Jennifer Jones won acclaim early on for her starring role in the film The Song of Bernadette. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Jennifer Jones, the American actress who rose to fame in classic Hollywood fare such as The Song of Bernadette, Love is a Many-Splendored Thing and Portrait of Jennie, has died at the age of 90.

Jones died Thursday at her Malibu home, with her surviving son Robert Walker Jr. by her side, according to a spokeswoman.

Hollywood siren Jones, an Oscar winner at age 25 for her turn as the saintly nun Bernadette Soubirous, was one of the biggest stars of the 1940s and 1950s.

She served as a comely and popular leading lady opposite the era's top actors, including William Holden (Love is a Many-Splendored Thing), Gregory Peck (Duel in the Sun, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit), Rock Hudson (A Farewell to Arms), Joseph Cotten (Portrait of Jennie, Since You Went Away, Love Letters, Duel in the Sun), Laurence Olivier (Carrie), Humphrey Bogart (Beat the Devil), Charlton Heston (Ruby Gentry), Montgomery Clift (Indiscretions of an American Wife) and John Gielgud (The Barretts of Wimpole Street).

Her last major film appearance was a cameo in the cult 1974 disaster film The Towering Inferno.

Groomed for success

Born Phylis Lee Isley in Tulsa, Okla., the actress grew up predisposed to show business, as her family owned a travelling tent show and later a chain of cinemas. She studied at New York's Academy of Dramatic Arts, where she met her first husband, Robert Walker.

With just a few titles under her belt, she auditioned for movie mogul David O. Selznick and was carefully groomed for superstardom, which included a name change to Jennifer Jones.

Jones engaged in a lengthy affair with and later married Selznick, with the union lasting until his death in 1965.

In 1971, she married industrialist and renowned art collector Norton Simon. After his death in 1993, she took on a larger role in overseeing his namesake Pasadena, Calif., museum, where she initiated a gallery renovation by Frank Gehry, championed the development of public programming and was named trustee emeritus.

Jones is survived by her son Robert Walker Jr., stepson Donald Simon as well as grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by two children, Michael Walker and Mary Jennifer Selznick.

Memorial services will be private.

Jennifer Jones is seen in London in 1971 with her third husband, multimillionaire industralist and noted art collector Norton Simon. (Douglas Miller/Keystone/Getty Images) With files from The Associated Press