Jill Ireland
Jill Dorothy Ireland (24 April 1936 – 18 May 1990) was an English actress and singer. She collaborated in 15 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 small roles in films including "Simon and Laura" (1955) and "Three Men in a Boat" (1956). In 1957, Ireland married actor David McCallum after the couple met while working on the film "Hell Drivers" (1957). Later, they appeared together in five episodes of "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.": "The Quadripartite Affair" (season  1, episode 3, 1964), "The Giuoco Piano Affair" (season 1, episode 7, 1964), "The Tigers Are Coming Affair" (season 2, episode 8, 1965), and a two-parter "The Five Daughters Affair" (season 3, episodes 28 & 29, 1967). They had three sons, Paul, Valentine, and Jason (who was adopted). McCallum and Ireland divorced in 1967. Jason McCallum died of a drug overdose in 1989, six months before Ireland's death. In 1968, Ireland married Charles Bronson. She had met him when he and McCallum were filming "The Great Escape" (1963) 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 spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society. In 1988, she testified before the U.S. Congress about medical costs and was given the American Cancer Society's Courage Award by President Ronald Reagan. In 1990, Ireland died of breast cancer at her home in Malibu, California. She was cremated and her ashes were  placed in a cane which Charles Bronson had buried with him at Brownsville Cemetery when he died in 2003. 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. Although Clayburgh never met Ireland, she read her book and listened to taped interviews with her in preparation. Ken Tucker of "Entertainment Weekly" praised Clayburgh's accent in  Reason for Living, writing "Quite aside from her smooth assurance, Clayburgh pulls off Ireland’s English accent without calling attention to herself." This performance led the "New York Times" to write that her small-screen work was "a sign of the times: older actresses accustomed to playing strong roles are finding their best work [in film] on television."