Sarajane Wells (born Sara Jane Wells, December 8, 1913 - January 10, 1987) was an award-winning American actress who was active in old-time radio and later became an educator.

Early years

Wells was a native of Owensboro, Kentucky, the daughter of Clark and Martha Wells. When she was young, she and her family moved to Chicago. There she took classes in acting and attended

Senn High School Senn High School is a public four-year high school located in the Edgewater neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Senn is operated by the Chicago Public Schools system and was opened on 3 February 1913. The school ...

. She was designated as one of four outstanding seniors at Senn, where her activities included being a member of the Senn Players and the Honor Society. For two years she studied at the

School of the Art Institute of Chicago The School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) is a Private university, private art school associated with the Art Institute of Chicago (AIC) in Chicago, Illinois. Tracing its history to an art students' cooperative founded in 1866, which gr ...

, and she graduated from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

in 1938. She acted on radio while she was a student, and she performed with the Players' Guild of Evanston.

Career

Wells portrayed Betty Fairfield, the girlfriend of the title character on ''

Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy ''Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy'' was a radio adventure series which maintained its popularity from 1933 to 1951. The program originated at WBBM in Chicago on July 31, 1933, and was later carried on CBS, then NBC and finally ABC. Backgr ...

'' on radio. Her other roles on radio included Mary Rutledge on ''

The Guiding Light ''Guiding Light'' (known as ''The Guiding Light'' before 1975) is an American radio and television soap opera. ''Guiding Light'' aired on CBS for 57 years between June 30, 1952, and September 18, 2009, overlapping a 19-year broadcast on radio ...

''. Kaaren on ''Flying Patrol'', Carol Evans on ''Road of Life,'' Eileen Holmes on ''Woman in White,'' and Louise Sims on ''The Right to Happiness''. She received a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

in 1949 for her performance in the radio adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's ''

The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber" is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. Set in Africa, it was published in the September 1936 issue of ''Cosmopolitan'' magazine. The story was eventually adapted to the screen as the Zoltan Korda film '' ...

''. Wells moved to Hollywood in the 1940s, but after the growth of television resulted in the elimination of serial programming on radio, she returned to Chicago. She worked for the

Chicago Historical Society Chicago History Museum is the museum of the Chicago Historical Society (CHS). The CHS was founded in 1856 to study and interpret Chicago's history. The museum has been located in Lincoln Park since the 1930s at 1601 North Clark Street at the ...

, first as an associate and later as its director of education. Wells's efforts for the society increased activities for young people, particularly with hands-on exhibits and programs oriented to children. Those activities included Museum Mornings on Saturdays during the school year and weekly summer programs that dramatized people and events from history and literature. She also provided narration to accompany many exhibits. Wells was educational consultant for filmstrips about Chicago for the Society for Visual Education and the International Film Bureau.

Personal life and death

Wells was involved in a variety of civic activities in Chicago, including being chair of the Old Town Bal Masque, the Old Town art Center, and the School of the Old Town Art Center. She was a member of the boards of the Lincoln Park Conservation Association and the Old Town Triangle Association. Wells was married to Oliver Mahan, a sales manager for American Airlines. On March 12, 1942, she married actor Dolph Nelson in Chicago. She died from complications of

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

on January 10, 1987, in a nursing home in Chicago, aged 73.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wells, Sarajane 1913 births 1987 deaths 20th-century American actresses Actresses from Chicago Actresses from Kentucky American radio actresses American soap opera actresses People from Owensboro, Kentucky