Marcia Mae Jones
- Child actor
- Teen actor
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.
Acted in
Shirley Temple: America's Little Darling
1993
as Self
Simon & Simon
1981
The Spectre of Edgar Allan Poe
1974
as Sarah
The Way We Were
1973
as Peggy Vanderbilt
A Great American Tragedy
1972
as Claire
The Streets of San Francisco
1972
Cannon
1971
Live a Little, Love a Little
1968
as Woman #1 (uncredited)
Family Affair
1966
Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.
1964
Mister Ed
1961
My Three Sons
1960
The Star
1952
as Waitress (uncredited)
The Yellow Haired Kid
1952
as Amy
Chicago Calling
1951
as Peggy (as Marsha Jones)
Racket Squad
1951
The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
1951
Life with Buster Keaton
1951
Hi-Jacked
1950
as Jean Harper (as Marsha Jones)
The Daughter of Rosie O'Grady
1950
as Katie O'Grady
Arson, Inc.
1949
as Betty - Fender's Secretary
Tucson
1949
as Polly Johnson
Trouble Preferred
1948
as Virginia Evans
Street Corner
1948
as Lois Marsh
The Fabulous Fraud
1948
as Blind Girl
Snafu
1945
as Martha
Lady in the Death House
1944
as Suzy Kirk Logan
Nine Girls
1944
as Shirley Berke
Top Man
1943
as Erna Lane
Nobody's Darling
1943
as Lois
The Youngest Profession
1943
as Vera Bailey
Secrets of a Co-Ed
1942
as Blonde Co-Ed in Black Outfit [Script Name: Laura Wright]
Let's Go Collegiate
1941
as Bess Martin
The Gang's All Here
1941
as Patsy Wallace
Nice Girl?
1941
as Jane's Friend at Benefit
The Old Swimmin' Hole
1940
as Betty Elliott
Haunted House
1940
as Millie Henshaw
Anne of Windy Poplars
1940
as Jen Pringle
Tomboy
1940
as Pat Kelly
Meet Dr. Christian
1939
as Marilee
First Love
1939
as Marcia Parker
The Flying Irishman
1939
as Teenager
The Little Princess
1939
as Lavinia
Barefoot Boy
1938
as Pige Blaine
Mad About Music
1938
as Olga
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
1938
as Mary Sawyer
Lady Behave!
1937
as Patricia Cormack
Heidi
1937
as Klara Sesemann
The Life of Emile Zola
1937
as Helen Richards
Mountain Justice
1937
as Bethie Harkins
Two Wise Maids
1937
as Geraldine 'Jerry ' Karns
These Three
1936
as Rosalie Wells
This Is the Life
1935
as Child
A Dog of Flanders
1935
as Little Girl at Party (uncredited)
Imitation of Life
1934
as Peola's Frontrow Classmate (uncredited)
Doctor Bull
1933
as Ruth
Mush and Milk
1933
Employees' Entrance
1933
as Flower Girl at Wedding (uncredited)
Birthday Blues
1932
as Girl with Whistle
What Price Hollywood?
1932
as Flower Girl at Wedding (uncredited)
The Champ
1931
as Mary Lou Carleton
Street Scene
1931
Night Nurse
1931
as Nanny Ritchey (uncredited)
King of Jazz
1930
as Child ('Bridal Veil') (uncredited)
The Bishop Murder Case
1929
as Hungry Child in Park (uncredited)
Mannequin
1926
as Joan Herrick as a baby (uncredited)