
Born Jean Walasek in Chicago to John T. Walasek and Mary A. Walasek (née Sharkey), Wallace began her career as a model then got her first small movie role at the age of seventeen. She was married two times; once to her Jigsaw co-star Franchot Tone from 1941 to 1948 and once to actor Cornel Wilde (her co-star in The Big Combo and Lancelot and Guinevere) from 1951 to 1981. She had two sons with Tone and one with Wilde. She attempted suicide in 1946 with sleeping pills, and in 1949 with a self inflicted knife wound.
Wallace died of a gastrointestinal hemorrhage on February 14, 1990. She is buried in Hollywood Forever Cemetery.

Ziegfeld Girl
1941 · as Ziegfeld Girl (uncredited)

The Big Combo
1955 · as Susan Lowell

Maracaibo
1958 · as Laura Kingsley

Beach Red
1967 · as Julie MacDonald

Blaze of Noon
1947 · as Poppy

Native Son
1951 · as Mary Dalton

No Blade of Grass
1970 · as Ann Custance

Sword of Lancelot
1963 · as Guinevere

Jigsaw
1949 · as Barbara Whitfield

Star of India
1954 · as Countess Katrina

Louisiana Purchase
1941 · as Louisiana Belle

Storm Fear
1955 · as Elizabeth

The Good Humor Man
1950 · as Bonnie Conroy

Glamour Boy
1941 · as Girl (uncredited)

The Man on the Eiffel Tower
1949 · as Edna Wallace

The Devil's Hairpin
1957 · as Kelly James

Salute for Three
1943 · as Hostess Offering Buzz Apple From Basket (unconfirmed)

When My Baby Smiles at Me
1948 · as Sylvia Marco