Marcia Mae Jones
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 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 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.
Marcia Mae Jones died on 2 September 2007 in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, California.
Photos
Films (60)
That's Sexploitation!
2013 · archive footage
Shirley Temple: The Biggest Little Star
1996 · Self
Shirley Temple : Petite chérie de l'Amérique
1993 · Self
The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe
1974 · Sarah
The Way We Were
1973 · Peggy Vanderbilt
A Great American Tragedy
1972 · Claire
Live a Little, Love a Little
1968 · Woman #1 (uncredited)
Meet the Family
1954 · Candy
The Star
1952 · Waitress (uncredited)
The Yellow Haired Kid
1952 · Amy
Chicago Calling
1951 · Peggy (as Marsha Jones)
Life with Buster Keaton
1951
Hi-Jacked
1950 · Jean Harper (as Marsha Jones)
The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady
1950 · Katie O'Grady
Arson, Inc.
1949 · Betty - Fender's Secretary
Tucson
1949 · Polly Johnson
Trouble Preferred
1948 · Virginia Evans
Street Corner
1948 · Lois Marsh
The Fabulous Fraud
1948 · Blind Girl
Snafu
1945 · Martha
Lady in the Death House
1944 · Suzy Kirk Logan
Nine Girls
1944 · Shirley Berke
Top Man
1943 · Erna Lane
Nobody's Darling
1943 · Lois
The Youngest Profession
1943 · Vera Bailey
Secrets of a Co-Ed
1942 · Blonde Co-Ed in Black Outfit [Script Name: Laura Wright]
Let's Go Collegiate
1941 · Bess Martin
The Gang's All Here
1941 · Patsy Wallace
Nice Girl?
1941 · Jane's Friend at Benefit
The Old Swimmin' Hole
1940 · Betty Elliott
Haunted House
1940 · Millie Henshaw
Anne of Windy Poplars
1940 · Jen Pringle
Tomboy
1940 · Pat Kelly
Meet Dr. Christian
1939 · Marilee
First Love
1939 · Marcia Parker
The Flying Irishman
1939 · Teenager
The Little Princess
1939 · Lavinia
Barefoot Boy
1938 · Pige Blaine
Mad About Music
1938 · Olga
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
1938 · Mary Sawyer
Lady Behave!
1937 · Patricia Cormack
Heidi
1937 · Klara Sesemann
The Life of Emile Zola
1937 · Helen Richards
Mountain Justice
1937 · Bethie Harkins
Two Wise Maids
1937 · Geraldine 'Jerry ' Karns
These Three
1936 · Rosalie Wells
This Is the Life
1935 · Child
A Dog of Flanders
1935 · Little Girl at Party (uncredited)
Imitation of Life
1934 · Peola's Frontrow Classmate (uncredited)
Doctor Bull
1933 · Ruth
Mush and Milk
1933
Employees' Entrance
1933 · Flower Girl at Wedding (uncredited)
Birthday Blues
1932 · Girl with Whistle
What Price Hollywood?
1932 · Flower Girl at Wedding (uncredited)
The Champ
1931 · Mary Lou Carleton
Street Scene
1931
Night Nurse
1931 · Nanny Ritchey (uncredited)
King of Jazz
1930 · Child ('Bridal Veil') (uncredited)
The Bishop Murder Case
1929 · Hungry Child in Park (uncredited)
Mannequin
1926 · Joan Herrick as a baby (uncredited)
