From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jean Peters (October 15, 1926 – October 13, 2000) was an American actress, known as a star of 20th Century Fox in the late 1940s and early 1950s and as the second (or possibly third) wife of Howard Hughes. Although possibly best remembered for her siren role in Pickup on South Street (1953), Peters was known for her resistance to be turned into a sex symbol, preferring to play unglamorous, down-to-earth women.