Jill Ireland Net Worth

What Was Jill Ireland's Net Worth?

Jill Ireland was an English actress and singer who had a net worth of $4 million at the time of her death in 1990. After adjusting for inflation, that's the same as around $10 million today. Jill Ireland was best known for collaborating with her second husband, Charles Bronson. The couple co-starred in more than a dozen films.

Ireland played Marian Starrett on the ABC series "Shane" in 1966, and she appeared in five episodes of NBC's "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." between 1964 and 1967. She had more than 60 acting credits to her name, including the films "Three Men in a Boat" (1956), "There's Always a Thursday" (1957), "The Desperate Man" (1959), "Jungle Street" (1960), "Violent City" (1970), "Breakout" (1975), "Death Wish II" (1982), and "Assassination" (1987). She also served as an associate producer on the 1984 film "The Evil That Men Do" and a co-producer on the 1986 film "Murphy's Law." Jill published the books "Life Wish: a Personal Story of Survival" (1987) and "Lifeline: My Fight to Save My Family" (1989). "Lifeline" inspired the 1991 TV movie "Reason for Living: The Jill Ireland Story," which starred Jill Clayburgh as Ireland. Sadly, Jill Ireland passed away on May 18, 1990, of breast cancer at the age of 54.

Early Life

Jill Ireland was born Jill Dorothy Ireland on April 24, 1936, in Hounslow, South West London, England. She was the daughter of Jack and Dorothy Ireland, and her father was a wine importer. Jill attended Chatsworth Junior School, and during her youth, her family lived at 'Chertsey' in Hounslow.

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Career

Ireland made her film debut in 1955, appearing in "No Love for Judy," "The Woman for Joe," "Oh… Rosalinda!!," and "Simon and Laura." She followed those films with 1956's "The Big Money" and "Three Men in a Boat," 1957's "There's Always a Thursday," "Hell Drivers," and "Robbery Under Arms," and 1959's "Carry On Nurse," "The Ghost Train Murder," and "The Desperate Man." In the '60s, Jill guest-starred on "Juke Box Jury" (1960), "Armchair Theatre" (1961), "Kraft Mystery Theatre" (1961), "Ghost Squad" (1961), "Richard the Lionheart" (1963), "Ben Casey" (1964), "The Third Man" (1964), "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" (1964), "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." (1964–1967), "My Favorite Martian" (1965), "Twelve O'Clock High" (1965–1966), "The Wackiest Ship in the Army" (1966), "Star Trek" (1967), "Mannix" (1968), and "Daniel Boone" (1969), and she starred as Marian Starrett on the 1966 ABC Western series "Shane" alongside David Carradine. She also appeared in the films "Jungle Street" (1960), "Girls of the Latin Quarter" (1960), "So Evil, So Young" (1961), "Raising the Wind" (1961), "Twice Round the Daffodils" (1962), "The Battleaxe" (1962), and her first film with her second husband, Charles Bronson, "Villa Rides" (1968).

In the '70s, Ireland starred in the films "Rider on the Rain" (1970), "Violent City" (1970), "Cold Sweat" (1970), "Someone Behind the Door" (1971), "The Valachi Papers" (1972), "The Mechanic" (1972), "Chino" (1973), "Breakout" (1975), "Hard Times" {1975), "Breakheart Pass" (1975), "From Noon till Three" (1976), and "Love and Bullets" (1979), and she guest-starred on "Night Gallery" in 1972. In 1980, she appeared in the TV movie "The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything," and in 1982, she played Geri Nichols in the sequel to Bronson's popular 1974 film "Death Wish." In 1987, Jill co-starred with Charles in the action-thriller "Assassination," and later that year, she appeared in her final film, "Caught." In 1991, she was posthumously credited as an executive producer on the TV movie "Reason for Living: The Jill Ireland Story." The movie was inspired by Jill's 1989 memoir "Lifeline: My Fight to Save My Family," which describes two traumatic events in Ireland's life – her relationship with her adoptive son, who turned to drug abuse and the stroke that left her father mentally stable but incapable of speech." She previously released the 1987 memoir "Life Wish: a Personal Story of Survival," in which she "trace[d] her life–and her fight for that life–after she learned she had cancer."

Charles Bronson and his wife Jill Ireland in 1970 (Getty)

Personal Life

Jill married her "Hell Drivers" co-star David McCallum on May 11, 1957. They welcomed sons Valentine and Paul together, and they adopted a son named Jason. Sadly, Jason died in 1989 from a drug overdose. When David was filming 1963's "The Great Escape," Jill met his co-star Charles Bronson, who reportedly told McCallum, "I'm going to marry your wife." After Ireland and McCallum divorced in 1967, she married Bronson on October 5, 1968. They remained together until Jill's death in 1990, and they had a daughter, Zuleika, together and adopted another daughter, Katrina. Ireland was also stepmother to Suzanne and Tony, Charles' children from his marriage to Harriet Tendler. The couple lived with seven children in a Bel-Air mansion, and when it was time for Ireland or Bronson to film outside of Los Angeles, the entire family would come along. They spent some time in Windsor, Vermont, at a colonial farmhouse where Jill raised horses and trained their daughter Zuleika to excel in horse showing.

Illness and Death

In 1984, Ireland was diagnosed with breast cancer, and she subsequently became an American Cancer Society spokeswoman. In 1988, she testified in front of Congress about medical costs, and President Ronald Reagan presented her with the American Cancer Society's Courage Award. On May 18, 1990, Ireland passed away from breast cancer at the age of 54. After she was cremated, Jill's ashes were placed in a cane. After Bronson died in 2003, he was buried with the cane.

Awards and Nominations

In 1967, Ireland earned a Photoplay Award nomination for Most Promising New Star (Female). In 1989, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the "Motion Picture" category.

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