Marcia Mae Jones
Acting
Born August 1, 1924, Los Angeles, California, USA
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.
Filmography
- 2013That's Sexploitation! — archive footage
- Simon & Simon
- 1974The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe — Sarah
- 1973The Way We Were — Peggy Vanderbilt
- 1972A Great American Tragedy — Claire
- The Streets of San Francisco
- Cannon
- 1968Live a Little, Love a Little — Woman #1 (uncredited)
- Family Affair
- Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. — Waitress
- Mister Ed
- My Three Sons
- 1954Meet the Family — Candy
- 1952The Star — Waitress (uncredited)
- 1952The Yellow Haired Kid — Amy
- 1951Chicago Calling — Peggy (as Marsha Jones)
- 1951Life with Buster Keaton
- Racket Squad
- The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
- 1950Hi-Jacked — Jean Harper (as Marsha Jones)
- 1950The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady — Katie O'Grady
- 1949Arson, Inc. — Betty - Fender's Secretary
- 1949Tucson — Polly Johnson
- 1948Street Corner — Lois Marsh
- 1948The Fabulous Fraud — Blind Girl
- 1948Trouble Preferred — Virginia Evans
- 1945Snafu — Martha
- 1944Lady in the Death House — Suzy Kirk Logan
- 1944Nine Girls — Shirley Berke
- 1943Nobody's Darling — Lois
- 1943The Youngest Profession — Vera Bailey
- 1943Top Man — Erna Lane
- 1942Secrets of a Co-Ed — Blonde Co-Ed in Black Outfit [Script Name: Laura Wright]
- 1941Let's Go Collegiate — Bess Martin
- 1941Nice Girl? — Jane's Friend at Benefit
- 1941The Gang's All Here — Patsy Wallace
- 1940Anne of Windy Poplars — Jen Pringle
- 1940Haunted House — Millie Henshaw
- 1940The Old Swimmin' Hole — Betty Elliott
- 1940Tomboy — Pat Kelly
- 1939First Love — Marcia Parker
- 1939Meet Dr. Christian — Marilee
- 1939The Flying Irishman — Teenager
- 1939The Little Princess — Lavinia
- 1938Barefoot Boy — Pige Blaine
- 1938Mad About Music — Olga
- 1938The Adventures of Tom Sawyer — Mary Sawyer
- 1937Heidi — Klara Sesemann
- 1937Lady Behave! — Patricia Cormack
- 1937Mountain Justice — Bethie Harkins
- 1937The Life of Emile Zola — Helen Richards
- 1937Two Wise Maids — Geraldine 'Jerry ' Karns
- 1936These Three — Rosalie Wells
- 1935A Dog of Flanders — Little Girl at Party (uncredited)
- 1935This Is the Life — Child
- 1934Imitation of Life — Peola's Frontrow Classmate (uncredited)
- 1933Doctor Bull — Ruth
- 1933Employees' Entrance — Flower Girl at Wedding (uncredited)
- 1933Mush and Milk
- 1932Birthday Blues — Girl with Whistle
- 1932What Price Hollywood? — Flower Girl at Wedding (uncredited)
- 1931Night Nurse — Nanny Ritchey (uncredited)
- 1931Street Scene
- 1931The Champ — Mary Lou Carleton
- 1930King of Jazz — Child ('Bridal Veil') (uncredited)
- 1929The Bishop Murder Case — Hungry Child in Park (uncredited)
- 1926Mannequin — Joan Herrick as a baby (uncredited)
Appearances as themselves (2)
- 1996Shirley Temple: The Biggest Little Star — Self
- 1993Shirley Temple: America's Little Darling — Self