Jean Negulesco (1900-1993) was born in Craiova, Dolj, Romania. He began his career as a visual artist and moved to Paris at a young age to paint, draw, and socialize with many famous artists of the day such as Amadeo Modigliani. In the late 1920s, he travelled to New York to exhibit his work then made his way to California. In 1932, he was hired by Paramount Pictures as a sketch artist and technical advisor.

Jean then wrote several screenplays as well as directed many shorts for the Warner Brothers Melody Masters series and the Fighting Men series during World War II. He was a second unit director on A FAREWELL TO ARMS (1932). Though his first feature film was SINGAPORE WOMAN (1941) it was not until 1944 that Negulesco began directing only feature films after spending several years as a director of short films. Among his notable films are JOHNNY BELINDA (1948), HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE (1953), THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN (1954), DADDY LONG LEGS (1955), and BOY ON A DOLPHIN (1957), which catapulted Sophia Loren to fame. On set and off, Jean was known for drawing caricatures of famous actors, actresses and those associated with the film industry. Negulesco was nominated for a Best Director Academy Award for JOHNNY BELINDA IN 1949. He served as director for the 27th (1954) Academy Awards show in 1955.

In the early 1960s, to produce his own films Jean formed the corporations Arts & Formes, Arts & Establishments, and Tiga Productions. He proceeded to engage in co-productions with European investors beginning with JESSICA (1962) and ending with HELLO-GOODBYE (1970), his final film. At that point, he and Dusty Negulesco had relocated to Marbella, Spain where he turned to writing his autobiography titled, “The Things I Did …and Things I Think I Did,” published in 1984. Late in life, Jean enjoyed tributes and retrospectives of his work at film festivals and events around the world. He died at the age of 93 in 1993.