Margaret O'Brien
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Margaret O'Brien during her career as a child star. |
Margaret O'Brien (born
January 15,
1937 in
San Diego, California) is an
American
film actress, and although her career was brief, was one of the most highly regarded child actors in cinema history.
Born
Angela Maxine O'Brien, her father, a circus performer, died months after her birth; Margaret's mother, Gladys Flores, was a well-known
flamenco dancer who often performed with her sister Marissa, also a dancer. Margaret is of half-Irish and half-
Spanish ancestry.
She made her first film appearance in
Babes on Broadway (
1941) at the age of four, but it was the following year that her first major role brought her widespread attention. As a five year old in
Journey for Margaret (
1942), O'Brien won wide praise for her convincing acting style. By 1943, she was considered a big enough star to have a cameo appearance in the all-star military show finale of
Thousands Cheer.
She played a young
French girl, and spoke and sang all her dialogue with a French accent, in
Jane Eyre (
1944). Arguably her most memorable role was as "Tootie" in
Meet Me in St. Louis (
1944), opposite
Judy Garland. O'Brien had by this time, added singing and dancing to her achievements and was rewarded with an
Academy Juvenile Award the following year. Her other successes included
The Canterville Ghost (1944),
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (
1945), and the first sound version of
The Secret Garden (1949), but she was unable to make the transition to adult roles.
A
1946 Looney Tunes short,
Book Revue, placed a caricature of O'Brien in the role of
Little Red Riding Hood.
Fans who remembered little Margaret were astonished to see her on the cover of
Life Magazine in the
1958, looking quite voluptuous. "How The Girl Has Grown" was the caption.
O'Brien's acting roles as an adult have been far between, mostly in small independent films. However, she does do occasional interviews, mostly for the
Turner Classic Movies cable network. One rare television outing was as a guest star on the popular
Marcus Welby, M.D. in the early '70s, reuniting Margaret with her
Journey for Margaret co-star
Robert Young.
She has been married twice, to Harold Allen, Jr. (from
1959 to
1968), and later to Roy Thorsen (that marriage produced her only child, Mara Tolene Thorsen, born in
1977. Margaret is that rare child star who didn't wind up fighting off poverty and addictions in later life. All her memories of her child star days are happy ones, except for working with the difficult
Wallace Beery, who would pinch her to the point where crew members would have to protect her.
O'Brien has two stars on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame for Motion Pictures at 6608 Hollywood Boulevard, and for television at 1620 Vine St. In 2006, she was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the SunDeis Film Festival at Brandeis University.
Babes on Broadway (
1941)
Journey for Margaret (
1942)
You, John Jones (
1943) (short subject)
Dr. Gillespie's Criminal Case (1943)
Thousands Cheer (1943)
Madame Curie (1943)
Lost Angel (1943)
Jane Eyre (
1944)
The Canterville Ghost (1944)
Meet Me in St. Louis (1944)
Music for Millions (1944)
Our Vines Have Tender Grapes (
1945)
Bad Bascomb (
1946)
Three Wise Fools (1946)
The Unfinished Dance (
1947)
Big City (
1948)
Tenth Avenue Angel (1948)
Little Women (
1949)
The Secret Garden (1949)
Her First Romance (
1951)
Girls Hand in Hand (
1952)
Glory (
1956)
Heller in Pink Tights (
1960)
Annabelle Lee (
1968)
Diabolic Wedding (
1974)
Amy (
1981)
Sunset After Dark (
1996)
Creaturealm: From the Dead (
1998)
Dead Season (
2002)
Mumsie (
2003)
Boxes (
2005) (short subject)
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Official homepage*
Classic Movies (1939 - 1969): Margaret O'Brien
