Lovely Madge Evans was the perennial nice girl in films of the 1930s. By then, she had been in front of the camera for many years, starting with Fairy Soap commercials at the age of two (she sat on a bar of soap holding a bunch of violets with the tag line reading "have you a little fairy in your home?"). 'Baby Madge' also lent her name to a children's hat company. In 1914, aged five, she was picked out by talent scouts to appear in the William Farnum movie The Sign of the Cross (1914), followed by The Seven Sisters (1915) with Marguerite Clark. By the end of the following year, she had amassed some twenty film credits, appearing with such noted contemporary stars as Pauline Frederick or Alice Brady. All of her early films were made on the East Coast, at studios in Ft.Lee, New Jersey. In 1917 (aged eight), Madge made her Broadway debut in 'Peter Ibbetson' with John Barrymore and Lionel Barrymore. She resumed her stage career in 1926 as an ingenue with 'Daisy Mayme' and the following year appeared with Billie Burke in Noel Coward's costume drama 'The Marquise' (1927). Her pleasing looks and personality soon attracted the attention of Hollywood and she was eventually signed by MGM in 1931. During the next decade, she appeared in several A-grade productions, notably as Lionel Barrymore's daughter in MGM's Dinner at Eight (1933) and as the dependable Agnes Wickfield in one of the best-ever filmed versions of David Copperfield (1935). She co-starred opposite James Cagney in the gangster movie The Mayor of Hell (1933), Spencer Tracy in The Show-Off (1934) and listened to Bing Crosby crooning the title song in Pennies from Heaven (1936). Madge received praise for her performance as the star of Beauty for Sale (1933) and The New York Times review of January 13 1934 described her acting in Fugitive Lovers (1934) (opposite Robert Montgomery ) as 'spontaneous and captivating'. Many of her 'typical American girl' roles did not allow her to express aspects of the greater acting range she undoubtedly possessed. Too often she was cast as the 'nice girl' - and those rarely make much of a dramatic impact. On the few occasions she was assigned the role of 'other woman' , such as the Helen Hayes-starrer What Every Woman Knows (1934), audiences found her character difficult to believe and disassociate from her all-round wholesome image. When her contract with MGM expired in 1937, Madge wound down her film career and, following her 1939 marriage, concentrated on being the wife of celebrated playwright Sidney Kingsley. She last appeared on stage in one of his plays, "The Patriots", in 1943.

Filmography

• Matinee Theater
• The Alcoa Hour
• Hallmark Hall of Fame
• Lux Video Theatre — Sylvia
• Your Show of Shows
• Studio One — Ann
• The Philco Television Playhouse — Elizabeth Bennet, Elinor Dashwood
• 1938Army Girl — Julie Armstrong
• 1938Sinners in Paradise — Anne Wesson
• 1937Espionage — Patricia Booth
• 1937The Thirteenth Chair — Helen "Nell" O'Neill
• 1936Exclusive Story — Ann Devlin
• 1936Moonlight Murder — Toni Adams
• 1936Pennies from Heaven — Susan Sprague
• 1936Piccadilly Jim — Ann Chester
• 1935Age of Indiscretion — Maxine Bennett
• 1935Calm Yourself — Rosalind Rockwell
• 1935David Copperfield — Agnes Wickfield as a Woman
• 1935Helldorado — Glenda Wynant
• 1935Men Without Names — Helen Sherwood
• 1935The Tunnel — Ruth McAllan
• 1934Death on the Diamond — Frances Clark
• 1934Fugitive Lovers — Letty Morris
• 1934Grand Canary — Lady Mary Fielding
• 1934Paris Interlude — Julie
• 1934Stand Up and Cheer! — Mary Adams
• 1934The Show-Off — Amy Fisher Piper
• 1934What Every Woman Knows — Lady Sybil Tenterden
• 1933Beauty for Sale — Letty Lawson
• 1933Broadway to Hollywood — Anne Ainsley
• 1933Day of Reckoning — Dorothy Day
• 1933Dinner at Eight — Paula Jordan
• 1933Hallelujah, I'm a Bum — June Marcher
• 1933Hell Below — Joan
• 1933Made on Broadway — Claire
• 1933The Mayor of Hell — Dorothy Griffith
• 1933The Nuisance — Dorothy Mason
• 1932Are You Listening? — Laura O'Neil
• 1932Fast Life — Shirley
• 1932Huddle — Rosalie
• 1932Lovers Courageous — Mary Blayne
• 1932The Greeks Had a Word for Them — Polaire
• 1931Guilty Hands — Barbara 'Babs' Grant
• 1931Heartbreak — Countess Vima Walden
• 1931Son of India — Janice
• 1931Sporting Blood — Miss 'Missy' Ruby
• 1931West of Broadway — Anne
• 1930Envy — Helen
• 1930The Bard of Broadway
• 1924Classmates — Sylvia
• 1923On the Banks of the Wabash — Lisbeth
• 1919Home Wanted — Madge Dow
• 1919Three Green Eyes — Child
• 1918Love Net — Patty Barnes
• 1918Neighbors — Clarissa Leigh
• 1918Stolen Orders — Ruth Le Page - as a child
• 1918The Golden Wall — Madge Lathrop
• 1918The Power and the Glory — Deanie Consadine
• 1918True Blue — Ruth, as a Child
• 1918Wanted, A Mother — Eileen Homer
• 1917Beloved Adventuress — Francine - Age 7
• 1917Maternity — Constance
• 1917The Burglar — Editha
• 1917The Corner Grocer — Mary Brian, age 8
• 1917The Web of Desire — Marjorie
• 1916Husband and Wife — Bessie
• 1916Seventeen — Jane Baxter
• 1916Sudden Riches — Little Emily
• 1916The Devil's Toy — Betty
• 1916The Hidden Scar — Dot
• 1916The New South — Georgia Gwynne, as a girl
• 1916The Revolt — Nannie Stevens
• 1915The Master Hand — Jean as a Child
• 1915The Seven Sisters — Clara

Appearances as themselves (2)

• 1975Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? — Self (archive footage)
• 1917The Volunteer — Self