy. In 1987, de Noia was murdered by one of his former associates. O'Neill told journalists that she was "very upset" by the news of his death.
O'Neill's fifth husband, John Lederer, sexually abused her first daughter, Aimee. while trying to determine if the weapon was loaded. Her husband at the time, John Lederer, was not in the house when the handgun was discharged, but two other people were in the house. Detective Sgt. Thomas Rothwell was quoted as having said that O'Neill "didn't know much about guns." Reflecting on the incident, O'Neill said:
O'Neill continues to be active as a writer, working on her second autobiography, CoverStory, an inspirational speaker, and fundraiser for the benefit of crisis pregnancy centers across the United States. She has also served as the spokesperson for the Silent No More Awareness Campaign,
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"
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! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
! class="unsortable"|
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|1968
|For Love of Ivy
|Sandy
|
| style="text-align:center;"|