Marcia Mae Jones was born on August 1, 1924, to an acting family. Her mother, Freda Jones, was an actress, and all three of her siblings - Margaret Jones, Macon Jones, and Marvin Jones - were child actors. But Marcia Mae had the most successful career, and she was the only one of her siblings to become a child star. She made her acting debut when she was just six months old, when director James Cruze saw her in her baby carriage and immediately cast her as the baby in his film Mannequin (1926). Her first major role was in Night Nurse (1931), in which she played a sick child that a sinister hospital staff was trying to murder. By age 10, Marcia Mae had appeared in several dramatic films. In 1936, she played a terrified victim of school bullying in These Three (1936), a role that brought her much attention. In 1937, she played the crippled Klara in Heidi (1937). The film starred two other child actors, Delmar Watson (as with Marcia Mae, all of Delmar's siblings were actors) and Shirley Temple. Despite a four-year age difference, Marcia Mae and Shirley acted well with each other, and they appeared together again in The Little Princess (1939). Besides Shirley Temple and Delmar Watson, Marcia Mae worked with several other child stars of the 1930s, including Jane Withers, Bonita Granville, Jackie Moran, Sybil Jason, and her favorite, Jackie Cooper. Marcia Mae's film career began to slow down in the early 1950s, after which she largely appeared in television roles. Her adult life was marred by the suicide of her second husband, Bill Davenport, and problems with alcohol. She eventually conquered her alcohol dependency and became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Date of Death 2 September 2007, Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California (pneumonia)
Movie | Shirley Temple: America's Little Darling | Self | 1993-08-31 |
Series | Simon & Simon | Unknown | 1981-11-24 |
Movie | The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe | Sarah | 1974-07-29 |
Movie | The Way We Were | Peggy Vanderbilt | 1973-10-17 |
Movie | A Great American Tragedy | Claire | 1972-10-18 |
Series | The Streets of San Francisco | Unknown | 1972-09-23 |
Series | Cannon | Unknown | 1971-09-14 |
Movie | Live a Little, Love a Little | Woman #1 (uncredited) | 1968-10-23 |
Series | Family Affair | Unknown | 1966-09-12 |
Series | Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. | Unknown | 1964-09-25 |
Series | Mister Ed | Unknown | 1961-01-05 |
Series | My Three Sons | Unknown | 1960-09-29 |
Movie | The Star | Waitress (uncredited) | 1952-12-11 |
Movie | The Yellow Haired Kid | Amy | 1952-11-02 |
Series | Racket Squad | Unknown | 1951-06-07 |
Movie | Chicago Calling | Peggy (as Marsha Jones) | 1951-12-31 |
Movie | Hi-Jacked | Jean Harper (as Marsha Jones) | 1950-07-07 |
Movie | The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady | Katie O'Grady | 1950-04-29 |
Movie | Tucson | Polly Johnson | 1949-04-27 |
Movie | Arson, Inc. | Betty - Fender's Secretary | 1949-06-24 |
Movie | Street Corner | Lois Marsh | 1948-12-03 |
Movie | The Fabulous Fraud | Blind Girl | 1948-08-28 |
Movie | Trouble Preferred | Virginia Evans | 1948-12-31 |
Movie | Nine Girls | Shirley Berke | 1944-02-17 |
Movie | Lady in the Death House | Suzy Kirk Logan | 1944-03-15 |
Movie | The Youngest Profession | Vera Bailey | 1943-02-26 |
Movie | Top Man | Erna Lane | 1943-09-17 |
Movie | Nobody's Darling | Lois | 1943-08-27 |
Movie | Secrets of a Co-Ed | Blonde Co-Ed in Black Outfit [Script Name: Laura Wright] | 1942-10-26 |
Movie | Nice Girl? | Jane's Friend at Benefit | 1941-02-21 |
Movie | The Gang's All Here | Patsy Wallace | 1941-06-11 |
Movie | Let's Go Collegiate | Bess Martin | 1941-09-12 |
Movie | Tomboy | Pat Kelly | 1940-04-20 |
Movie | Anne of Windy Poplars | Jen Pringle | 1940-06-28 |
Movie | The Old Swimmin' Hole | Betty Elliott | 1940-10-21 |
Movie | Haunted House | Millie Henshaw | 1940-07-21 |
Movie | The Little Princess | Lavinia | 1939-03-17 |
Movie | The Flying Irishman | Teenager | 1939-04-07 |
Movie | First Love | Marcia Parker | 1939-11-10 |
Movie | Meet Dr. Christian | Marilee | 1939-11-17 |
Movie | The Adventures of Tom Sawyer | Mary Sawyer | 1938-02-11 |
Movie | Mad About Music | Olga | 1938-02-27 |
Movie | Barefoot Boy | Pige Blaine | 1938-08-03 |
Movie | Two Wise Maids | Geraldine 'Jerry ' Karns | 1937-02-15 |
Movie | The Life of Emile Zola | Helen Richards | 1937-09-09 |
Movie | Mountain Justice | Bethie Harkins | 1937-04-24 |
Movie | Heidi | Klara Sesemann | 1937-10-15 |
Movie | Lady Behave! | Patricia Cormack | 1937-12-22 |
Movie | These Three | Rosalie Wells | 1936-03-18 |
Movie | A Dog of Flanders | Little Girl at Party (uncredited) | 1935-03-22 |
Movie | This Is the Life | Child | 1935-10-07 |
Movie | Imitation of Life | Peola's Frontrow Classmate (uncredited) | 1934-11-23 |
Movie | Employees' Entrance | Flower Girl at Wedding (uncredited) | 1933-02-11 |
Movie | Mush and Milk | 1933-05-27 | |
Movie | Doctor Bull | Ruth | 1933-09-22 |
Movie | Birthday Blues | Girl with Whistle | 1932-11-12 |
Movie | Night Nurse | Nanny Ritchey (uncredited) | 1931-07-16 |
Movie | Street Scene | 1931-09-05 | |
Movie | The Champ | Mary Lou Carleton | 1931-11-21 |
Movie | King of Jazz | Child ('Bridal Veil') (uncredited) | 1930-04-20 |
Movie | The Bishop Murder Case | Hungry Child in Park (uncredited) | 1929-12-31 |
Movie | Mannequin | Joan Herrick as a baby (uncredited) | 1926-01-11 |